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Debate in Mississippi over responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

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These pages were updated from March 2020 through June 2020 and do not contain the latest commentary available. To submit arguments for inclusion on this page, email editor@ballotpedia.org. To learn how Ballotpedia decides which arguments to feature, click here.


Ballotpedia is providing comprehensive coverage of how the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is affecting America's political and civic life. In addition to monitoring federal, state, and local responses to the coronavirus, we are also capturing the nationwide and local debates on whether to extend or lift coronavirus-related restrictions affecting the economy, schools, government operations, public health, religious services, and travel.

These arguments come from a variety of sources, including public officials, journalists, think tanks, economists, scientists, and other stakeholders. We encourage you to share the debates happening in your local community to editor@ballotpedia.org.


This article covers the debate over continuing restrictions and closures in Mississippi in response to the coronavirus pandemic. You will find the following:


Debate over stay-at-home orders in Mississippi

See also: Debate over stay-at-home orders during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

This section includes a sampling of statements made by public officials, influencers, and stakeholders on the stay-at-home order in Mississippi.

  • Governor Tate Reeves (R) (Business Insider): On May 1, Mississippi reported its highest number of new cases and deaths: 397 and 20, respectively. Governor Tate Reeves responded to the report by delaying a plan to re-open retail businesses that agreed to follow social distancing measures.

    "Things can change quickly. We have to stay flexible. Today, I was prepared to announce further reopenings. That was the plan and I was excited to get more of our people back to work. … This was a large enough change to make me take a step back. … I have come to the conclusion that I must hold on for now." - "Mississippi's governor backtracked on ending the state's lockdown after the state saw its biggest increase in coronavirus deaths and cases," May 3, 2020.

  • State Senator Chris McDaniel (R-42) (Independent): Mississippi State Senator Chris McDaniel (R-42) said that he supported lifting the lockdown to mitigate the effects on unemployment.

    "People are ready to get back to work. … There is some despair. People have a lot more time on their hands with the anxiety and the joblessness. The process for unemployment has become cumbersome and slow and getting more upset by the day." - "Coronavirus: Conservative groups push White House to reopen economy," April 14, 2020.

  • Governor Tate Reeves (R) (Fox News): Governor Tate Reeves (R) explained his decision to ease Mississippi’s stay-at-home restrictions by allowing certain businesses to re-open at limited capacity effective April 27.

    "We always knew that we weren't going to be able to stop the spread of the virus, that we were trying to slow the spread to protect our health care system and we feel confident at this point that we have been able to do that. … You cannot shutter businesses for months and months and expect they're just going to come back and be ready to go because even with the massive amounts of federal help, people in our state -- and I think people across the country -- are hurting." - "Mississippi governor on moving forward with reopening: “We feel confident”," April 30, 2020.

  • Don Hartness, organizer of a Reopen Mississippi protest on April 25 (Jackson Free Press): Don Hartness urged Governor Tate Reeves (R) to immediately lift Mississippi’s stay-at-home order.

    "We want the ability to 100 percent open and let the American people and Mississippians make the choice if you want to go into that business. … It should be up to the people, it should be up to the restaurant people, the catering companies—anybody that owns a business—it ought to be up to you." - "'Reopen Mississippi' Protesters Demand Governor to Reopen State Amid Pandemic," April 27, 2020.

  • Governor Tate Reeves (R) (WLOX): On April 17, 2020, Governor Tate Reeves extended Mississippi’s shelter-in-place order until April 27, but said that he supported lifting it soon.

    "The burden is being shouldered by working-class Mississippians. … [T]hose are the people without income for weeks. That’s not fair, and that’s not right." - "Gov. extends statewide shelter-in-place order until April 27, loosens some restrictions," April 17, 2020.


Debate over school closures in Mississippi

See also: Debate over school closures during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

This section includes a sampling of statements made by public officials, influencers, and stakeholders on school closures in Mississippi.

We have not yet identified any statements related to this topic or state. To suggest a statement, email us.


Debate over religious service restrictions in Mississippi

See also: Debate over religious service restrictions during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

This section includes a sampling of statements made by public officials, influencers, and stakeholders on religious service restrictions in Mississippi.

  • Errick Simmons (D), Mayor of Greenville, Mississippi (AP News): Temple Baptist Church in Greenville, Mississippi sued Mayor Errick Simmons after city police disbanded a drive-in church service. Simmons responded to the lawsuit by saying that the city would allow drive-in religious services, following guidance from Governor Tate Reeves.

    "The governor stated today ... for the very first time that drive-in church services where families stay in their cars with windows up are safe." - "Mayor: Drive-in church, with windows up, OK during pandemic," April 15, 2020.

  • U.S. Attorney General William Barr (R) (Fox News): U.S. Attorney General William Barr explained the Justice Department’s decision to file a statement of interest in support of Temple Baptist Church.

    "Today, the Department filed a Statement of Interest in support of a church in Mississippi that allegedly sought to hold parking lot worship services, in which congregants listened to their pastor preach over their car radios, while sitting in their cars in the church parking lot with their windows rolled up. … The City of Greenville fined congregants $500 per person for attending these parking lot services – while permitting citizens to attend nearby drive-in restaurants, even with their windows open. … The City appears to have thereby singled churches out as the only essential service (as designated by the state of Mississippi) that may not operate despite following all CDC and state recommendations regarding social distancing." - "DOJ intervenes in Mississippi drive-in church case, says city's actions 'target religious conduct'," April 14, 2020.

