The Extra Mile Podcast: Legislative Session
MS Speaker of the House Jason White

(Will Craft) Thank you for subscribing to The Extra Mile Podcast. Help us out by leaving a review and a five-star rating wherever you download the show. After leaving a review, slide on into our DMS over on social media @MississippiDOT, and let us know. As a thank you, we have compiled a Google map list of all of our guests’ favorite spots to eat on Mississippi highways. It is our gift to you.

Seriously, you guys are the best. We could not do the show without you. And we greatly appreciate the support. Remember, drive smart out there on Mississippi Highways.

(Marshall Ramsey) Hey everyone. I'm Marshall Ramsey. I spent a lot of time driving along Mississippi's highways, and I know firsthand the importance of safe driving. So, put down your phone, ditch the distractions, and pay attention to the roads. It's that simple. Drive smart for roadside workers, for your family, and for yourself.

[Music and Intro]

(Paul Katool) Welcome into another edition of the extra mile podcast legislative session presented by the Mississippi Department of Transportation. I'm mdot deputy director of public affairs, Paul Katool. And as always, I'm joined by my co-host Will Craft, the director of public affairs here at the agency. In the midst of the third week of the legislative session, we've got a fantastic guest for you today.

We have Mississippi's brand-new Speaker of the House of Representatives, Jason White, who was first elected to the House in 2011 and represents District 48, which is Attala, Carroll, Holmes, and Leake Counties. I had to get a pronunciation on Attala before the, uh, before the show.

(Will) Nailed it.

(Paul) There we go. There we go. Speaker White, first of all, thank you so much for coming in and joining us today. We know you have; you are a very busy man these days. Uh, first time guest, so kind of give us a little bit of background information on yourself, particularly why did you decide to get into politics and become a public servant?

(Jason White) Very good. I'll answer that. But first, I want to thank you, you and, and will for having me over, you know, y'all, y'all kind of got the reputation around the campus. This is the coolest podcast around what's going on. So, um, y'all may need to take the show on the road. That's right. No pun intended with him.

Um, no, thanks for the opportunity to be here. It's good. Um, we have gotten a session kicked off and going and you know, right now, everybody's still in a good mood and we hadn't, we hadn't debated any hotly contested bills or policy yet. So, everybody's still speaking to each other and going to lunch and it's all good.

So, um, this is my beginning of my fourth session. I've been in the legislature 12 years, as you said, from 2012, representing parts of those counties, Attala, Caroll, Holmes and Leake counties. Um, I live in the little town of West. It's about 250 folks there. It's my wife's hometown. Um, and I practice law in Kosciusko, which is kind of the center of my legislative district with Carthage and Kosciusko being the two big towns in my district, if you will.

(Will) The metropolitan areas.

(Jason) Metropolitan areas. That's right. The trade centers. Um, but you know, my, I have clients and constituents that remind me often to some folks, it's the capital of the world.

(Will) That's right.

(Jason) Um, we love the hometown feel that you get from our district. And, and so we're, we're working hard to preserve and, and, uh, um, background for me, I, um, like I said, I grew up in Kosciusko.

I went to school at Mississippi College and then I went to law school here at Mississippi College, just right across the street. Um, and I kid with some folks during my three years in law school here at Mississippi College downtown. I drove by the Capitol every day. I don't even remember looking out my window at the Capitol and thinking, boy, I'd like to go in there and be a part of that one.

I mean, I knew what went on there. I just, I wasn't from a political family and politics really wasn't part of our, you know, history, so to speak. Had certainly, you know, nobody in my family had run for public office. So anyway, um, it's fast forwarded all these years, 25 years later and I'm there every day now, you know, so it's, it's, it's pretty neat for me.

And, uh, you know, what's the saying in “man plans, and God laughs.” And so, I never planned to be at the Capitol, much less, you know, being this involved. So that part's been a cool ride. But when I graduated law school in 98, I moved back home. Um, we live in west, and I practice law there in Kosciusko and been there the entire time.

Um, I've served as a city judge. Um, um, I've also served as what we call a youth court referee, which is where you hear cases involving, you know, youth that have had run-ins with the law. So, I've kind of, I also served the city of Kosciusko as their city attorney. So, I've been involved in different aspects of, of, um, local government, if you will, that kind of exposed me to this side of, you know, to the government side of it.

