ICYMI: Brandon Presley Campaigns In Greenwood And Grenada Discussing His Plans To Save Rural Hospitals And Restore Mississippians’ Right To Vote

Nettleton, MS – This weekend, Brandon Presley campaigned in Greenwood and Grenada and discussed his plans to save rural hospitals and restore Mississippians’ right to vote.

Brandon Presley’s stops made the front pages of the Greenwood Commonwealth and the Daily Journal. You can view those here and here.

Read more below:

Delta News: Brandon Presley Tours The Delta

Dennis Turner

• [TRANSCRIPT] Dennis Turner, Anchor: The Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley, who's running for Mississippi governor, toured the Delta today. His major stop... Greenwood, to talk about its many challenges and especially the ailing hospital there.

• Commissioner Brandon Presley: I'm in Greenwood today, where the Greenwood Leflore Hospital has been teetering on closure for a long time. Tate Reeves has not been in that community listening to leaders for six years, six years. You know a governor should listen to the people in the community that are affected on issues, not just his corporate lobbyist buddies. And so I'm gonna go and listen to county elected officials members, the hospital board nurses, people that care about keeping that hospital open.

Greenwood Commonwealth: Presley says he'd expand Medicaid immediately

Kevin Edwards

April 18, 2023

• Brandon Presley says that, if elected governor, he would expand Medicaid on his first day in office.

• His comments came on a visit to Greenwood Saturday, made in between stops to Greenville and Grenada.

• Presley, seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, represents the Northern District on the Mississippi Public Utilities Commission. He is a native and former mayor of Nettleton.

• “We’ve turned back billions of dollars in Mississippi,” he said. “Not because of policy. Only reason we’ve turned down federal dollars for health care in Mississippi is petty, partisan, cheap politics.”

• During talks at Downtown Subs and Wings and the Leflore County Civic Center, Presley stressed that Mississippi can no longer afford to wait on Medicaid expansion.

• He said Leflore County has a clear example of the state’s ongoing rural hospital crisis — Greenwood Leflore Hospital. After losing money for years, the hospital was drained of its reserves by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Though the hospital has managed to stave off closure for at least the remainder of the year, it has had to cut jobs and reduce services.

• Presley said the Leflore County Board of Supervisors had to take a “tough vote” in passing a $10 million line of credit for the hospital. It authorizes the board to raise the county’s property taxes up to five mills if necessary.

• However, Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, has refused to consider expansion, a point that Presley made repeatedly.

• “In the state of Mississippi today, we have a governor who talks about being pro-life except when it comes to action on policies that actually save lives at a hospital,” Presley said.

• Presley said he is willing to sign an executive order to expand Medicaid, as Gov. John Bel Edwards of Louisiana did, or work with the Legislature to pass it, as was done in Arkansas.

• “It’s not rocket science,” he said, citing an estimate that 16,000 jobs can be added to Mississippi if it goes through with Medicaid expansion.

Daily Journal: Brandon Presley pushes Gov. Reeves to call special session for ballot initiative

Taylor Vance

April 17, 2023

• Brandon Presley, the Democratic candidate for governor, over the weekend urged Republican Gov. Tate Reeves to call lawmakers back into a special session to restore the state’s ballot initiative process.

• “He should have called a special session before the taillights of the legislators ever left the Capitol,” Presley told reporters.

• Legislative leaders for the second straight year failed to reach an agreement on how to restore the state’s ballot initiative, leaving voters without a way to bypass political power and directly put an issue on a statewide ballot.

• Regular legislative sessions in Mississippi typically run from the beginning of January through the beginning of April. After lawmakers adjourn the session, they cannot consider any new bills until the next year, unless the governor calls them into a special session.

• Reeves’ office did not respond to a request for comment if he intended to call a special session over the initiative, but he has previously said that he supports efforts to restore the initiative.

• Reeves, the first-term governor who is running for re-election, has been reluctant throughout his tenure to use his power to call such sessions, but he did call a special session in November for lawmakers to consider giving economic incentives to a company wanting to expand their operations in Lowndes County.

• The two legislative chambers this year tossed around different proposals, but Sen. John Polk, R-Hattiesburg, suddenly killed legislation to restore the initiative without letting senators debate or vote on the plan.

• Other than issuing vetoes, Reeves has a limited role in legislation. However, the governor can use the influence of his office to advocate for certain policies. Presley argues Reeves did too little to speak up for a restored initiative process.

• “He didn’t do one thing, lift one finger, open his mouth one time to try and save our right to vote. He never did anything to save our right to vote,” Presley said of Reeves. “He hasn’t had the backbone to stand up on that issue and restore our rights to citizens.”

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 balanced the budget every year, cut taxes twice, and got the town moving again. 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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