JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Republican Gov. Tate Reeves received bipartisan support for committing to a teacher pay raise during his State of the State address Tuesday. Meanwhile, Democrats share concerns about his proposal to eliminate the income tax, while Republicans are largely in favor. Reaction from some legislators to the Tuesday speech:
- Democratic Rep. Robert Johnson of Natchez:
“The governor talked about empathy, and he should - but more importantly show empathy by supporting an increase in the minimum wage, health care for all so that our working people can go to work every day without being sick and support criminal justice reform that will reduce our prison population and offer a second chance to so many Mississippians who are worthy and willing to start again and be productive citizens. A good start would be taking that 40 million-plus dollars he has sole control of in CARES Act money and committing it to rental assistance, food assistance and help for small businesses - all the people he cares so much about. And, Governor, what about a fair distribution of vaccines?”
- Republican Sen. Nicole Boyd of Oxford:
“I thought the governor gave a very optimistic, encouraging word to the state. I was very pleased to see what he said about workforce development. I was even more excited to see that he encouraged the Legislature to continue with the teacher pay raise on the House side, as it is already out of the Senate. I look forward to seeing his tax plan. Putting more money in taxpayer pockets is good, but I look forward to seeing the plan.”
- Democratic Sen. David Blount of Jackson:
“I was glad to hear the governor’s support for the Senate teacher pay raise bill, but the elimination of the state income tax eliminates one-third of the state budget - roughly $2 billion a year. Effectively, what it means is reducing education funding by one-third, reducing highway funding by one-third, reducing our criminal justice system by one-third, reducing health care spending by one-third. It needs to be looked at very, very carefully or it could have devastating effects.”
- Republican Rep. Nick Bain of Corinth:
“I commend him for his approach of doing away with income tax, trying to phase it out in some respect. I think that’s a progressive way to help the state. I also am thankful that he’s looking at a teacher pay raise and willing to accept what the Legislature sends him. I was disappointed not to hear him talk about criminal justice reform. Last year, we sent him a big bill, he vetoed it and he told us that he was willing to talk about it. I understand that he has a lot on his plate, I fully grasp that and commend what he’s doing, but I do wish he had a little bit more of a sense of urgency about our prison situation.”
- Democratic Rep. Zakiya Summers of Jackson:
“Gov. Tate Reeves is right that Mississippi has what it takes to be exceptional. However, his call for the elimination of the state’s income tax would be destructive for the people of Mississippi and the state’s long-term economy. By doing so, the state would be losing its second largest form of revenue, hurting our schools, health care, and many other essential services. During this past year, Mississippi collected $1.8 billion from individual income taxes, and by phasing this out, the state would eventually have to make up for that lost revenue. This would result in a shift to depend on sales taxes and other forms of revenue that would burden middle- and low-income individuals and families or cuts to agencies already working with the bare minimum, or a combination of both.”
- Republican Sen. Melanie Sojourner of Natchez:
“Gov. Reeves pledged his support for eliminating the state income tax over several years. I’ve supported doing so for years. Sen. (Chris) McDaniel has introduced a bill to do just that this year, phasing out the income tax over a period of time. It’s time for Senate and legislative leadership to get behind that effort and make it happen. Enough talk. We need conservatives to take action. I also support workforce development. I believe it must start in high school by bringing back the tradition of vo-tech training so our children are ready for high-paying skilled jobs upon graduating from high school. We also need to be proactive in fighting against the liberal agenda pushed by Joe Biden.”
-Democratic Sen. Derrick Simmons of Greenville:
“Tens of thousands of Mississippians have been laid off during this pandemic. These historic job losses have drained our state’s unemployment trust fund and left families struggling to buy groceries and other basic necessities. We must provide support to individuals who have found themselves out of work through no fault of their own. We must also make sure that the hundreds of millions of dollars appropriated to small business relief finds its way to Mississippi’s main streets. If we are being honest, COVID small business dollars have moved too slowly and the Back to Business Grant program has been embarrassingly inefficient.”
-Republican Sen. Briggs Hopson of Vicksburg:
“I think the Governor was on target recognizing what we’ve already passed in the Senate, and that is the teacher pay raise. He also stressed the importance of increasing our workforce development and labor participation. Those were very important issues that we’ll look at going forward. The income tax reduction and/or elimination is something that we’ve addressed in the past - we’ve reduced income taxes in the past few years - and I certainly think income tax and all taxes in the state of Mississippi are something that we need to look at on a regular basis and look at comprehensively to make sure that we’ve got a very aggressive tax system, and by that I mean a tax system that allows our citizens to prosper at the maximum level while also being very attractive to recruit and retain businesses in the state.”
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Leah Willingham is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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