A Day at the Mississippi Policy Summit and Tax Reform

I spent a day with Mississippi’s state representatives and over 500 officials at the Mississippi Tax Reform Conference 2024 in Jackson, MS. During the event, I had the opportunity to speak with Jason White, the speaker of the house, and Governor Tate Reeves. Representing Long Beach, I raised concerns about the high taxes impacting our community. Throughout the day, discussions revolved around tax issues that not only affect our city but also resonate statewide. It became clear that many other cities are grappling with even greater challenges and fewer resources. The conference highlighted the importance of statewide tax reforms and their potential impact on Mississippi’s future.

Jason White’s Push for Income Tax Elimination

The 2024 Mississippi Tax Reform Conference 2024 kicked off with Speaker Jason White outlining his bold plans to continue reducing, and ultimately eliminate, Mississippi’s state income tax. White, who spearheaded the historic 2022 legislation that cut the state income tax to a flat 4%, is determined to push those numbers even lower. His ultimate goal? Zero income tax.

White also proposed a cut to the state’s grocery sales tax, currently the highest in the nation at 7%, pledging to reduce it by half to 3.5%. “So long as we are taking in more than a billion more than we spend, I will continue to hear about cutting taxes,” White asserted.

Mississippi has seen unprecedented revenue surpluses, exceeding $1 billion in recent years, despite several tax cuts. With this surplus, White’s plan to align tax revenues with spending made sense—on paper. But, as we delved deeper, questions arose about how these tax cuts would affect Mississippi’s infrastructure and essential services.

Mississippi Tax Reform Conference 2024 Committee’s Focus

The 2024 Mississippi Tax Reform Conference 2024 wasn’t just about promises; it was about exploring real policy shifts. State Representative Trey Lamar, co-chair of the Tax Reform Select Committee, laid out three primary goals for tax reform:

1. Support economic growth
2. Meet the needs of cities and counties
3. Address the funding for the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT)

Lamar highlighted MDOT’s budget, which has been supplemented by approximately $1 billion annually for the last three years. This trend is unsustainable, and the committee intends to curb it. The need to better align MDOT’s budget with available resources, without heavily relying on state subsidies, was a central theme of the day.

In fact, MDOT’s budget for FY 2025 stands at $1.44 billion—up from $1.1 billion in 2020—along with a significant $817 million supplemental appropriation. It’s clear that Mississippi’s infrastructure funding is at a tipping point, and how the state chooses to address it will have long-term implications for cities across the state.

The Real Impact on Cities

One of the most pressing issues brought up during the summit was the potential impact of cutting grocery sales tax on municipal budgets. Cities currently receive 18.5% of all sales tax collected within their boundaries, and for many, this provides a substantial portion of their annual operating budget. If the grocery tax is cut, how will cities make up for the lost revenue?

Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker voiced a common sentiment when he suggested that the Department of Revenue should find a way to ensure municipalities receive the same amount in tax diversions. But even with potential fixes on the table, some, like State Senator Jeremy England, worry that cutting the grocery tax without a clear replacement plan could force municipalities to raise other taxes to cover the shortfall.

I raised these concerns during my conversations with officials, emphasizing that while lowering taxes is beneficial to residents, it could leave cities scrambling to fill the gap. The response was nonchalant—“Not on my watch,” one legislator quipped—but the real challenges for local governments remain unresolved.

Infrastructure: A Growing Concern

The infrastructure discussion was unavoidable. Brad White, Executive Director of MDOT, and Central District Commissioner Willie Simmons both acknowledged that the state’s roads and bridges are in dire need of maintenance and expansion. However, the state’s funding model is outdated. Mississippi’s fuel tax, which funds a large portion of MDOT’s projects, hasn’t been adjusted since the late 1980s and currently sits at 18 cents per gallon. Raising it by just 1 cent could generate an additional $21 million in revenue, but there was little appetite for that during the summit.

Simmons and White both stressed the importance of finding alternative funding solutions to avoid shelving major projects in the future, but they stopped short of recommending any specific fixes.

Unanswered Questions and Partisan Overtones

Despite the bipartisan intentions of the summit, much of the conversation felt one-sided. Tax reduction advocates like Grover Norquist and former Missouri Speaker Tim Jones evaded tough questions about the potential downsides of cutting income taxes. When audience members pressed them on whether cutting one tax would simply lead to raising another, or why Mississippi’s healthcare system isn’t improving despite surplus revenues, they deflected without providing concrete answers. This avoidance left many attendees frustrated.

Governor Tate Reeves also took the stage with an agenda of his own, focusing heavily on attacking Democrats and promoting Mississippi’s 5th lowest unemployment rate in the U.S. While he celebrated past tax cuts and rising education funding, his speech did little to address the concerns raised by smaller cities about how the loss of revenue would be managed.

FINAL THOUGHTS: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

After ten hours of intense discussion, we walked away without concrete solutions. The event offered a glimpse into the direction Mississippi lawmakers are taking with tax reform, yet the road ahead remains uncertain. Lawmakers discussed reducing income and grocery taxes, but the implications for cities and essential services hang in the balance.

Change is definitely on the horizon. Mississippi’s budget surpluses present a unique opportunity for tax reform, but how the state navigates this transition will be crucial. For cities like Long Beach, we must stay vigilant to ensure that tax cuts don’t lead to deficits, which would force us to either raise other taxes or cut essential services. As these conversations evolve, we face the challenge of balancing tax reductions with maintaining financial stability for our cities and state.

Ultimately, the Mississippi Policy Summit sparked a day filled with promises, proposals, and political maneuvering, but the real work of ensuring these changes benefit all Mississippians has just begun. If you want to read more articles about South Mississippi, check out StayAmerican.org/