And in addition, A Board of Aldermen spot came open in the town of West and some of my neighbors, uh, one of which is a long time, 35-year employee of MDOT, Ricky Farmer, who runs y'all's maintenance barn there in Holmes County in Durant. He's the head guy there, a great guy, great ambassador for y'all and a great neighbor to our community.

Um, but Ricky encouraged me, said you should run for this Board of Aldermen spot. Well, I did, and I think I got 40 votes and I won of the, you know, 50 that were cast. But here's the tricky part of the politics I didn't really consider. My mother-in-law is the mayor, so fast forward, you know, all these years later when I got to the legislature, somebody said, Jason, you're a nice guy, you'll never, you'll never last around this place, it's, it's rough and tumble and its tricky politics, dude, and I'm like.

Let me tell you something. I was able to negotiate a deal where my mother-in-law was the mayor, and I sat on the Board of Aldermen, and I still get invited to holiday dinners. So, um, I think I can handle what's going on here at the legislature. So, anyway, um, when we're not working at home or in politics, we enjoy, you know, a lot of hunting, a little bit of fishing, but a lot of hunting.

My son and I do a lot of duck hunting and deer hunting, and so that's, if I have a hobby, that would be it outside of, um, politics and work. So, my law practice is a typical small town law practice. We do a little bit of all of it, including, as I said, representing the city of Kosciusko as well as several light utility boards, water boards, uh, Kosciusko Water and Light, things like that.

So, it gives you an opportunity to plug in and out of the community, you know, in things that touch everybody. Um, and you get a real sense of what's going on, you know, in your community.

(Will) That's right.

And not to say not the least of these at all, but a big hobby. I know football family.
We got QB one coming down to Southern Miss. We don't have to get too far off into that, but very much looking forward to that.

(Jason) We are. We're excited about that. John actually graduated early in December. This is his senior year of high school, and he will, He's actually moving into the dorm this weekend, Southern Miss.

(Will) I got my, got my, my gear on today.

(Jason) What do they say? Southern Miss to the top. We're excited about that for him. He's worked hard. And so, it's, it's been cool to see that, um, you know, dream be realized for him to get to play. And so, we're, we're looking forward to hanging out in Hattiesburg a lot more.

In the hub city, my good friend, Toby Barker is the mayor and y'all know he was a member in the legislature with us before he became mayor of Hattiesburg. So, we're excited about getting to be down there more and spend time there.

(Will) The good mayor is a fine fraternity brother of mine. So, the roots run deep. Love me some Hattiesburg down there.

(Jason) Maybe we can talk off the podcast.

(Will) That's right. I have to give you all the stories. That's right. Well, and you just mentioned a lot of this. You weren't thrust necessarily into politics but found your way into public service. How about becoming the speaker? I know this has kind of been a new thing. Getting kicked off right now. Talk a little about that experience.

(Jason) Well, that's kind of been a, I've been in the legislature 12 years and it's something, you know, some of the local press were They were interviewing and I was digging them a little bit because they said well when is the coronation taking place or you were just handed the speakership and I'm like, man, we've been working hard for 12 years helping people, um, you know, accomplish their goals.

We didn't just wake up, you know, and then they were kidding me. I said, oh, well, Speaker Gunn anointed you, you know, the next speaker and that sort of thing. Look, we worked hard. And he did place me in roles. First, I was my, in my second term, he made me chairman of rules, which is, uh, lots of legislation goes through that committee, but it's strictly commending resolutions where you're doing a resolution congratulating somebody on retirement or somebody's hundredth birthday or 25 years in business or what, or whatever it is.

So, most of that stuff is commending resolutions, which sound, you know, pretty, pretty lighthearted and not heavy legislation, but every member in the chamber, all 122. They want to recognize their local folks, so they come to see the rules chairman. And I was able to help those people get their stuff through, get their people there to recognize them on the floor.

And so, I got to know every member of the legislature, Republican, Democrat, black, white, from Tishomingo County all the way to the Gulf Coast, and you got to learn about kind of what's important to those members, you know, and as small as our state is and as few people as we have. It's still very diverse.

You know, what's important in DeSoto County is totally different then what's important in Leake County in Carthage in the middle of my district or what's important in the Pine Belt and so you got to learn the different areas of the state and the specific members and the things that kind of make them tick and so that was great Exposure for me to the body as a whole and then the last four years Um, the speaker, um, nominated me, if you will, to be his speaker pro team, which is kind of the number number two guy.

