MPA/MPS Press Releases

Contact:    Immediately
Mara Hartmann
(601) 969-2520 (office)
(601) 594-9042 (cell)
mhartma@entergy.com

Utility’s plan approved by Mississippi Public Service Commission

Jackson, Miss. –A plan by Entergy Mississippi, Inc. that will lower customer bills for September was approved today by the Mississippi Public Service Commission.

The mid-quarter fuel adjustment, proposed by Entergy Mississippi in response to an unexpected decline in natural gas prices nationwide, will reduce September residential bills by 9.6 percent. The typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month will see a savings of nearly $13.

“We are pleased that the commission has approved our proposal, and happy that our customers will soon see relief from higher fuel prices,” said Haley Fisackerly, Entergy Mississippi president and chief executive officer. “We are in a national energy crisis and are working hard to find solutions that will benefit our customers.”

Still under review by the commission is the utility’s routine fourth quarter fuel adjustment proposal. If approved it would result in an additional 9 percent reduction in customers’ bills effective October 1. Combined, the two reductions would total an 18.6 percent decrease for the utility’s residential customers.

“We are hopeful this fourth-quarter fuel adjustment will also receive commission approval and cautiously optimistic that natural gas prices will continue to fall,” Fisackerly said. “Prices are still 60 percent higher than they were last year.”

The volatility of the natural gas market caused a 28 percent increase in customers’ bills beginning July 1. This adjustment impacted customers’ bills in July and August. However, in late July prices for natural gas began dropping, leading to the proposed mid-quarter fuel adjustment.
This volatility means that fuel prices could rise again and if they do they could have a negative impact on future customer bills as natural gas is Entergy Mississippi’s largest fuel source. While Entergy Mississippi uses a diverse mix of fuel to generate electricity at the lowest reasonable cost, nearly 60 percent of the current mix is natural gas.

The company has worked to manage through the increase, which reflects the actual costs of fuel incurred by Entergy Mississippi and is passed through dollar-for-dollar to customers with no profit for the company.

Entergy Mississippi, Inc. provides electricity to more than 433,000 customers in 45 counties. It is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.6 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
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Entergy Mississippi’s online address is www.entergy-mississippi.com.

Contact:    Mara M. Hartmann
(601) 969-2520 (office)
(601) 594-9042 (cell)
mhartma@entergy.com

Entergy Mississippi, Inc. Urges Eligible Senior Citizens, Veterans to File for Stimulus Payments
Nearly $200 Million Unclaimed in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas

Jackson, Miss. – Almost $200 million in economic stimulus payments are sitting in government coffers because more than 660,000 eligible senior citizens, veterans and others in the mid-South have not filed for their share of government funds.
As many as 70,880 in Mississippi are eligible but have not yet filed for their federal economic stimulus payments, according to information supplied by the IRS. Every county in the state has residents who have not yet filed for their economic stimulus payments.
“With energy prices at all time highs and other essential costs rising to keep pace, it’s more important than ever that those who are eligible file for their federal economic stimulus payments,” said Linda Barnes, manager of low-income initiatives at Entergy Corporation. “And their time is starting to run short. Those eligible only have until Oct. 15 to file the appropriate paperwork to receive their payment this year.”
As part of its low-income program, Entergy routinely partners with the Internal Revenue Service and other agencies to spread word of available programs that can aid the poor, elderly, disabled and veteran populations in the states its utilities serve.
People who have tended not to file for the payments normally don’t file federal tax returns because their income is too low or is not subject to federal income taxes. However, if they want to receive an economic stimulus payment in 2008, they must file Form 1040A by Oct. 15.  Those eligible include people who receive at least $3,000 in earnings and/or benefits from Social Security, disability payments from the Veterans Administration, or a retired railroad worker’s pension.  For people who have no tax liability or no tax filing requirement, there is a minimum payment of $300 ($600 for married couples), plus $300 for each qualifying child.
If assistance is needed in filling out the paperwork, free help is available at IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers. Please call the IRS at 1-866-234-2942. For a list of local centers and hours of operations, go to www.irs.gov, use the link “Contact IRS” and then click on “Contact your local office.”
“We have to do everything we can to let our elderly and disabled citizens and veterans know they may be eligible for a minimum $300 payment from the federal government,” Barnes said. “It can make a huge difference in their lives with the financial pressures they are facing today.”
Entergy Mississippi, Inc. provides electricity to more than 433,000 customers in 45 counties. It is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.6 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
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Entergy Mississippi’s online address is www.entergy-mississippi.com.

