Ochsner Health, one of Louisiana’s largest private employers, says all of its employees will need to get a Covid vaccine or face losing their jobs. The new requirement came as the state’s health department announced that 139 more people had died of the virus. Nearly a third of Oschner’s 32,000 workers are unvaccinated despite months of education efforts around the vaccines.
Some members of the Republican-controlled Mississippi Legislature are renewing an effort to eliminate the state income tax — a proposal that failed earlier this year amid concerns it would drain budgets for schools, roads and other services in one of the nation’s poorest states. Republicans say a phased out tax could help Mississippi attract new businesses and new residents, but Democrats say the money is needed for “crumbling” roads, widespread water and sewer problems and areas that lack reliable internet access.