Um, and in that role, your kind of just more of, you don't really have a real policy committee, but you plug in on major issues wherever. So, um, you know, I was able to plug in on the The Modernization Infrastructure Act, y'all remember when we did that and finally started doing some real diversions on the use tax that went to, um, infrastructure, specifically things that are near and dear to y'all's heart for sure, but, but also are to all Mississippians.

So, um, it was fun to, to be involved in that and help craft that and then fast forward, whether you're talking about, you know, our, our major initiatives to cut taxes, um, and, and some other things, you know, I got, I got to play roles in that. Count votes, that's, that's a bunch of the pro tems time is you're meeting with members to find out where they are on an issue, especially major initiatives that speaker wants to push.

So that allowed me to, to really, you know, get to hang out and know each member as you're working through with them, their issues or what their problem is with MDOTS legislation, you know, what can we do to make it palatable to you or for your district to get it to where you know, you want to support it.

So, um, that’s kind of a little bit of my legislative career history. And while none of those roles other than the protim role maybe work would have been considered high profile, they did allow me to be in lots of different circles that maybe I wouldn't normally have been in with within the membership.

Um, and, and so that was neat to, to develop those relationships that I think have kind of served us well as we've been trying to figure this out and and gain the support for Speaker. Um, which, which we were able to do, but, and, you know, folks have, have, have trusted us with this and, um. We're going to work hard to prove their trust right.

(Will) It seems like we've had an unprecedented, you know, issue come up every year for the last, you know, decade seems like, you know, but you know, all those things handling behind the scenes, being plugged in with every member who's also dealing with those. I mean, no, no easy burden, uh, to lift there. I can only imagine.

(Jason) I tell people we have one of, we have at least one of everything in the house of representatives. I mean, whether you want a banker, a realtor, a lawyer, you know, a doctor, like There’s somebody in there that knows more than you about whatever this specific issue is. Go find them and let's figure out before we go too far with this issue or before we mess it up. You know, we want to get it right.

(Will) I can only imagine, you know, 170 plus opinions trying to navigate those, come up with a decision. Uh, no easy task.

(Jason) Right. Yeah. And I'm, I've just been talking about our 122. When you throw the 52 senators on the other end of the building into it. Um, yeah, it makes for. You know, it makes for fun times and interesting conversations for sure.

(Paul) No doubt. No doubt about that. So, uh, let's, uh, let's drill into the 2024 legislative session a little bit. We'll kind of get into some stuff outside of transportation, but this is a transportation podcast. So, what is kind of on the agenda on tap for transportation during this session?

(Jason) Well, there's lots of talk about.

Dedicated streams of revenue to fund whether it's capacity projects or maintenance projects, you know we typically debate the budget that MDOT is going to have for those things. We have a brand-new chairman of the house transportation committee Representative Steve Massengill was named just this morning.

We named him as chairman from Hickory flat and you know, he's in the trucking business and They run about four or five hundred trucks up and down our highways, you know, throughout the state. So, he's got a good feel for what's going on, you know, out on the roads from that standpoint and Joseph Tubb from down in the Pine Belt will be his vice chairman.

I will tell y'all, transportation, we just finished putting the committees as a whole together. Transportation committee is probably the second or third most requested committee in the legislature. But if you think about it, everybody has roads in their district, and folks care about good roads and bridges and being able to get to school, work, and the grocery store.

Um, and so, it touches everybody, and I'm preaching to the choir about that, talking to y'all about it, and to your people. Um, but it's, it's important, and so, um, we think, we think, you know, that we've made great strides in the way that we're funding it and trying to stay out of MDOT's way so that, um, Brad White and, and y'all's team here, y'all are able better to like Figure out the best way to spend that money and stretch that dollar as far as it'll go and so Sometimes in the past I think the legislature we hadn't done a good job, We've we've done a poor job by getting in the way and complicating y'all's mission by saying, okay Well, we know you've got your plan, but we want these three things too, and so sometimes that complicates the planning that y'all need to be able to do from a design and bill standpoint and just from a budgeting standpoint, so I want us to be less about Getting in the way with the long term plans as y'all lay it out.