Contact: Dana Meagrow
662-236-1794
info@ysp-llc.com

Oxford, MS — A new government relations and business development consulting firm has been created in Oxford, Mississippi, and will provide external affairs support and services to small and medium size businesses, associations and foundations.  The new firm will also have a targeted focus on the defense industry with a concentration on homeland security, the National Guard, Maritime Domain Awareness markets, and assisting in the growth of emerging technology companies.

Yoste Strategic Partners, LLC will conduct much of its business in Washington, DC, but will have a national reach, including work along the southern and northern borders, west coast and in the heartland of America.  The firm will be headquartered in Oxford, Mississippi, the home of Ole Miss and its founder, Geoffrey Yoste. “I choose to live and work out of Oxford because of its wonderful quality of life, and it is just an hour from the Memphis Airport, a Northwest hub with daily nonstop fights to just about anywhere,” said Yoste.  Oxford and Ole Miss will also be hosting the first Presidential Debate, Sep. 26th.

Yoste, a retired army officer has served the last four years as a director with DRS Technologies-Homeland Security Programs and SBInet. Yoste served on the staff of former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) and was an advisor to the late Governor Kirk Fordice (R-MS) handling issues ranging from armed services, maritime, energy and transportation and economic development.

Yoste said he hopes to utilize his 20-plus years of experience in politics, military, business and higher education at the national, regional and state levels to help companies build strategic business and political alliances with key influencers to help advance their client’s interests, gain access to new markets, enhance their image and grow market share.

Yoste Strategic Partners will not only help other companies pursue key Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security contracts but as a certified veteran-owned small business, the firm will be teaming with other companies and innovators to win government contracts.
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Geoffrey Yoste
Yoste Strategic Partners, LLC
the advantage of strong alliances…

128A Courthouse Square
Oxford, MS 38655
Tel: 662.202.7278
Fax: 662.236.9892

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Charlsie Russell
(228) 864-1823/(228) 861-5662 (C)
E-mail: loblollywriter@aol.com

“Escape,” Charlsie Russell beckons her readers, “into Mississippi’s past.” Rife with ‘blood, guts, and glory’; fortified with suspense; and sweetened with romance, her newest release, Wolf Dawson, accomplished that for judges of the 2008 Independent Publishers Book Awards (IPPY) and the Next Generation Indie Book Awards (Indie). In both competitions, Ms. Russell’s second title garnered the gold for the Romance Category. Wolf Dawson also placed in the Historical Category of the Indie. Sweet victories for a writer who collected her share of rejections from traditional publishers before founding Loblolly Writer’s House in 2005 and publishing on her own. Ms. Russell is also typographer, cover designer, and sales representative for her company.

Publishing services company Jenkins Group Inc. hosts the IPPY, recognizing excellence in independent publishing. This year’s judges ferreted out 450 excellent books from almost 3200 entries in 64 national categories, 20 regional categories, and 10 “Outstanding Books of the Year.” Categories include fiction and non-fiction. Entries represented 49 states, the Virgin Islands, Canada, and 16 additional countries. “The quality of this year’s entries is totally amazing, and judging was difficult…,” said Jim Barnes of Jenkins Group when announcing the winners of the 12th annual contest, “we’ve tried to highlight the best of the best.”

The Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group annually presents the Next Generation Indie Book Awards to recognize the top independently published books in 70 categories across the literary spectrum. Participants include small presses, mid-size independent publishers, university presses, e-book publishers, and self-published authors.

