Marquee legislative subjects like education and health care mingled alongside novel proposals on everything from tea production to fire rebate money Friday morning at the last stop on Speaker of the House Philip Gunn’s “Ideas Tour.”

     Gunn ended the nine-city tour of the state in Brookhaven, and estimates put approximately 75 people in attendance. About 24 people spoke up at the town-hall-style forum, which Gunn billed as an attempt to make the legislature more accessible.

     “The purpose of this is to bring the legislature to you,” Gunn said. “We get up there in Jackson and sometimes we’re far removed.”

     Local education leaders, including Lawrence County School District Superintendent Tammy Fairburn and principals from the Lawrence County School District addressed charter schools, which proved a tumultuous topic in this year’s legislative session, Gunn’s first as speaker.

     Fairburn questioned the record of charter schools in other states and asked Gunn to at least ensure charter schools were subject to the same accountability standards as public schools.

     She also urged full funding for the Mississippi Adequate Education Program. The legislature has fully funded MAEP only twice since the program’s 1997 inception.

     “Give public schools a chance,” Fairburn said. “We need a chance to show Mississippi what we can do.”

     In an interview after the forum, Gunn said talk on charters schools and education funding has been recurrent during his ideas tour.

     In this year’s session, lawmakers wrangled with diverse proposals on charter schools, and Gunn said it’s too early to say what shape a charter school bill might take next year.

     Gunn did emphasize that, despite disagreements, he sees a legislature committed to education.

     “There’s not a legislator that isn’t for education,” Gunn said. “Some people gauge your level of support by the amount of money you spend, but that’s not always an indicator.”

     Gunn said failure to fully fund MAEP has been the fault of a perennially strapped budget and pointed out that the majority of state dollars do go to education expenses.

     The speaker acknowledged there’s been talk of altering the MAEP formula but said he wasn’t familiar with those proposals.

     Alongside education, a Medicaid expansion called for by the Affordable Care Act (so-called “Obamacare”) seems certain to dominate next year’s legislative session.

     Brookhaven’s Alvin Hoover, CEO of King’s Daughters Medical Center, cautioned against rhetoric by the state’s Republican leadership opposing the expansion.

     “I think it’s somewhat shameful Mississippi was one of three states that said we’re not even interested in looking at the application,” Hoover said.

     Hoover highlighted the influx of federal dollars the Medicaid expansion would bring.

     “That money is going somewhere,” Hoover said. “If we don’t take it, someone will.”

     However, some state leaders have voiced fears a Medicaid expansion could prove a budget buster once federal dollars are scaled back.

     Following the forum, Gunn said he doesn’t yet have a sense of whether hospital leaders across the state have developed a consensus on the Medicaid expansion. November’s presidential election will also significantly determine the shape of discussion on ACA provisions, he said.

     Many other speakers had their sights set firmly on Southwest Mississippi and its need for further economic development.

     Brookhaven’s Ward Four Alderman Shirley Estes said she feels the region is often discounted by statewide agencies and inappropriately lumped in with the Jackson area.

     “We would love some focused attention to this part of the state,” Estes said.

     Bank of Brookhaven President Bill Sones echoed Estes and highlighted the Linbrook Industrial Park, which still lacks any industrial tenants.

     In a letter submitted to Gunn and other statewide officials, Lincoln County supervisors called aid by the Mississippi Development Authority critical to recruiting business and industry to the park.

     Highlighting a potential boom in the region, Pike County Chamber of Commerce Director Britt Herrin said work is needed to ensure Mississippi remains competitive in attracting oil and gas exploration in Southwest Mississippi.

     “It will be a Toyota, plus an Ingalls, plus a Nissan, plus more,” Herrin said of oil and gas exploration’s potential impact on the area.

     Other speakers covered diverse ground. Monticello Mayor Dave Nichols requested the state revise current regulations and let cities use state fire rebate money to install fire hydrants.

     A Lincoln County man discussed his plans to bring tea production into the area. Representatives with the Southern Poverty Law Center and Mississippi Parents for Vaccine Rights were also among the speakers.

     Joining Gunn at the meeting were Brookhaven’s District 92 Rep. Becky Currie and Sam Mims of District 97. From the Senate, District 39’s Sally Doty was present.

     Gunn said Doty was only the second state senator to attend one of his nine forums.

     Reflecting on the tour, Gunn said he heard a diversity of ideas and has much to consider.

     “It’s been a whirlwind,” he said.