Y'all know more about roads building roads and the maintenance and what it takes. I want us to figure out the money piece of it. Get y'all where you need to be and then we need to I hope, I hope we can do a better job of staying out of MDOT's way, um, because people are liking the, the maintenance projects that they see going on in the paving and the, uh, bridges finally, you know, we're, we're, we're getting back, we were at a critical point and we're getting back.

And so, the one thing taxpayers don't fuss about is their tax money going to roads and bridges. Now they argue and debate every other form that we spend tax dollars on. I mean, you name it, whatever the issue or agency is, they've got opinions on it. Most folks all agree from both sides of the aisle.

They want to support infrastructure and roads and bridges and the things that y'all do. So, um, you got that going for you in a big way. Everybody's for, everybody's for your budget. You know what I'm saying? We're for it too. But I want us, I want us as much as we can to not.

And directives and stay out of it with pet projects and let y'all make those decisions. You know, y'all know where it's needed more than we do. And hopefully the politicians can let y'all do what y'all do best.

(Will) Well, and that's something Brad, uh, Director White, you know, says often You know, having that earmark free appropriation bill allow that full flexibility.

One of the things that we're most grateful for, uh, in that appropriation process is, and it's gone a long way, you know, from getting staff numbers back up, uh, to pay scales, you know, even corrected, um, lots of appreciation to be said about, uh, the way I've helped us out with that.

(Jason) Well, you hear people all the time say, you know, you should run government like a business and, and. There's a lot of truth to that. There are some things you can't because the government is expected to fund some services and provide some services that taxpayers and voters expect. But as much as we can, that's the way we would like MDOT to run. That's why we tried to get out of, you know, um, just, just ironclad pay scales and let y'all, you knew best how to budget your money for your people and for your maintenance projects and capacity projects.

And so, um, we want to take the cuffs off and let y'all do that and make the dollars go as far as they can go and then if something is not good Your first answer in well, y'all made us do it this crazy way, you know, Brad has agreed that this agency will be accountable if we will allow y'all the freedom to work it.

So that's what, that's going to be our main goal in addition to that. We want to look at, at, at showing up and being sure that long term, the diversions that we do have coming, um, to different, To different pots, I would call them pots of money over here, the different things that y'all do, we want to ensure that those things are kind of set where y'all can predict and budget, you know, in a reasonable and long term way.

(Will) And I know you, we talked about, you know, that that long term revenue source, their stream, don't know what that answer is going to look like. I'm sure it'll be, you know, talked about to great lengths, but, um, still looking like we're doing another round of emergency road bridge funds, some of those things. Awesome. I know the folks out their love that.

(Jason) Well, you know. There's no denying that the state's bank accounts are full right now. And so, as I was saying, one of the things folks like seeing their money spent on are our road and bridge projects. And so, um, we're glad to do that. And right now, while we, these are good budgetary times for the state.

And so, we want to, we want to do as much of this as we can while we've got it. You know, when I got elected 12 years ago. We were depleting the rainy-day fund just to make bare bones budgets for all agencies and all areas of government. We're in a different world now. We've got to, you know, to whom much is given, much is expected. And so, we've got to be good stewards of these surpluses that taxpayers have sent us.

(Paul) That's a lot of good news right there. This is all positives.

(Will) Love to hear it. Absolutely. What about as far as, you know, we, we talked about some MDOT specific stuff, you know, and we love to hear it. That's what we're obviously focused on a lot.

But, uh, much like any other taxpayer in the state, everything that goes on over there impacts us. What about some other things you guys have on the forefront? Any priorities that may be coming up?

(Jason) Well, something that would be near and dear to your listeners, um, your, your, well, you've got lots of listeners, but specifically your employees and the folk in your agency is a lot of conversations centered around the public employee’s retirement system.

Something that either your former MDOT, your retirees are enjoying today or that the ones that are here now, um, are, are planning on enjoying in the future and you're looking at one here. Yeah. Um, my wife is a PERS retiree. My mother and dad are, they're both educators. They're retired, um, state employees who received PERS.

Lots of conversations started last year when, when the PERS board voted to raise the employer contribution 5 percent from 17.4 to 22.4 and that caused great concern among local governments, both city and county as well as state agencies were like, this is, this is a real number in the budget, like a 5 percent bump is, is huge considering, you know, the razor thin margins that, that so many of our agencies run on.