Wolf Dawson is both a passionate romance and a dark suspense pitting a one-time, dirt-poor Confederate soldier against the ragged remains of the aristocratic Seatons who shattered his family years before the War Between the States. No longer poor nor materially affected by the defeat that gutted the Seatons, Jeff Dawson returns to Adams County and purchases White Oak Glen, the Seaton’s ancestral home. In his shadow stalks the beastly spirit of Southern justice.

Burdened with a drunken brother and besieged with needy relatives, Juliet Seaton battles the excesses wrought by Federal tyranny for what remains of her family’s farm. Now, she faces a new menace in the form of a marauding wolf, which slaughters stock and wreaks havoc in the mind of her alcoholic brother. Jeff Dawson died in combat, Tucker Seaton warns his sister. The man occupying White Oak Glen is a ghost, who in the form of that vicious wolf seeks to destroy what is left of the Seatons.

But Juliet finds the handsome Jeff every inch a living, breathing man. His seductive touch weakens her resolve and blinds her to the danger he poses. Jeff, however, is no longer compelled to destroy the Seatons. They’ve destroyed themselves and left the vulnerable Juliet to his mercy.

Into this mix of fear and distrust comes a sadistic killer, and what this fiend kills is not Seaton livestock but Natchez’ young prostitutes. Neighbors whisper Jeff is the killer. With the countryside ablaze with suspicion, Jeff and Juliet overcome a lost generation’s hatred and set out to identify not only a killer but also the role of the spectral beast haunting White Oak Glen.

Wolf Dawson (ISBN: 978-0-9769824-1-8) is a 6X9 trade paperback retailing for $14.95. It is available in select independent bookstores and gift stores across the state. Interested readers can also purchase it online at Amazon.com.

Charlsie Russell is a proud descendent of generations of Southerners on both sides. She is a 1968 graduate of Rankin County’s Florence High School. Following graduation from Ole Miss in 1972, she received a commission in the United States Navy. She retired from the Navy in 1993 as a full commander in Naval Intelligence. She resides with her family in Gulfport, but she and her husband still own her granddaddy’s farm in Simpson County. Wolf Dawson is her second book. Her first novel, The Devil’s Bastard, is a 2007 IPPY Bronze Medal winner. To learn more about Charlsie Russell and Loblolly Writer’s House visit www.loblollywritershouse.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Charleston Arts Center, located on the Court Square in Charleston, Mississippi, will present the exhibition, “Tell Me A Story: Photographing the American South,” Sept. 14-28.

In this exhibition, the American South is pictured through the eyes of photographers including Lea Barton, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Franke West Keating, Tom Rankin, Maggie Lee Sayre, Jane Rule Burdine, Maude Schuyler Clay, Roland Freeman, Birney Imes III and Eudora Welty.

The opening of the exhibit, to feature “Unburied Treasures,” will be sponsored by the Mississippi Museum of Art at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 14, at the Charleston Arts Center.  Unburied Treasures will feature literature, live music and an informative discussion on the works presented in the exhibition.  Tickets are $5 each and may be purchased at the door.

The exhibit will be open Tuesdays from 3-6 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. and Sundays from 2-4 p.m.

Group tours are available by appointment.  Call Benjamen Douglas at (662) 402-0260 for more information.

The Charleston Arts Center is owned and operated by the Charleston Arts and Revitalization Effort.  “CARE” is a local, non-profit, grassroots organization which supports the arts in Tallahatchie County.

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Contact:
Mara Hartmann
601-969-2520 (office)
601-594-9042 (cell)
mhartma@entergy.com

Utility files fourth quarter fuel adjustment today

Jackson, Miss. – Assuming market conditions remain similar to what they are today, customers of Entergy Mississippi, Inc. should soon see further relief from high summer electric bills due to a continued drop in natural gas prices.

The utility filed for a fourth quarter fuel adjustment today that could mean bills will fall another 9 percent beginning October 1. This filing is in addition to the mid-quarter adjustment Entergy Mississippi proposed to the Mississippi Public Service Commission earlier this week that would reduce bills nearly 10 percent in September. These steps combined could reduce what customers pay for electricity from October through December by as much as 18.6 percent compared to July and August bills.

