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A ballot initiative process in flux Initiative 76 is under the same outdated ballot initiative process now hanging by a thread. Unfortunately, the Court’s decision means that Mississippians no longer enjoy the most basic freedom afforded in a democracy – the right to directly control their own destiny, Dr. John Gaudet, a Hattiesburg pediatrician and Initiative 76 sponsor, said Monday about the high court s decision. Mississippi health care and racial justice advocates continued push for Medicaid expansion coincides with a yearlong pandemic that has boosted the ranks of the unemployed and shrunk family incomes, all of which have had a disproportionate affect on minorities and working poor. ....
View Comments Mississippi will remain in the minority of states without a medical marijuana program after the state Supreme Court on Friday overturned an initiative that voters approved last fall a decision that also limits other citizen-led efforts to put issues on the statewide ballot. At the heart of the ruling is the fact that initiatives need signatures from five congressional districts to get on the ballot, but because of Mississippi’s stagnant population, the state only has four districts. Six justices ruled that the medical marijuana initiative is void because the state s initiative process is outdated. Three justices dissented. ....
Not a political issue, a human issue : Miss. health advocates want Medicaid expansion on the ballot Sarah Haselhorst, Mississippi Clarion Ledger After a decade of the state Legislature averting Medicaid expansion through the Affordable Care Act, in a state notorious for poor health care, Mississippi advocates say it s time for voters to decide. They want Medicaid expansion, estimated to cover over 200,000 Mississippians, on the 2022 ballot. A coalition of Mississippi medical experts, patients, small business owners and nonprofits initiated a statewide campaign Yes On 76 Tuesday morning at the Mississippi Hospital Association s offices in Madison. The campaign kickstarted with a petition in support of ballot Initiative 76 that will need to amass over 106,000 signatures by October to make their 2022 goal. Over 21,000 will need to come from each of the five congressional districts as they existed in 2000. ....