Legislative session a wrap

*Appeared in the Laurel Leader Call newspaper in Jones County

Last week, the Mississippi legislature wrapped up its regular session.  Lawmakers passed a balanced budget with a full savings account (or “rainy day fund”), along with modest, up-to-three percent salary increases for state employees and a $1,000 teacher pay raise – all without raising your taxes. But what else did they do? 

I would be remiss not to mention (what seemed to be) the biggest fight of the session – Speaker Gunn’s proposal to eliminate the income tax and reduce the grocery tax, while raising the sales and other tax rates. Despite garnering bipartisan support from the House, this bill died in the Senate due to lack of support from senate members. 

 

For now, Mississippians will see no reduction in their income taxes – but also, no increases, either. I say that’s a mixed bag result.  High-growth states like Texas, Florida, and Tennessee levy no income tax, and I agree with leaders like Speaker Gunn and Gov. Reeves that eliminating this tax-on-work would do more to promote our economic growth than most other legislative proposals. I don’t love the tax increases included in the Speaker’s proposal, and I’m not convinced they are necessary for passage of major tax reform…but I’d much rather pay a sales tax than an income tax.  After all, we should be encouraging more employment – not monetarily penalizing people for working.  

 

I had the chance to speak with Jones County Rep. Donnie Scoggin (Republican – District 89) about some of their accomplishments during the session. He noted passage of a transportation bill to increase weight limits on harvest loads from 84,000 to 88,000 pounds, which will ease the process of transporting commodities such as sand, gravel, dirt, and agricultural products.  This bill is particularly important to the Free State due to our large presence of poultry producers. 

 

Readers may recall Initiative 65, which paves the way for a state medical marijuana program, passed during the last general election.  However, I-65 is currently being challenged in court, so lawmakers “tried to put in place a contingency program in case the Supreme Court strikes the law down,” explained Rep. Scoggin. He said there was much confusion about legislation designed to make the medical marijuana program constitutional, and ultimately this bill died. 

 

While Rep. Scoggin is pleased with the state’s budget increasing state employee pay raises by up to three percent, he says we must do more for the state’s working poor, citing low salaries for nurses aides at Ellisville State School as an example.  

 

Occupational licensing was a big issue, and lawmakers made progress by passing legislation that allows Mississippi to reciprocate certain professional licenses from other states.  For example, if a nurse in Alabama wants to practice in Mississippi, his or her license will be recognized by Mississippi licensing authorities – so long as the state of origin has similar standards. 

 

According to Rep. Scoggin, Jones County fared well in the state’s budget and bond bill, receiving some $1.2 million for resurfacing at Howard Technology Park; $200,000 for the City of Laurel for parks and recreation; and a new fire truck for the City of Ellisville. 

 

Lawmakers’ budget work isn’t over quite yet, though.  The American Rescue Plan passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden will provide hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to Mississippi.  Jones County and its cities are slated to collectively receive about $20 million in federal dollars under the Act, which Rep. Scoggin hopes will be used in part to fund a new law enforcement complex near the existing jail. 

 

The legislature is expected to come back later this summer to deal with these federal dollars.  Until then, Mississippians can breathe a collective sigh of relief.