DISTRICT 72 DESERVES JUSTIS.
DISTRICT 72 DESERVES JUSTIS.
“HB 530 made great gains to the starting pay of educators within our State. While the primary initiative was to bring our compensation standards to comparable levels within the Southeast, I believe we must push each legislative session to increase the starting pay for our teachers as we realize the sacrifices out teachers make in order to provide a quality education to our scholars.”
Healthcare
Rural Hospitals in Mississippi are closing while many more are feeling the economic strain from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees in healthcare statewide are being laid off at an exponential rate and healthcare services are being cut. Attorney Gibbs will be a voice for our healthcare facilities both in rural and urban areas within the state and will support allocating funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to alleviate this issue affecting Mississippi families. Attorney Gibbs also supports Medicaid expansion throughout the State of Mississippi.
Infrastructure
Voting Rights
Public Education
Reproductive Health
Workforce Development
The ballot initiative is currently frozen in the State of Mississippi. Attorney Gibbs believes there should be an immediate resolution to the abandonment of citizens exercising their right to put issues affecting them the most on the ballot during out state elections. Attorney Gibbs would support an immediate constitutional amendment to fix the language within our State’s constitution to restore this initiative. Attorney Gibbs will also push for earlier voter registration times for unregistered voters, early voting, automatic voter registration and direct funding to increase voter awareness for upcoming elections.
Infrastructure should and will continue to be a top priority each legislative session for ALL communities within the State of Mississippi. Our Capitol City is frequented by our legislators, government officials, and tourists all year round. We must recognize that the state of our infrastructure within Jackson, Mississippi is a testament to our entire State’s health. Attorney Gibbs fully supports increased allocated funds to assist the capitol city with its’ crumbling infrastructure. In particular, President Biden’s infrastructure bill that has brought hundreds of millions to the capitol city must be responsibly utilized and put into effect by our state and city government.
In 2022, the Mississippi Legislature failed to pass a bill to extend postpartum care for mothers who qualified for Medicaid from sixty days to twelve months. Attorney Gibbs fully supports a new legislation that will guarantee an extension of postpartum coverage for at least one year. In Mississippi, forty percent of maternal deaths occur more than six months postpartum. With this alarming statistic, Attorney Gibbs does not agree that proposals for three months of medicaid coverage postpartum are sufficient.
Attorney Gibbs fully supports enacting paid family and medical leave for state employees. The federal Family Medical Leave Act has provided up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave to care for a newborn, foster child or to care for relatives. Attorney Gibbs believes the State of Mississippi should adopt new measures to offer paid maternal and sick leave for its’ employees.
“Our federal government’s adoption of FMLA does not go far enough to ensure Mississippians who must take leave will be in a good financial position once they return to work for their families.” - Attorney Gibbs
Our state budget has a profound impact on the quality of public education; Attorney Gibbs supports fully funding and investing in our public schools, beginning with expanding the Pre-K Collaborative Tax program to provide access to early childhood education programs and fully funding the Mississippi Adequate Education Program to provide high-quality public education for every student in Mississippi. Statistics have shown that when our State fully funds MAEP which was initiated to ensure each public school district met academic standards set in place by Mississippi’s State Board of Education, our children do in fact, succeed. The Mississippi Legislature has fallen beneath funding the standard already agreed upon in 1997 when MAEP was created and must return to fully investing in our children’s education.
Attorney Gibbs will also push for state funding and revised financial aid guidelines that will provide affordability to students looking to attend one of Mississippi’s colleges and universities and that will provide access to higher-ed opportunities without overbearing requirements that negatively affect African-American children and families much more than other Mississippians. HB 530: “Strategically Accelerating the Recruitment and Retention of Teachers (START) Act of 2022 provided a higher baseline of starting pay and compensation for our State’s teachers, but Attorney Gibbs believes we should go further.
“HB 530 made great gains to the starting pay of educators within our State. While the primary initiative was to bring our compensation standards to comparable levels within the Southeast, I believe we must push each legislative session to increase the starting pay for our teachers as we realize the sacrifices out teachers make in order to provide a quality education to our scholars.” - Attorney Gibbs
After the passage of House Bill 1517 and House Bill 1006 during the 2022 Legislative Session, the Office of Workforce Development has been initiated within the State of Mississippi which aims to provide training for the next generation workforce. While this legislation is intended to create eight regional ecosystems and tailor each region within the State to its’ workforce development needs. Attorney Gibbs also believes there should be an additional developmental arm for the state’s capitol city and its’ workforce needs. Attorney Gibbs supports the continuing partnership between the City of Jackson and various State Departments such as the Mississippi Department of Transportation as well our local small businesses and larger corporations within our State to ensure Jacksonians are on the front-line to receive access for new job placements. Within the past year, corporations such as Koch Foods, USDA, and UMMC have all partnered with our City. Attorney Gibbs would support full cooperation between the Hinds County Delegation and the City of Jackson to strengthen the frequency of these collaborations and would support additional funding from the state budget.
“ARPA funds have helped provide additional funding for new and increased capacity in new and existing relevant workforce development and training programs in our State. However, the bills funding is contingent on available funds from COVID-19 Fiscal Recovery funds made available under ARPA. We must begin to find additional sources of funding for future investment in our state’s workforce.” - Attorney Gibbs