So, um, everybody agreed at that point we need to pump the brakes and look at this system as a whole. What can we do different? What can we do better? Nobody is looking to change benefits for retirees. That's not the thrust of this. The thrust of this is, let's identify the problem and be sure that long term Um, PERS is sustainable and viable and, and, and a vibrant retirement system.

But the first step is acknowledging that there is a problem because for a long time when, when maybe an actuary or, or somebody that was really looking at the numbers would say, you know, this thing looks, it may not be funded at the level it should be funded for the benefits we're paying. Um, the response from PERS was all times going to work it out.

This is a long-term deal and investments will get it and that sort of thing, but we actually paid out more benefits last year than we took in. And, and so, you know, my, my high schoolers, my kids at home can do the math really quick and figure out if you don't change something about the way you're doing business, you know, it's a long-term problem.

It's not going to run out of money tomorrow or next year. I'm not here to say the sky is falling. I'm saying it's time for an adult conversation about the future of PERS and, and being responsible, um, stewards, um, of taxpayer money and figuring out what's best long term for our PERS retirement system.

And so, I want to be a partner in that. I want the PERS board, and we've had good conversations. Their executive director has been very open, and we've enjoyed good dialogue. And so. We're going to get smart people around a table like this and we're going to figure it out and do what's best.
(Will) It's 22 ish years away from me, but like you said, it is taking a lot of real forethought to handle that.
(Jason) Well, and when you figure the politics of it, you know, there are about 140,000 state employees. There are about 120,000 state retirees. That's 250,000 people. Who are not only voters, but they’re also engaged voters and so, you know, the legislature is very, you know, attentive to what, you know, those folks have to say on the issue.

So, we won't, you know, we want to be responsive in that way. We just want everybody to understand both retirees, both employees of the state and taxpayers around the state to understand this is a real issue and we need to, we need to get a handle on it.

(Will) Love it. Absolutely. Another one I would ask about, you know, uh, I think we, I mentioned this to Brad the other day.

Daycare is expensive. You know, everything hits the pocketbooks these days. Anything more come in as far as income tax or tax reform in any way?

(Jason) Yes. Conversations continue to go on around that issue. And here's why. We continue to take in. Almost a billion more dollars than we spend like we're running the surplus again this year.

We'll be up several hundred million dollars. Our budget, you know will be between Around six and a half billion, but we're gonna take in close to seven and a half So as long as we're running these large surpluses, you're gonna hear my my Republican colleagues in the house continue To harp on this idea of it's time to give the people back more of their money, you know, in two years ago We did pass as I mentioned earlier the largest income tax cut in state history We're at full phase in in two more years We will be a 4 percent flat tax state and among states that pay income tax.

That's the sixth best in the country now. There are a few states that have no income tax. Unfortunately for us Our sister state in Tennessee doesn't have one and then of course you got Texas and Florida close. So That don't have one as well. So, we’re striving to get there and as long as revenues continue to hold like they are, and we enjoy these surpluses.

I think you're going to see a continued methodical approach to whittle on that so that you keep more of those hard-earned dollars. You know better what to do with that money than we do in the state government. We just want to be mindful of the core functions of government that we do have to provide such as good roads and bridges.

So, so there's, you know, somewhere in the middle there is, is the, uh, is the answer. And so, we're going, we're going to keep working hard on that.

(Paul) That's excellent.

That's, that's all more, more good news for sure. So, uh, we've got some fun questions coming up for you. Didn't want to give you an opportunity. Any other legislative, legislative priorities on the house side you want to quickly mention?

(Jason) Well, I won't, I won't get off in the weeds on them, but we're going to, we're going to take a long hard look at. Um, both are, and these are, you know, these are things that you hear all, every politician that comes in here could probably say, oh, we're going to work on education and health care. Um, but again, it's like roads and bridges, those things touch every Mississippians,

You were just talking about childcare or, you know, how we. Folks, for the first time in this last election cycle, instead of it being about maybe some red meat Republican issues that are near and dear, you know, to me as a conservative and, and to my, to my main supporters, for the first time they were asking questions like, What are y'all doing to make sure that our hospital stays, you know, um, viable here in this community.

