Rep. Jason White discusses plans for new role as Speaker of the House

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - The Mississippi House of Representatives will have a new leader in 2024. Republican House members elected Rep. Jason White to serve as the next Speaker of the House.

“Feels good, but it also comes with a whole lot of responsibility,” said White.

And he’s got a short list of priorities that he admits are big issues to tackle but ones he doesn’t think can afford to be ignored. Among those is access to healthcare coverage.

“I do know it’s an issue we have not devoted enough time and brainpower to it,” said White. “My Republican colleagues have gotten a bad rap for not doing that, and I intend to change that we’re going to really dig in. I’m gonna put some smart people on it and we’re gonna see what we can get done in that arena.”

He’s not saying that’s necessarily Medicaid expansion but wants the options to be discussed openly. And there’s another voter-driven issue that White says his colleagues had repeated questions about on the campaign trail this year.

“The House, we do intend to bring some legislation forward to reinstate that initiative process, we intend to do that early in the session,” White explained.

The Public Employees’ Retirement System known as PERS and finding ways to make it more sustainable is an issue he knows will take time to address but one he’d like to see lawmakers examine more closely.

“I do look for us to tackle that big problem and try to come up with some long-term solutions to make it stable going forward so that folks know they can count on their retirement,” said White.

White thinks there have been big strides in education improvements but...

“There’s still room for improvement in our accountability model with our public schools,” he noted. ‘There’s room for improvement in our funding formula, to be sure the money is going where it’s supposed to go. And our priorities are reflected in that funding.”

Finally, he’d like to look at parental choice and ensure zip codes are the only factor in where kids go to school.

The legislative session will begin January 2 and a formal vote by the full House will be needed to make White’s Speaker position official.

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