They would never admit it, but the candidates for governor of Mississippi have similar views on many issues affecting college students.
Republican candidate Haley Barbour said higher education funding needs to be increased after being cut three out of four years during the Musgrove administration. Barbour also favors increasing pay for college professors, but declined to name specific numbers. He said spending decisions are best left up to the individual institutions because they all have different needs.
“Some have been able to do more (increasing faculty pay) than others because of private endowments,” Barbour said.
Democratic incumbent Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, who is running for re-election, proposes a 12 percent increase in college faculty pay over three years. “It is essential that we keep faculty in Mississippi,” Musgrove said.
Both candidates said Mississippi is suffering from a “brain drain” of talented students leaving the state.
Musgrove said he would continue to help bring high-paying, high-technology jobs to the Magnolia State. To do this, he would push for targeted tax cuts and increasing research at state universities. “The engineering school at Mississippi State played a key role in attracting Nissan,” he said. “It’s that kind of partnership with our universities that will tremendous jobs and opportunities to our state.”
Barbour also said state universities, especially MSU, would play a large role in his economic development plans. “Mississippi State is an economic gold mine in a lot of area,” he said. “We need to support and expand those programs.”
Musgrove also pointed expansions at Howard Computers in Laurel and Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula as example of his commitment to increasing the quality and quantity of jobs.
“Our young people will have hope and opportunity because we’ve worked to improve our schools,” Musgrove said.
“The payoff is coming in better jobs for our people,” he added.
Barbour emphasized his connections in federal government. “Having a governor who has a strong relationships with the president, vice president and other leaders in the federal government creates more opportunities in Mississippi,” he said.
The candidates even have similar views on the most divisive issue in Mississippi politics-civil justice, or tort, reform.
Last year’s special session did not correct the perception that Mississippi is a haven for “jackpot justice,” Barbour said. “More reform is needed,” he said.
While the reforms passed last year were “meaningful and substantive,” Musgrove said, “we need to do more.”
Both candidates favor cracking down on frivolous lawsuits and establishing a medical review board to address cases of medical malpractice. “It would eliminate over 90 percent of frivolous lawsuits,” Musgrove said of the proposed review board.
College students should help re-elect the governor because “my entire career has been focused on making education our top priority,” Musgrove said. “Good schools attract good jobs and good jobs build good communities.”
The Barbour candidacy should appeal to students because “young people know we need good leadership in the state,” Barbour said. “We have to do more in terms of higher education and adult education. … I think young people should be excited by that.”