BROOKHAVEN — Rep. Becky Currie was given a baptism by fire this summer as she took over the Corrections Committee Chair position and visited prisons across Mississippi. She quipped while she has been in the legislature the longest she asks her colleagues Sen. Jason Barrett and Rep. Vince Mangold for help.

As usual, Barrett opened up the forum with Rep. Becky Currie speaking second and Rep. Vince Mangold wrapping everything up. Barrett is a lawyer, Currie is a nurse and Mangold is a farmer and together they work well. 

She said it could be a stalemate year as there are several senate seats up for election. Currie said the biggest issue will be medicaid. A large portion of her bills pertain to medical and healthcare. 

“We all gripe about health care bills but when you pay you are also paying for the 10 people who didn’t pay,” Currie said. “It will continue until we can get them covered. We need to keep our workforce up and going. With administration changing in January the work requirement should be approved. We have left billions and billions in dollars on the table which could have helped our hospitals.”

Currie did mention she would look into issues with the 911 Fund. Sheriff Steve Rushing has said in the past there are millions of dollars from a 911 tax which has been left alone by the state. She assured Rushing and Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency Director Chris Reid that she would look into it. 

She turned her focus next to the conversations about tax cuts and told the board the tax cuts should not affect city or county governments. 

“The proof is in the pudding as you well know, but the plan is to not affect you,” Currie said. 

She plans to file a bill funding the purchase of bullet proof vests for law enforcement agencies. Last year, a bill to do the same thing was not passed into law. Another bill she will introduce again this year would exempt the civic center from paying taxes on beverages sold there. 

Chair of Corrections

Currie said the fact she is the Chair of the house Corrections committee is “hard to believe.” She is tasked with fixing issues in the Mississippi prison system. Over the summer, she visited many prisons and worked to identify problems and solutions. 

“The healthcare in prisons is a broken system. We will be doing some workforce legislation for prisons as well,” Currie said. “We are raising the pay for sheriffs if they hold a state prisoner. We would try to put two state inmates with two years left and have been well behaved, they come and live in your jail. MDOT would pick them up and they would work, cut grass or whatever they need in our area to keep it clean and beautiful. They would get paid a full wage. Pay their fines and fees so when they get out. They will have some money in their pocket. He will be able to help his family.”

Mississippi has a 77 percent recidivism rate, Currie said. The committee will work to change that rate with legislation this year. District 3 Supervisors John David Hart asked if the county would be able to employ non-violent inmates for road work. District 1 Supervisor Jerry Wilson perked up when Hart spoke. Currie said no other county had mentioned that idea. 

“I think it would be a great idea,” Wilson said.