The state legislature has passed legislation protecting Mississippi from Covid-19 infection lawsuits, Scott Waller, president and CEO of the Mississippi Economic Council (MEC) told the Rotary Club of North Jackson today.
Led by the MEC, Business and Industry Political Eduction Committee (BIPEC) and the Mississippi Manufacturers Association (MMA), the legislature raised the standard of business liability to "clear and convincing evidence of malice" and "willful intent" to successfully sue a business of causing a Covid-19 infection.
Waller said, "It's impossible to pinpoint the exact cause of this virus. This should give our businesses a lot of comfort."
Waller displayed a chart that showed that over half of Mississippi businesses decreased employment as a result of the coronavirus.
Over half of Mississippi businesses reduced employment because of Covid-19.
"When Covid happened, Mississippi was just beginning to see some growth," Waller said. "In the last quarter of 2019, Mississippi rated 28th in the nation in GDP growth. Optimistically, we will probably not fully recover until the first part of 2021 with a vaccine."
Waller described Mississippi as a state primarily made up of small businesses. As a result, Mississippi had a very high rate of successful Payment Protection Program loans from the federal government.
"Tourism and retail were hardest hit, especially the restaurant section," Waller said. "During the shutdown, not quite half of our economy was shut down."
Top concerns of Mississippi companies currently.
Waller described the process behind changing the state flag. "In the last year, the numbers just reversed," he said, when polls showed 55 percent favoring a new flag compared to 55 percent opposed just a year earlier. "That was one of the things we provided the legislators."
"The new flag has already had an effect," Waller said. Google was able to move forward immediately with a 65,000 square foot call center in DeSoto County. "We have a lot in front of us that we can now proceed on."
The MEC did polling that showed 63 percent of business leaders felt the flag was hurting economic development in the state. "We knew it had to be the work of a lot of organizations coming together to do the right thing."
Waller also commended the state legislators for creating a consolidated Office of Workforce Training which will streamline the workforce development bureaucracy. In addition, the legislature provided funding for career aptitude testing for high school graduates seeking jobs after graduation.
