“While we recognize that criminals are punishable, the State has a responsibility for maintaining safe and humane conditions in Mississippi prisons. Since Dec. 29, at least 12 prisoners have been killed, nine of which were incarcerated at Mississippi State Penitentiary, Parchman. According to media reports and the state corrections office, most of these deaths were suicides. In recent weeks, many others were injured in violent outbursts. Others have managed to escape. There are many reports about unsafe and unsanitary conditions in state prisons. This has led to widespread calls from prisoners’ advocates to close Parchman. The lawsuit was backed by Jay-Z, an artist born in Memphis, and reports that a federal civil rights investigation was underway into the state’s correctional system. “Mississippi Prisons holds over 19,000 prisoners. “There are over 19,000 people incarcerated in Mississippi Prisons. According to a December report by the Mississippi Department of Corrections that noted that parole and probation revocations as well as eligibility for parole are essential to containing population growth, Rep. Johnson said that he used conviction data from Mississippi as well data from advocacy groups to calculate a savings of more than $200 million. In 2019, PEER, the legislative watchdog, reported that the average cost per inmate per year in a model facility was $53.72. The cost to imprison one person for a full year in that calculation is over $19,000. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Mississippi’s millennial population has declined by 35.013 people between 2010 and 2016. Mississippi is the only state that lost millennials so quickly. Fact check: Despite officials trying to downplay this trend, Mississippi lost more millennials than any other state in the country. This was the equivalent of Tupelo losing its population between 2010-2016, according Census data. “In 2019, Mississippi had the nation’s next-to-highest rate of unemployment. Our per capita income is the lowest in the country, and our poverty rate is the highest. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mississippi was ranked second only to Alaska with a December unemployment rate of 5.7 percent. Mississippi had the lowest personal income per capita at $37.834, and the second highest level of poverty, at 19% from 2017-2018. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Mississippi was 42nd and next-to-last in the nation. Our GDP percentage growth was only 1.0%, while Alabama had a twice as high at 2% and Tennessee at 3%. We can do better. When adjusted for inflation, the most comprehensive measure of the economy’s overall health, Mississippi’s GDP is not up to 2008 levels. “Instead, of bragging about the tax breaks we have given large out-of state corporations at a cost over $500 million dollars,” let’s invest in Mississippi businesses small and large. Fact check: Reeves led 51 tax cuts and breaks for individuals and corporations between 2012 and 2017. They totaled at least $577 millions. “We have a $400m a year infrastructure maintenance requirement in a system that has not increased its funding formula in 25-years.” Fact check. Even if the department were to receive $350 million to $400million more annually, which Commissioner Dick Hall stated in 2018, it would still take years for the department to address its backlog of highway repairs. “Expansion would provide coverage for more than 200,000 Mississippians. Expansion would inject over $8 billion into the state’s economy. It would create over 8,000 new well-paid healthcare jobs and help keep more hospitals open. Fact check: Analysis suggests that 100,000 Mississippians would be eligible under Medicaid expansion. There are currently about 100,000 people who fall within the “coverage gap”, and would likely be eligible to expand their coverage. This article was contributed by Erica Hensley, Adam Ganucheau, and Bobby Harrison. To support this important work, you can make a regular donation to the Spring Member Drive today.