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Mississippi News
- 08/31/08 - Three Years After: The Failure to Learn From Katrina
- 08/27/08 - Hundreds of Workers Held in Immigration Raid
- 08/27/08 - Monsanto's Roundup & GE Cotton Spawn Pigweed Epidemic in America's Cotton Fields
- 08/22/08 - Grassroots Direct Action: San Francisco Voters Nov. 4 Will Tell Their Congress Reps to Defund the War
- 08/21/08 - Cuisine in the Age of Chaos: The Dead Zone Diet
- 08/21/08 - Mad Cow USA: The Cover-up Continues
- 08/11/08 - Organic Movement Taking Root
- 07/25/08 - FEMA Seeks Immunity From Suits Over Trailer Fumes
- 07/24/08 - Has Your Town Declared Peace Yet?
- 07/18/08 - As Price of Grain Rises, Catfish Farms Dry Up
- 07/09/08 - More Medicare Heat
- 06/30/08 - States Taking Initiative on Environmental & Climate Crisis while Feds Do Little or Nothing
- 06/11/08 - Move Over MoveOn: Grassroots Netroots Alliance (GNA) Launches New Progressive Campaign to 'Press the Politicians'
- 05/23/08 - Why a Gulf Wetlands May Become a City
- 05/15/08 - How Obama WON Tuesday, Even Though He Lost WV Primary
- 05/15/08 - Center for American Progress: What Are You Paying for the War?
- 05/09/08 - Respiratory Illness Rose in Children After Katrina Hit
- 04/11/08 - Oil Reserve Site Raises Ire, Bush Policy Tested
- 04/04/08 - FEMA Trailer Hazard Precipitates New Study
- 03/27/08 - Immigration Policy in the States- Mid-session Developments
- 03/14/08 - Black and Brown Together
- 02/28/08 - States Criminalizing Immigrant Workers through State "Identity Theft" Legislation
- 02/16/08 - Sham Mississippi Hazwaste Operator Jailed
- 02/02/08 - Agriculture is Altering Mississippi River Chemistry
- 01/20/08 - Election Fraud & Paperless Ballots: Congress Must Act Fast to Address Looming National Emergency
Submit News Stories
Government Trailers Found to Contain Toxic Chemical- Please Assist Victims of Katrina
A Center for Disease Control (CDC) study release on Wednesday confirmed fears that the government trailers that have been housing victims of Hurricane Katrina are giving off dangerous chemicals. The CDC study found emissions of toxic chemicals to be four to eleven times higher in the trailers, than in the average US home.
It is believed that the main danger is from the chemical formaldehyde, which is found in many building materials, such as wood glue. Formaldehyde. Combined with the trailers' poor ventilation, many fear that people, especially children, who have stayed in the trailers for extended periods of time, could face lifelong health complications. Many children who stayed in trailers have since come down with various respiratory problems such as asthma, and formaldehyde is a considered a probable carcinogen.
The CDC is now urging that everyone be moved out of the government trailers. Please contact your representative and urge them to assist the victims of Katrina. Ask them to make sure that everyone is moved into safe housing, and that the government continues to provide housing for victims of Katrina. Additionally, please ask them to make sure that people who have been housed in these trailers have access to medical care to monitor for and treat any illness that arises from chemical exposure.
Take
Action
CDC
Report
Children
in Katrina Trailers May Face Lifelong Ailments (Associated
Press)
Mississippi's 2008 Legislative Roundup
From Progressive States Network)
While the Mississippi Legislature adjourned its regular session in April after approving a $5 billion budget, lawmakers will be back in the Capitol soon for a special session to address unresolved legislation, including Medicaid funding woes and keeping the Department of Employment Security open. With a session dominated by attacks on immigrants, multiple attempts to suppress voting, and giveaways to state utility companies, the positive accomplishments of the legislature during the short 2008 legislative session were limited.
