Gulfport – Today, Brandon Presley released the second plank of his historic ethics plan to make sure Tategate never happens again outside of the Harrison County Courthouse. Brandon’s plan would actually hold those involved in the largest public corruption scandal accountable - something Tate Reeves has failed to do.

"When I’m governor, I plan on declaring war on corruption in our state government, and it all starts with sanitizing an infected lobbying system,” said Commissioner Brandon Presley. “The first plank of our historic ethics plan focused on curbing the influence of lobbyists and giant corporations. The second plank of our bold plan tackles how we make sure that the largest public corruption scandal in state history never happens again.”

The second plank of Brandon’s War on Corruption plan includes:

• Hiring an independent investigator appointed by the Ethics Commission that cannot be fired by the governor or the legislature, a departure from Tate Reeves, who fired the investigator once he got too close to his lobbyist buddies who gave him football tickets;

• Creating a Task Force on Public Integrity with appointments from the state auditor, attorney general, and executive director of the Department of Finance and Administration to review all state contracts and evaluate the performance of any recipient of taxpayer dollars, with a focus on the Department of Human Services because under Tate Reeves’ watch as lieutenant governor, he failed to provide oversight of $77 million that was stolen or misspent at DHS;
  The task force would be subject to the open meetings law;

In the first plank of Brandon’s bold ethics plan, he proposed holding every state agency responsible for timely public records request responses and permanently reauthorizing the Public Records Act - both of which could have let Mississippians learn about this scandal much sooner than how this corrupt story unfolded.

"The culture of corruption benefits Tate Reeves and the lobbyists and giant corporations who fund his campaigns - that’s why he worked to protect himself and his friends by firing the veteran investigator,” said Commissioner Brandon Presley. “I’m telling every Mississippian that you can’t trust Tate Reeves to clean up corruption, but I will.”

Last week, Brandon Presley released the first plank of his war on corruption plan, which included policies to curb the influence of lobbyists and giant corporations.

Brandon Presley is a fighter who keeps his promises, stands up for the little guy, and isn't afraid to ruffle more than a few feathers to deliver results for hardworking Mississippi families. Brandon served as Mayor of Nettleton from 2001 to 2007, where he got the town moving again, then balanced the budget every year and cut taxes twice. As Public Service Commissioner, Brandon opened up meetings that had been closed to the public for decades, brought high-speed internet to some of the most remote and forgotten parts of Mississippi, put people back to work with the Hire Mississippi program, and saved taxpayers over 6 billion dollars.

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