Reeves focuses on economic development, ignores Medicaid expansion, in State of the State

by

Will Stribling

• Published on February 26, 2024 • Last modified on February 27, 2024 • Comments

Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, center, confers with Mississippi House Speaker Jason White, R-West, left, and Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, after his State of the State address to a joint session of the Mississippi State Legislature, Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, at the state Capitol in Jackson, Miss.
(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Governor Tate Reeves challenged lawmakers to make investments that would spur economic and educational growth in Mississippi during the first state of the state address of his second term Monday night. The fiery rhetoric and red meat issues addressed in other speeches from Reeves were absent, with the governor instead focusing on workforce development.

Will Stribling

Reeves focuses on economic development, ignores Medicaid expansion, in State of the State

Speaking to a sparsely populated House chamber, Reeves celebrated the record-breaking amount of capital investment that has been secured for the state this year from Amazon Web Services and electric vehicle battery manufacturers. Reeves said lawmakers could help continue this trend by continuing to invest in transportation infrastructure like the state's railways, roads and airports.

“We can take advantage of this moment, and create unimagined wealth, prosperity and purpose for our state,” Reeves said “We can make Mississippi the new American capital of manufacturing, industry and agribusiness. Mississippi can be the headwaters of America's supply chain, if and only if we are bold.”

Reeves also proposed the creation of eleven new STEM-focused schools across the state that would be modeled after the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in Columbus. Eight of them would be for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade and the other three would be high schools. Reeves also called for one of the high schools to be located in the old Central High School building in downtown Jackson.

“Imagine hundreds of talented kids from all backgrounds, learning the skills they need to be successful as engineers, computer scientists and technicians at major tech companies,” Reeves said. … “It would be good for our capital city, and it would be great for those kids.”

Notably absent from Reeves' speech was any mention of the state's health care woes and one of the most prominent issues of the 2024 legislative session, Medicaid expansion. For years, Reeves has been a vocal opponent of expansion, calling it "welfare." Republican leaders in both legislative chambers have introduced legislation that would expand the Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act and make coverage available to hundreds of thousands of additional Mississippians.