Pascagoula (WXXV) – Mississippi’s number two politician is here on the Coast this week meeting with local leaders in the three coastal counties with a look ahead to next year’s legislative session and what types of local projects might be on the horizon.
Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann kicked off his two-day listening tour of the Coast, meeting with Jackson County officials and answering their questions on various topics.
Hosemann talked about the progress the state legislature made in many areas last year, including education, and he says the next legislative session has the chance to be transformational as well.
From mayors to superintendents to healthcare workers, a who’s who of Jackson leaders learned more about legislative initiatives on the horizon after a busy 2020 and start to 2021. Lt. Gov. Hosemann said, “We did a lot of good things for the Coast. You’ll see in the appropriations bill and the bond bill, GOMESA, Tidelands, lots of money. About 100 million dollars has been spent on the Coast this last year. And we did a lot of good things for education.”
The Lt. Governor says the next legislative session will also help to tackle a lot of important issues that Mississippi faces.
With the American Rescue Plan and other funding available for the legislature to spend, Hosemann wants input from county leaders over the coming months on projects of importance to them. “We’re going to ask them to think about projects that will be transformational. Get your projects ready, we’ll give you these six months to get this ready, then when you come in January, you can say ‘I’ve got this much money, can you match this?’ and we’re going to build a new water tank, or we’re going to build new roads or we’re going to build a better school.”
Local education officials in attendance say they’re glad to hear from the lt. governor as education initiatives move forward in the legislature and rescue plan funds continue to make their way to school districts. Jackson County Schools Superintendent Dr. John Strycker said, “That is making a difference, especially during this time period, and so yes, that funding is vital to what we’re doing right now, especially coming out of the COVID virus.”
As the president of the state senate and a liaison of sorts to municipal and county leaders, Hosemann says listening tours like this one can help new ideas and innovations spread statewide. “We learn from what they’re doing well here and we try to take it to the rest of the state, and say ‘this is what they did on the Coast.’