And I still have healthcare options as far as, is, is somebody going to be at the emergency room when I show up? Or am I going to show up one day and that thing's going to be locked up? Um, are, are my doctor still going to be here? Is the clinic going to be here? Those kinds of things. And so, um, we want to be sure as now, Again, things change.

You know, there's a reason we still don't have a movie theater in the little town of West where I lived. You know, folks move and are very mobile these days and move around. And so, it doesn't look like it did 50 and 60 years ago when we were building so many community hospitals. Those hospitals may have to adapt and look different than they did.

Our hospital in Kosciusko did a major renovation. Now we have a brand-new state of the art emergency room. Now we're not running 60 or 70 people in the hospital every day like Like that I was born at that hospital. They don't deliver babies there anymore. You know, that was only 50 years ago but my point is It’s a changing landscape of healthcare, not just in Mississippi, but nationwide.

And so, it's tricky for us being a very rural state and folks being accustomed to that hospital being right down the street. I want it to be there. I'm just saying it may look different and deliver service. I want him to have a place to be stabilized in an emergency situation, and then let's get him somewhere else if we have to.

And so, folks are gonna be willing to have. There's gonna be some give and take there with communities, but taxpayers and voters for the first time. We're asking like Real pointed health care questions about access and quality of care that I really hadn't seen in my prior main to election cycles like we saw this time.

And so, so for, for, especially for my Republican colleagues for the first time, um, we're going to try to really dig in on that issue and, and look at it, um, from, from all aspects.

(Will) I'm here for it. Yeah. Especially, you know, those, like you just mentioned, down in the rural, uh, more rural parts of, of Mississippi.

That, a huge issue, you know, my grandmother down in Jupiter, she's got to come to Jackson every time. Right. You know, when she needs healthcare. So, I very much appreciate all those, all those, uh, comments and lines of thought. Absolutely. Um, anything else legislative that you'd like to mention.

(Jason) Well, you know.

I could talk about forty things, but, but here's the thing to know about this session in any session. There's always one thing that comes up that nobody thought of, like, like that nobody was anticipating, whether it's, you know, uh, a hot button issue, maybe something happens in a Supreme Court case that, that throws something into the limelight and all of a sudden, every member of the legislature's got a bill to change, you know, whatever.

Um, I remember one of my first years in the legislature, there was a bill that was getting no traction about doing away with the inspection sticker. And this guy had been filing it for a few years. Y'all remember going and getting your inspection sticker annually? And somebody somewhere found out that that bill was alive and well, and there began to be this groundswell of support, like grassroots, if you will, of support.

Get rid of the inspection sticker and I'm telling you it was like this feel good moment Everybody was like we're doing something good that people really want They are nagged by that 10 inspection sticker once a year that they forget about our vehicles are you know, obviously much more modern and Safer and that sort of thing there was a time for it I get it, but we'd kind of moved on, you know in a modern society from it.

So, nobody anticipated that and then after the fact everybody's like, why don't we do this 10 years ago? You know what I'm saying? All these smart people and nobody really pushed it. There'll be something that bubbles up some hot button issue. So, it's interesting for me to say, what is that going to be?

Um, this session, what will be the unknown? Things that can sometimes dominate the day.

(Will) That's funny. And it won't be too much longer, you know, you'll have to talk to young folks, and they won't even know what an expect inspection sticker. Oh yeah. Was, you know. That's right. That's right. I think I've still got my last one from 2014 or so. It's still on my truck.

(Jason) I’ve got one on one of my old trucks that's still on it. It's kind of just a badge of honor.

(Paul) Well, you wanna hit us with the most important question?

(Will) Yeah, sure.

I'll take the first one here. So, you know, as we've discussed, you spend a lot of time running around the state all over. You gotta eat. Uh, do you have any favorite spots? Maybe one that you don't get to go by very often. Maybe one back home. You got a new spot open. Any places that you love to eat that you want to mention?

(Jason) Man. It's a tough question. I'm a big ol boy. You can tell I like to eat for sure. It's one of my favorite things to do when we're here in the metro area, especially when we're in session, you know, um, it's, it's hard to, it's hard to not be. At Walker's or, or Ticos or, oh yeah. Or Kessler.

Or even Shapley's. We, you know, we love there and the privacy that it offers as well. So, those are cool places. Uh, my wife's favorite probably is Walker's and so, so loves, fantastic, loves, she loves going there. And then close to the cap. You know, our lunch spot tends to be either, you know, Manship Martins or, or Howen Miles still, you know, the red beans and rice there still killer.