  • Errick Simmons (D), Mayor of Greenville, Mississippi (Washington Times): Errick Simmons defended the city’s decision to ticket attendees of a drive-in church service at Temple Baptist Church.

    "[O]f course this is no infringement on the right to religion, the right to worship, although it impacts our traditional way of gathering to worship, it does not prevent us from worshiping. … We need our pastors and our worship leaders to be creative during this unprecedented time and a lot of churches are doing that." - "Mississippi church to sue city government for crackdown on 'drive-in' church service," April 10, 2020.

  • Kristen Waggoner (Twitter): Kristen Waggoner, Senior Vice President of the Alliance Defending Freedom, argued that the drive-in service at Temple Baptist Church should have been permitted. Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative nonprofit, filed the lawsuit on behalf of Temple Baptist Church.

    "If govt allows waiting in the car at Sonic it should permit a drivethru Easter service. Safety is critical. So is following the Constitution. First Amendment isn’t completely suspended nor does govt have unlimited authority to target churches however they please. There are limits." - "Twitter," April 9, 2020.


Debate over election policy in Mississippi

See also: Debate over election policies and procedures during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

This section includes a sampling of statements made by public officials, influencers, and stakeholders on election policies in Mississippi.


Debate over CARES Act funding in Mississippi

See also: Debate over election policies and procedures during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

This section includes a sampling of statements made by public officials, influencers, and stakeholders on whether the governor or the state legislature should have authority to distribute CARES Act funding in Mississippi.

  • Governor Tate Reeves (R) (WAPT): Governor Tate Reeves (R) argued that he would be able to distribute Mississippi’s CARES Act funding more quickly than the legislature.

    "The lieutenant governor said he believes we should change our emergency funding plan to delay using CARES Act funds for weeks or months to help people because, 'It's not like we had a Katrina event here.’ … It misunderstands the severity of this crises [sic] for the 170,000 people who have lost their job. The small business(es) that have vanished. The people who have died. And this kind of delay would seriously harm our efforts to keep people safe." - "Governor, legislators in showdown over CARES Act spending," May 1, 2020.

  • Speaker Philip Gunn (R) (Mississippi Today): The Mississippi state legislature voted almost unanimously to transfer Mississippi’s $1.25 billion in CARES Act funding into a fund that it controlled. Speaker Philip Gunn argued that legislature rather than the governor should decide how to distribute the funds.

    "The governor says that by letting him spend the money he can get it where it needs to go more quickly. … That makes for a good sound bite, but what voice does that give the citizens in that decision making process? Who speaks for the citizens in that process? Under our system of government, the only place and the one place where the citizens have the voice in how their taxpayer dollars are spent is in the Legislature." - "Lawmakers strip Gov. Tate Reeves’ spending authority of more than $1.25 billion in federal coronavirus aid," May 1, 2020.

  • Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann (R) (WAPT): Lt. Gov. Hosemann said that he supported giving the legislature authority to distribute Mississippi’s CARES Act funding.

    "This will be transparent, fast, and it will be organized by the people you have elected to spend the money. … We are not handicapping the executive branch when they have a tornado. We are not calling the National Guard. I called the National Guard, they're fine. We're not saying you can't buy PPE. We're not saying you can't do emergency declarations. None of that is being discussed. It's the long-term expenditure of $1.25 billion that we're talking about today." - "Governor, legislators in showdown over CARES Act spending," May 1, 2020.

  • Former Governor Haley Barbour (R) (Clarion Ledger): Haley Barbour argued that the governor rather than the legislature should have the authority to distribute the emergency funds.

    "Common sense says we want to move fast, we want to be able to tell the federal government what we want to do (with the money), and be sure they're not going to object to it. … And somebody has to be in charge, not 174 people." - "Mississippi lawmakers, Gov. Reeves set for clash over who controls $1.25B in federal coronavirus money," April 30, 2020.


Responses to the coronavirus in Mississippi

See also: Government responses to and political effects of the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 (Mississippi)


Click the links below for more on responses to the coronavirus pandemic in Mississippi.

General resources

The chart below shows coronavirus statistics from countries across the world. The information is provided by Real Clear Politics.

Click the links below to explore official resources related to the coronavirus outbreak.


See also

Footnotes

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Political responses to the coronavirus pandemic, 2020-2021
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Federal policy responses • State government responses • Local government responses • Diagnosed or quarantined incumbents, candidates, and officials • State legislative session changes • State legislative responses • State executive orders • Eviction and foreclosure policies • Travel restrictions • School responses (2021-2022) • School responses (2020-2021) • School responses (2019-2020) • State court closures • Stay-at-home order status • States that issued stay-at-home orders • States that did not issue stay-at-home orders • Changes to ballot measure campaigns and policies • Changes to vote-by-mail and absentee voting procedures • Initial key federal official responses • Arguments in support of and opposition to government responses • Lawsuits • Multistate agreements • Non-governmental plans to reopen • Unemployment filings • Analysis articles • Paycheck Protection Program • Mask requirements • School budget changes • State budgets • Federal definitions of essential and nonessential businesses • Federal aid to states • Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program • State emergency power authority • Changes to state emergency power authority • Municipal emergency power authority • Halloween guidelines • Vaccine distribution plans • State plans to end federal unemployment • Changes to emergency power laws • Active COVID-19 emergency orders • State vaccine requirement (vaccine passport) policies • Recalls related to the pandemic • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance on school responses to the coronavirus • State employee vaccine requirements • Healthcare worker vaccine requirements
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