Education was one priority for state legislators this session with HB 513 authorizing full funding for the state's public schools, the first time such legislation has passed in a non-election year.
- SB 2176 approved incremental salary increases for teachers with 25 years of service, which may help slow the exodus of experienced teachers.
- SB 2149 strengthened accountability measures for school superintendents from under-performing districts.
Ethic reforms were passed to hold politicians and judges more accountable to the public.
- SB 2983, a monumental Ethics Reform bill, expands the information required on the statements of economic interest that are filed with the state Ethics Commission, increases the number of public officials who must file the statements, and gives the Commission authority to levy a daily fine on persons who fail to file a report. The public will be able to view the statements on the Commission's website beginning in 2010.
- SB 2571 strengths education and competency requirements for Justice Court judges. Judges must now pass a competency exam before taking the bench. Additionally, judges pay will be increased to match that of county supervisors and the court's civil jurisdiction will be raised from $2,500 to $3,500.
On the other hand, the bad bills debated and passed by the legislature consumed the session:
Anti-Immigrant Legislation: The legislature approved SB 2988,
which requires companies to use E-Verify to check the citizenship
status of their employees. The law allows any law enforcement agency
to arrest unauthorized workers, who will then face felony charges, no
access to bail, and jail time from one to five years and fines from
$1,000 to $10,000. Their employers, on the other hand, may become
ineligible for public contracts for up to 3 years and/or lose their
business permit for up to 1 year. While Governor Haley Barbour signed
the bill, even he noted that "the federal government itself has said
E-Verify is not a reliable system" and emphasized that small employers
are exempt until 2011.
Bad energy legislation: SB 2793
gives utility regulators the power to authorize gradual rate increases
for customers as Mississippi Power plans a new continuously-operating,
clean coal-burning plant. Previously, the Public Service Commission
allowed utility companies such as Mississippi Power to increase rates
to recoup building costs only when it "flips the switch" on new
plants. This bill not only puts an unfair burden on Mississippi rate
payers to fund a plant that will also serve other states, but is a step
backwards for environmentalist.
Voter Suppression: Mississippi was embroiled in debate over an ever-changing omnibus election law bill all session. Against the backdrop of a scandal where one election official, acting without authorization, purged approximately 10,000 voters from the rolls in a single county, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann lobbied hard for legislation that would de-register any voter who did not vote in the upcoming presidential election. He also supported HB 969, which would have greatly expanded the disenfranchisement of felons in the state. In the end, the only bill that passed, SB 2510, merely authorized a study of election law to be completed by the end of the year, allowed curbside voting by physically disabled voters, and slightly tightened absentee ballot procedures. There was also a strong push for a voter ID bill, which eventually died when the House refused to take it up. Without a doubt it has been a year of struggle for supporters of voting rights in Mississippi , but their efforts have paid off as they were able to thwart a series of attacks on voters in their state.
Missed Opportunity on Toxic Toys: Governor Barbour also vetoed a bill to protect children from lead in toys. HB 1240, passed by the state's legislature, would have required that any manufacturer who sells children's toys that do not adhere to federal standards could be in violation of the Mississippi Consumer Protection Act. It also says the state attorney general should keep a running list of toys that are found to be defective.
Take Action. Support Green Jobs!
The Green Jobs Act of 2007 authorized $125 million per year to create an Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Worker Training Program as an amendment to the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). The Green Jobs Act (GJA) is an initial pilot program to identify needed skills, develop training programs, and train workers for jobs in a range of industries - including energy efficient building, construction and retrofits, renewable electric power, energy efficient vehicles, biofuels, and manufacturing that produces sustainable products and uses sustainable processes and materials. It targets a broad range of populations for eligibility, but has a special focus on creating "green pathways out of poverty."
Congress has not yet appropriated money for the Green Jobs Act. Please contact your Senator today and urge them to fund the Green Jobs Act of 2007!
Read more at Green for All's web site.
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