“Natural gas costs, though still high, are continuing a downward descent,” said Haley Fisackerly, Entergy Mississippi president and chief executive officer. “We are hopeful this trend will continue but remain cautiously optimistic as costs for fuel prices are affected by a number of factors worldwide, such as hurricanes, demand and higher temperatures.”

Natural gas prices skyrocketed more than 120 percent since last year, leading to a 28 percent increase in customer’s bills in July and August. In late July, prices began dropping significantly, prompting Entergy Mississippi to file the mid-quarter fuel adjustment. Today’s proposed adjustment is expected to have an even bigger impact, with residential customers paying about 9 percent less than in September.

“Natural gas prices are still up 60 percent over last year, but are trending in the right direction,” Fisackerly said. “That, coupled with lower temperatures just around the corner, means our customers should get some very welcome relief.”

Entergy Mississippi makes a routine quarterly fuel filing with the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff and the Mississippi Public Service Commission to recover costs of fuel used to provide electric service to customers. The staff reviews the costs and makes recommendations to the Mississippi Public Service Commission which adjusts the fuel component of customer rates accordingly. Both the staff and commission have 45 days prior to the start of the affected quarter to review the filing and approve or make changes before it goes into effect. By law, the utility makes no profit on fuel charges.

The fuel adjustment consists of two parts—the projected cost of natural gas for the coming quarter and the difference in the actual cost of natural gas for two quarters prior. This difference will reflect either an over- or under-recovery of costs from customers for that quarter.

Entergy Mississippi is constantly monitoring the price of fuel and taking advantage of contracts that allow the company to purchase less-expensive power. The utility also uses a diverse mix of fuels to keep costs as low as possible, and is fortunate to have a significant percentage of low-cost and stable nuclear and coal-based energy. Still, more than half of the energy provided to customers is based on natural gas.

Entergy Mississippi, Inc. provides electricity to more than 433,000 customers in 45 counties. It is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.6 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
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Entergy Mississippi’s online address is www.entergy-mississippi.com.

Entergy Mississippi, Inc.
P.O. Box 1450
Jackson, MS 39211
Contact:
Mara Hartmann
(601) 969-2520 (office)
(601) 594-9042 (cell)
mhartma@entergy.com

Rapidly falling natural gas market provides opportunity for utility to make deeper cuts

Jackson, Miss. –In response to rapidly changing market conditions, Entergy Mississippi , Inc. has recalculated a proposed reduction in utility bills, nearly doubling the original 5 percent decrease suggested just last week.
A continued decline in natural gas prices nationwide led to the recalculation, which was submitted today to the Mississippi Public Service Commission for approval.

“After seeing prices skyrocket more than 120 percent since last year, we are now watching them drop significantly,” said Haley Fisackerly, Entergy Mississippi president and chief executive officer. “In proposing a 9.6 percent reduction, we are responding to the market and doing what we can right now to bring relief to our customers as quickly as possible.”

If approved by the commission, the proposed reduction will take effect with the September billing cycle and the typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month will see a savings of nearly $13.

Entergy Mississippi uses a diverse mix of fuel to generate electricity at the lowest reasonable cost. However, nearly 60 percent of the current generation mix is natural gas. The volatility of the natural gas market caused the 28 percent increase in customers’ bills beginning July 1.

Since then, the company has worked to manage through the increase, which reflects the actual costs of fuel incurred by Entergy Mississippi and is passed through dollar-for-dollar to customers with no profit for the company.

“We know the increase has been a challenge for customers these past two months, especially with the rising price of gasoline, food and other necessities,” Fisackerly said. “That is why we are stepping outside of our normal processes to pass the savings on to our customers now that the market has changed.”

Mississippi Public Service Commission guidelines require the utility to file a fourth quarter fuel adjustment calculation on August 15, 45 days prior to the effective date of any change. Changing market conditions may allow for further reductions, but require further evaluation which is currently being performed.

The company’s third quarter fuel adjustment filed in mid-May projected natural gas prices to be approximately $10 per mmbtu on average for the third quarter. During most of July prices were significantly higher, climbing to nearly $14 per mmbtu before falling dramatically to approximately $8 per mmbtu today, prompting the early August proposal for a 5 percent decrease and today’s larger proposed decrease of nearly 10 percent.