Absolutely. Um, you kind of go there and hide out a little bit. That's right. If you're looking for a quiet lunch, you know, to get away from the. political crowd a little bit. Um, so those are our, those are like our little local mainstays here around town. Now, in my district, there's a place called Carmack Fish House.

It's between Vaiden and Kosciusko on Highway 35 North. They have some fine fried catfish on that buffet.

(Will) That is my cup of tea right there.

(Jason) We like it. My wife and I really enjoy it. And what we really like to do is ease up there. You know, it's about 10 miles. It's, it's, it's not close to anything. You know, it's, it's several miles from Vaiden and several miles from Kosciusko or West where I live. Sometimes we like to just go order at takeout and get it and bring it back home. It's pretty cool to have it that way too. Carmack Fish House. I Highly recommend it.

(Paul) Love that. We have a running list. Drew, our producer, has a list. Like, uh, you can actually, like, go on Google and, like, look at all the places, so. That is definitely going on added to the list.

(Will) We said at some point we're going to go film an episode with everybody at the spot they mentioned. So CarMack folks up there.

If you're listening, we're going to hitting you guys up for a live show at some point. Do a taste testing feature while we're there.

(Paul) We're going to do it. So, listen, besides a food and MDOT public affairs, the water cooler talk revolves around music. So, can you give us a favorite musician or maybe a favorite concert that you've attended in your life?

(Jason) My favorite concert recently was last spring. Y'all remember Morgan Wallen came to Ole Miss and Hardy opened up for him. Who is a Mississippi boy. So, you know, I'll have to admit I'd heard his songs on the radio a little bit and and his His, his opening for Morgan Wallen that night was a, it was a little bit edgy for me, but fast forward to this past week, Governor Reeves had him at his inaugural gala, if you will.

And he came out, and Hardy did, and he just sat down on a stool and played acoustic for probably an hour, hour and a half. It was pretty awesome to see a Mississippi guy stand there. And he not only played songs he's had on the radio, but he played several that he's written, hits for Florida Georgia Line, and uh, when they did their deal with, um, Morgan Wallen, Up Down, and all that.

He wrote those, he wrote several of Morgan Wallen's number one hits. He played those just acoustically on the stool. He hit a home run. It was outstanding. It was cool for it to be a Mississippi guy. The other thing I will tell you is my other favorite concert, and it's been in the last year. Y'all remember Marty Stuart hosted Dolly Parton at Philadelphia?

My wife had always wanted to see Dolly Parton in concert, and she doesn't do a lot anymore. She came and did that benefit for the, uh, Congress of Country Music. That's Marty Stewart's dream that he's building there on the square in Philadelphia, which is a cool project. But anyway, she came as a fundraiser for that, and we got to go because the legislature has been involved in helping get that project off the ground and, and helping that community get it going.

It was really cool to sit in, sit in that old theater right off of Main Street in Philadelphia. I mean, I could throw a football and hit Dolly Parton and Marty Stuart sitting on a bale of hay, just playing songs. And she would tell a story about how that song got written and Marty might sing it with her.

It was really cool. It was a neat experience. It was kind of a Mississippi moment there. It was pretty neat.

(Will) That was like my first introduction to, uh, bluegrass music was Ricky Skaggs and, uh, Marty Stuart and Kentucky Thunder playing some of those bluegrass songs.

Love that stuff. Hardy's probably one of my favorite artists out there, so spot on with the recommendations today, man. Spot on.

(Paul) There you go. We do food and music very well in the state of Mississippi. We're biased, but it's very true.

(Jason) We have some of the very best, no doubt.

(Paul) No doubt about it. Speaker White, thank you again for making time for us. Like we said, very busy. Appreciate you stopping by.

(Jason) Appreciate y'all having me. Good to be here.

(Paul) We’ll go ahead and end the show right now. Thank you to our listeners, our viewer for viewers for tuning into the extra mile podcast. You can watch and listen to episodes by visiting gomdot.com/theextramile follow us on social media at Mississippi D O T is the handle there.

We want to thank our producer, Drew Hall, who makes things go behind the scenes and remember to drive smart out there on Mississippi highways.

[Outro Music]