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Empower Mississippi is committed to helping all Mississippians rise by removing barriers to opportunity. In this podcast, we talk with state and national experts about ways the Magnolia State can grow and thrive. These conversations help shape the debate for future legislative sessions and highlight policy changes that are necessary to make Mississippi the best place in America to live, work, and raise a family.
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Interview Library
Written by Empower Mississippi Russ Latino: Veepstakes, Punditry, and Neshoba Dust-ups It’s been a crazy few weeks in politics: an assassination attempt on a presidential candidate, Biden announced he is not running again, Trump picked his running mate, the RNC Convention occurred, and last week was Mississippi’s Giant House Party, the Neshoba County Fair, with all…
Written by Empower Mississippi Dr. Kymyona Burk: Mississippi’s Historic Literacy Gains This week, host Grant Callen sat down with Dr. Kymyona Burk, formerly the State Literacy Director at the Mississippi Department of Education, who oversaw implementation of the Literacy-Based Promotion Act of 2013, a bill championed by then Governor Phil Bryant. Often when great policy gets…
Written by Empower Mississippi Mike Hurst: Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party Part two of the series with the party chairmen, host Grant Callen sat down with the recently elected chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party, Mike Hurst. A Newton County native, Mike discussed growing up in rural Mississippi, raising a large family, and the momentum…
Written by Empower Mississippi State Rep. Cheikh Taylor: Chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party Part one of a two-part series with the party chairmen, host Grant Callen sat down with State Representative, Cheikh Taylor, newly reelected Chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party. The Starkville native, with his community in mind and the backing of his predecessor,…
Written by Empower Mississippi Andy Taggart: Forty Years In Mississippi Politics Taking the Empower Podcast on the road, host Grant Callen traveled to Ocean Springs to sit down with Andy Taggart to discuss his forty years in Mississippi politics. Andy’s political career started as Political Director at the Mississippi Republican Party, then Executive Director of the…
Written by Empower Mississippi 2024 Legislative Session Recap with Wil Ervin The 2024 Legislative Session has finally come to a close. As we look back at this 125+ day session, there were some really good bills passed, but there were also a lot of things left on the table. Generally, we saw a lot of progress made across…
Capitol Chat Library
Written by Empower Mississippi Capitol Chat: Sine Die Lawmakers returned to Jackson expecting veto overrides, but what followed was one of the more unusual endings to a legislative session in recent memory. We unpack the final day’s twists, the political fallout, and close the book on the 2026 session.
Written by Empower Mississippi Capitol Chat: Week 13 The 2026 legislative session is over… or is it? We break down the budget, education legislation, and a host of other bills that made it across the finish line during a busy week at the Capitol.
Written by Empower Mississippi Capitol Chat: Week 12 In this Conference Weekend Edition of Capitol Chat, we break down key dates and legislative processes for the remaining 9 days of the 2026 Session. We also dive into the latest on teacher pay raises, PBM reform, a controversial veto, and banning lab-grown milk.
Written by Empower Mississippi Capitol Chat: Week 11 With only a few weeks remaining in the 2026 legislative session, lawmakers are narrowing their focus. This week, we take a look at three issues dominating discussions at the Capitol and what’s on the horizon as the 2026 session winds down.
Written by Empower Mississippi Capitol Chat: Week 10 At the Mississippi Capitol, nothing is truly dead until it’s dead, dead, dead. This week’s episode features the resurrection of teacher pay raises, movement on pharmacy benefit manager reform, and the latest on a controversial NIL tax proposal.
Written by Empower Mississippi Capitol Chat: Week 9 With only 30 days remaining in the 2026 legislative session, we cover some of the hottest topics at the Capitol: NIL, teacher pay, and school choice.