“Even with this recent drop in fuel prices, our nation and our state remain in the midst of an energy crisis,” said Fisackerly. “Entergy Mississippi will continue to work with our national and state leaders to explore responsible solutions to our nation’s energy problems that will benefit Mississippians.”
Entergy Mississippi, Inc. provides electricity to more than 433,000 customers in 45 counties. It is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.6 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
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Entergy Mississippi’s online address is www.entergy-mississippi.com.

-Landowners Earn Average of $1,000 from AgraGate Carbon Credits Sales

For Julian Watson of Jackson, Mississippi, enrolling his 200 acres of Holmes County loblolly pines in the carbon credits market last fall required a fair amount of research. In the end, though, was an easy decision.

“I told my 96-year-old mother we’re getting paid for cleaning the air,” Watson said. “It sounds like Santa Claus, but it’s real.”

Watson, who serves on the board of the Mississippi Forest Association, is one of 269 forest owners in 16 states who this month received checks totaling $273,000 from the sale of carbon credits marketed by AgraGate Climate Credits Corporation. The money was the first installment forest owners will receive during the 15-year contract term.

“I got my first check last week,” Watson said. “I’d like to see higher prices, and maybe we’ll get them with a new president.”

The funds represent the first sale of Exchange Forestry Offsets (XFOs) by AgraGate on the Chicago Climate Exchange, according to CEO Dave Krog. Research shows that trees are very good at converting atmospheric carbon dioxide to a sequestered, stable form of carbon within the tree.

“We began collecting carbon credits from afforestation projects, or new tree plantings, in the fall of 2007,” Krog noted. “We have sold only about 17 percent of this first XFO pool, so owners can expect considerably larger payments as we complete sales later this year and early in 2009.”

Krog said that the forestry program was expanded earlier in 2008 when the Climate Exchange (CCX) approved protocols for sustainably managed “working forests.” That action has opened the carbon credits market to many other landowners. Aggregation of these credits is under way.

AgraGate collects credits from individual landowners and combines them into “pools” that can then be sold on the CCX. The company manages and administers the pools, registers projects, maintains the database of credits, interfaces with the CCX, manages the sales of the credits in the pools and distributes sales proceeds to participants.

Chicago Climate Exchange is North America’s only and the world’s first global marketplace for integrating voluntary legally binding emissions reductions with emissions trading and offsets for all six greenhouse gases. The CCX launched trading in December 2003. Member companies have voluntarily committed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Though they must reduce actual emissions, they also can purchase carbon credits to offset a portion of their carbon dioxide reduction commitment.

AgraGate, a subsidiary of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, is the leading aggregator of carbon credits from agriculture. On behalf of farmers, ranchers and private forest owners, the company has marketed more than 3 million carbon credits from enrollments in 26 states on the CCX. For more information, call AgraGate at 866-633-6758, or visit www.agragate.com.

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MEDIA CONTACT:
Ken Benkstein, The Meyocks Group
503-806-2220, kenbenkstein@meyocks.com

Contact: Dr. Billy White, Executive Director
Division of Public Safety Planning
Phone: 601-987-4155/Cell: 601-331-2721
bwhite@mdps.state.ms.us

MS Department of Public Safety
Becky Webster, Division Director
Phone: 601-987-1301/Cell: 601-594-5665
bwebster@mdps.state.ms.us

Mississippi Department of Public Safety Joins National Crackdown on Impaired Drivers August 15 – September 1

(Jackson, MS) – Impaired driving is not an accident — it’s an epidemic of careless disregard for human life.

That’s why the Mississippi Department of Public Safety’s Highway Patrol will join thousands of county and local law enforcement agencies throughout the state and nation in the upcoming Impaired Driving Enforcement Campaign August 15 through Labor Day. Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. is a national effort to prevent tragedies in Mississippi and across the United States.

