@ISSUE

The two-day Special Session of the Mississippi Legislature picked up where the Regular Session left off: with more controversy and heightened tensions between House and Senate. Host Wilson Stribling recaps last week’s events. Analysts Austin Barbour and Brandon Jones join Wilson to discuss the legislative proceedings and the outlook for the state of Mississippi.

Analysts Austin Barbour and Brandon Jones join host Wilson Stribling to discuss the surprising ending of the 2025 Mississippi legislative session. The House and Senate have gone home without passing budget bills for state agencies and services. Governor Tate Reeves will surely call a special session, but what else could be on the table when the legislators return to Jackson? The team also looks at the successes and failures of the 2025 regular session, as well as the sweeping changes the tax reform bill may bring.

Governor Tate Reeves signs House Bill 1, effectively eliminating the personal income tax in Mississippi. We recount the surprising events of the past week leading up to this historic moment. Host Wilson Stribling interviews Jared Walczak, a state tax policy expert from The Tax Foundation, a Washington-based think tank. Analysts Austin Barbour and Brandon Jones joined Wilson to discuss the tax cut and predict its impact on Mississippi.

What a week. The Mississippi House surprises many by passing the Senate’s more cautious income tax cut bill. But a typo in that bill could bring income tax elimination even faster than the House called for. Host Wilson Stribling interviews Senate Finance Committee Chair Josh Harkins (R-Flowood), then debates tax cuts and state spending with analysts Brandon Jones and Austin Barbour.

Will the House and Senate find a compromise for their competing tax cut plans? What would the total elimination of the state income tax mean for Mississippi? How can the multiple agencies serving public health better cooperate and collaborate? Host Wilson Stribling covers these topics and more with this week’s guest, Senator Hob Bryan (D-Amory), and analysts Austin Barbour and Greta Kemp Martin.

This week the House and Senate took up each other’s bills, and the sparks did fly. School choice and PERS reform appear dead, while presumptive eligibility and mobile sports betting are still alive. And the House and Senate tax reform bills are still on a collision course. Our @ISSUE team looks at these topics and more. We also pay tribute to the late Robert Clark, who served in the House from 1968 to 2004 and was the first Black Mississippi legislator elected since Reconstruction.

Join host Wilson Stribling and analysts Austin Barbour and Brandon Jones for another lively episode of MPB’s @ISSUE. This week, Senate Republicans pass their tax cut bill and now defend it from both the right and left. Ten Senate districts are redrawn after a successful NAACP lawsuit. Casinos may see a tax increase, and a Jackson casino bill dies. Legislators push for hemp product regulation. A Mississippi-Israel caucus is announced. And House Democrats demand to have their voices heard.

This week we look at a wide range of bills, dealing with everything from tax cuts and parental leave to hemp product regulation and wine and liquor sales. Wilson Stribling interviews Speaker of the House Jason White about his chamber’s most important legislation. And our roundtable team, Austin Barbour and Brandon Jones have a spirited debate on House Bill 859, legislation that would allow advanced practice nurses, nurse practitioners, and nurse anesthetists to provide services without the supervision of a collaborating physician.

This week we talk about the Senate’s newly unveiled tax cut proposal, the apparent failure of the House’s school choice bill, passage of the Domestic Violence Fatality Review bill, controversy over the Senate’s Early Voting bill, the death of the ballot initiative measure, and much more.