While elected officials at every level of the Mississippi government decide how to spend more than $ 10 billion (and more) in federal funds, Mississippi Today launched Follow the Money, a newsroom-wide project that will closely monitor these expenses and hold executives accountable.
This historic inflow of money, largely from coronavirus stimulus packages and the new infrastructure package, will provide Mississippi leaders with a unique opportunity to address generational issues such as:
- The lack of job opportunities in much of our state, leaving so many people in Mississippi stuck in a cycle of poverty and lacking the resources to get out.
- Public schools starved for resources and dependent on an unfair funding formula that has been billions of dollars underfunded since its inception.
- No access to high-speed internet, which isolates many Mississippi residents from the rest of the world and even from the nearest city.
- Crumbling roads and water systems that pose critical health and safety risks to every single Mississippi.
- A healthcare system that was never designed to care for every Mississippi regardless of where they live, race, or socioeconomic background.
The whole idea of this project is to ensure that elected officials are held publicly accountable. In Mississippi, due to a lack of transparency in government spending, contractors, lobbyists and interest groups can too often reap the benefits of large pots of money designed to improve our state. Meanwhile, the Mississippians who need help the most are missing out. And all too often, the public isn’t even aware that it’s happening.
We can’t let that happen now. In the poorest state in the nation, where so many of our neighbors are struggling, the need is simply too great and the moment too important. We dedicate a newsroom with focus and energy to asking the tough questions of decision makers and tracking every dollar.
We hope our project page will serve as a hub for Mississippians, a place where basic information about money is easily accessible and easy to understand. The site is a living, breathing thing, and we will add more resources, databases, and coverage to it.
While our team of state government reporters are uniquely positioned to cover spending at the state level, much of that money is spent locally. This is where you, the readers, come in.
City councils, aldermen, supervisory boards, and school boards will have a great deal of discretion over spending, and we need you to be our eyes and ears in these hundreds of halls. If you have any questions, concerns, or tips about using federal funds in your ward, please contact [email protected] or [email protected]. Check back soon for an interactive form that will help us respond more quickly to your comments on federal spending.
If you are following this coverage, please do not hesitate to contact us and let us know what we are missing. We want you to help us meet this required accountability.
CONTINUE READING: Our full “Follow the Money” coverage of Mississippi federal spending.
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Mississippi Today launches Follow the Money, a project that tracks federal spending by the state
While elected officials at every level of the Mississippi government decide how to spend more than $ 10 billion (and more) in federal funds, Mississippi Today launched Follow the Money, a newsroom-wide project that will closely monitor these expenses and hold executives accountable.
This historic inflow of money, largely from coronavirus stimulus packages and the new infrastructure package, will provide Mississippi leaders with a unique opportunity to address generational issues such as:
- The lack of job opportunities in much of our state, leaving so many people in Mississippi stuck in a cycle of poverty and lacking the resources to get out.
- Public schools starved for resources and dependent on an unfair funding formula that has been billions of dollars underfunded since its inception.
- No access to high-speed internet, which isolates many Mississippi residents from the rest of the world and even from the nearest city.
- Crumbling roads and water systems that pose critical health and safety risks to every single Mississippi.
- A healthcare system that was never designed to care for every Mississippi regardless of where they live, race, or socioeconomic background.
The whole idea of this project is to ensure that elected officials are held publicly accountable. In Mississippi, due to a lack of transparency in government spending, contractors, lobbyists and interest groups can too often reap the benefits of large pots of money designed to improve our state. Meanwhile, the Mississippians who need help the most are missing out. And all too often, the public isn’t even aware that it’s happening.
We can’t let that happen now. In the poorest state in the nation, where so many of our neighbors are struggling, the need is simply too great and the moment too important. We dedicate a newsroom with focus and energy to asking the tough questions of decision makers and tracking every dollar.
We hope our project page will serve as a hub for Mississippians, a place where basic information about money is easily accessible and easy to understand. The site is a living, breathing thing, and we will add more resources, databases, and coverage to it.
While our team of state government reporters are uniquely positioned to cover spending at the state level, much of that money is spent locally. This is where you, the readers, come in.
City councils, aldermen, supervisory boards, and school boards will have a great deal of discretion over spending, and we need you to be our eyes and ears in these hundreds of halls. If you have any questions, concerns, or tips about using federal funds in your ward, please contact [email protected] or [email protected]. Check back soon for an interactive form that will help us respond more quickly to your comments on federal spending.
If you are following this coverage, please do not hesitate to contact us and let us know what we are missing. We want you to help us meet this required accountability.
CONTINUE READING: Our full “Follow the Money” coverage of Mississippi federal spending.
this items first appeared on Mississippi today and is being republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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