Impaired driving is a deadly crime with serious consequences. Each year, more than 13,500 die on our nation’s roads due to impaired driving. The Mississippi Highway Patrol, in conjunction with Mississippi’s finest police officers, deputy sheriffs and other law enforcement agencies, will be working diligently together to help make the streets and highways safer.

“We will be aggressively looking for all impaired drivers and will arrest anyone we find driving under the influence,” said Stephen B. Simpson, Commissioner of the Department.

Driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher is illegal in every state. Yet, in 2006 there were more than 167 DUI arrests per hour in the United States, with nearly 13,500 fatalities from alcohol impaired driving crashes nationwide, of which 375 died on Mississippi roads.

“Impaired drivers are a very large threat to themselves and all those they encounter. Our goal is to get these drivers off the streets,” said Simpson. “Too many people don’t understand the gravity of their actions and the serious consequences of driving while impaired. On top of the possibility of a deadly crash, incarceration, driver’s license suspension, higher insurance rates, and numerous other expenses from attorney fees, fines, and court costs can result from just one instance of drinking and driving.”

Motorcycle riders also have a high rate of alcohol abuse in fatal crashes. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 27 percent of all fatally injured motorcyclists in 2006 were legally intoxicated, plus 41 percent of those who died in single-vehicle crashes had a BAC above the legal limit.

Underage DUI arrests constitute major traffic safety problems. The Mississippi underage driver accounts for 11.5 percent of all Mississippi drivers arrested for DUI. The most alarming fact is that these young drivers are committing two serious offenses – both drinking alcohol illegally and then driving under the influence.

In Mississippi, traffic safety indicators show a positive change from 2006 to 2007. Last year’s “Over the Limit – Under Arrest” public information and education campaign, paired with the strict traffic enforcement by state and local departments, documented that our state has made significant progress in reducing deaths on our roadways.

Though fatal crashes are down only 1 percent, traffic fatalities are down 3 percent.

Alcohol-related fatalities decreased from 375 in 2006 to 345 in 2007, representing an 8 percent over all improvement; in the same time period, DUI arrests increased from 23,693 in 2006 to 24,851 in 2007.

“In the last 29 months Governor Barbour has put 169 new troopers on the highway. This has undoubtedly contributed to the 8 percent decrease in alcohol-related fatalities,” said Col. Michael Berthay of the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

“Be smart,” said Simpson. “Don’t drink and drive. Refuse to ride with a driver who has had too much to drink. We won’t tolerate it and neither should you.”

For more information on the Impaired Driving Campaign, contact Becky Webster, bwebster@mdps.state.ms.us, or visit the national web site at www.StopImpairedDriving.org.

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Mississippi House of Representatives
Jackson, MS

On Monday the Mississippi Hospital Association sent their members a comparison of two plans to solve the Medicaid funding problem.  In order to fill the $90 million shortfall, the Governor has proposed a combination of cuts in payments for services and increased taxes on hospitals.  The House of Representatives has steadfastly supported increased tobacco taxes to solve the problem.  The Association’s comparison clearly points out the flaws in the Governor’s plan and the benefits of the House plan.

More than 80% of the state’s hospitals fare better under the House plan than under the Governor’s plan.  In addition, some of the hospitals that would gain under the Governor’s plan would receive extraordinary “windfalls” at the expense of the losers.  For example, one 25 bed hospital would receive an additional nearly $6 million annually, a 36 bed hospital would receive a more than $10 million increase and a 35 bed facility would receive another $8 million per annum.  Other hospitals would see dramatic cuts in their revenues as a result of the Governor’s plan.  Clearly in his haste to push his tax on hospitals the Governor gave little thought to his plan’s impact on individual hospitals.

After reviewing the Association report, Dirk Dedeaux, Chairman of the House Medicaid Committee, said “The Governor has consistently opposed raising taxes on cigarettes to fund Medicaid and other healthcare needs, and now we see the result of his obstinacy.  The House continues to support taxing those things that cause healthcare problems like tobacco and to oppose taxes on healthcare providers.”

Contact: Rep. Cecil Brown at 601-982-4123; Rep. Dirk Dedeaux at 228-216-3475.