OSA

Mississippi working families are hurting at the pump. I could feel it this week when I gassed up my truck and our minivan. This is why, a few years ago, my team started identifying all the waste in government and sweetheart deals to big companies. I knew that if we cut government fat, we would have the flexibility to suspend the gas tax or cut other taxes as families struggled. What was the reaction of some of our politicians? Many ran and hid when we released our 800-page report on the waste. Other state senators tried to even ban my office from looking for waste in the first place. I got sued to stop me from recovering misspent taxpayer funds. When you're gassing up, remember that our political establishment stood in the way of making life easier on all of us. Maybe they were protecting their buddies, I don't know. As auditor, I can only show you where the waste exists, but I have a feeling, in the next election, voters will elect leaders to the top jobs who will put a stop to the nonsense and get money back in our pockets.

In the last few months, the Auditor's Office has: - arrested three people for allegedly taking unemployment payments by using the identities of thirteen different inmates who were incarcerated - released an audit showing BP settlement money was being spent on too many pork projects - saw the sentencing of the first perpetrator in the welfare scandal that we uncovered - found that millions are being spent on childcare programs but no one is reporting data on whether the programs work - saw a city employee plead guilty to embezzlement in one of our cases - found that a non-profit being paid taxpayer funds from the Human Trafficking Fund was helping to organize anti-ICE protests - saw an inmate plead guilty for obtaining unemployment funds in one of our cases - got a clean audit from an outside CPA firmhired by the legislature to audit the Auditor's Office - saw two school superintendents plead guilty in cases we investigated - arrested a county employee for allegedly defrauding the taxpayers

Time to cut government fat and pass the savings on to taxpayers.

I’m planning to make the Mississippi Auditor’s Office the first state agency in the country to invest in Trump Accounts for the children of our employees. It’s really a no-brainer. These investment accounts give American children money they can use once they turn 18 for things like paying college tuition, buying a first home, or starting a business. Our agency is committed to investing in the future of Mississippi by putting money into Trump Accounts for our employees’ kids. This common-sense proposal would help retain and recruit talented employees to our agency and set up a future generation of Mississippians for success. There have been some questions on whether Mississippi law allows a state agency to invest in Trump Accounts for employees. I have written to the Attorney General asking for a legal opinion on whether our agency can move forward investing in Trump Accounts. My hope is that the Attorney General’s Office will get back to us with an answer quickly so that if there are any legal concerns, the Legislature can address them soon. The Trump Account program launches on July 5th, and we as a state need to make sure that we remove any barriers to supporting this great program. I encourage every parent, business, and others to invest in Trump Accounts.

In the last few months my team has - seen the guilty plea based on our investigation of a city employee for stealing taxpayer funds  - seen the guilty plea of a woman for stealing COVID funds based on our investigation  - arrested a county employee for submitting fraudulent reimbursements  - arrested a road foreman and contractor for theft from a county - seen the guilty plea of a coroner for embezzlement  - and recovered thousands of taxpayer funds.  We’ve recovered more than $75 million in my time as State Auditor.  And we’re not stopping.

🚨 the Trump administration weighs in on the Mississippi welfare scandal 🚨 President Trump clearly is done tolerating the fraud on taxpayers, whether it’s Mississippi or Minnesota. This week President Trump’s administration told Mississippi’s Department of Human Services to provide documents by Friday showing any reason why they should not have to pay a big penalty for what happened in the welfare scandal. To recap how we got here: In 2019 my office stated investigating the welfare fraud. In early 2020 we turned everything we had over to the FBI and prosecutors. Prosecutors decide who gets indicted/arrested. They indicted six people initially. In mid-2020 we released an audit with pages and pages of detail about where all the welfare money went ($100+ million misspent). Since then, seven people have pleaded guilty. I testified before Congress in 2023 saying this kind of fraud was probably happening everywhere because the system is broken. Dozens of people have been sued by the state in civil court to get money back. The case is ongoing. Now the Trump Administration rightfully looks like they will soon hold the state accountable for losing so much money.

Let’s show the country what Mississippi is all about. We need your help for our friends in North Mississippi!