Mississippi Legislators: Education, Infrastructure, Healthcare, Income Tax Free Top Priorities for…

NATCHEZ – The 2023 Regular Session of the Mississippi Legislature begins shortly after the New Year’s holiday at noon on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.

With the session so close, we asked lawmakers representing Adams County for their opinion on some hot topics, starting with what their priorities are for this session.

One thing on each of their minds is directing the remaining $300 million in the American Rescue Plan Act fund and a surplus of $1.4 billion in state funds to help Mississippi residents as best they can, but their ideas differ on which ones they should. be these ways.

Income tax

District 97 House Representative Sam Mims V, R-McComb, said he plans to use his position as a member of the appropriations committee to focus on ways to help Mississippi residents who are struggling due to inflation.

“Our economy is doing very well. However, we have to be very attentive to what is on the horizon,” said Mims. “I’ve never seen such a disconnect between what’s happening in Jackson and what’s happening in Washington, DC. We have to understand that people are still struggling due to inflation. Gas prices and mortgages are higher and there are supply chain disruptions that affect everyone. I intend to focus a lot of my time on appropriations as a member of this committee on how we spend our normal state budget.”

Mims said he supports eliminating the state’s income tax, which would help those struggling with inflation and make Mississippi more attractive to those on the fence about moving here.

“In 2022, we passed the 4% income tax rate through 2026. It’s a start,” he said. “We’ve achieved a $240 million-a-year increase in teacher salaries and we’ve even reduced our income tax. Our echo is in great shape. I think it’s time we start looking more at our state’s income tax. I support the elimination of the income tax and I think we will continue to have good discussions about this in 2023. I think we need to give the taxpayer money back.”

District 37 State Senator Melanie Sojourner, R-Natchez, agreed with Mims on eliminating the state’s income tax.

“More than anything, the people of Mississippi deserve a meaningful long-term tax cut,” she said. “We can do this by eliminating our state income tax. Our state is on a solid financial footing and now is the time to make that change. Unfortunately, Lt. Gov Hosemann is the only state official who did not support this policy, so we were unsuccessful in passing it. Now is the time to give Mississippi workers a break and let them save more of their hard-earned cash.”

On the other hand, Congressman from District 94, Robert Johnson III, D-Natchez, said there are a number of problems in Mississippi — particularly in health and infrastructure — that will take a lot of money to fix. These should take precedence over the state’s income tax cut, he said.

“I think we should take care of our own needs first,” Johnson said of lowering the income tax further. “Hospitals accept cash.”

District 96 House Representative Angela Cockerham, I-Magnolia, said she feels the state’s income tax will be a hot topic in this session.

“One of the main reasons we pay taxes is to provide services, through government agencies, to our residents. Currently, the state has a revenue surplus,” she said. “We must ensure that our state agencies, as well as the services provided, are sustained. There will be ongoing discussions on the elimination of the state income tax and a review by

committees at the next session.”

Infrastructure and Health

Johnson said he hopes to direct ARPA funds toward infrastructure needs, particularly drainage issues in Natchez and Adams County.

“Natchez and Adams County have a lot of immediate needs that I want to address,” he said. “This is at the top of my priority list. Another is meeting the urgent needs of hospitals, especially rural hospitals in Natchez and Fayette, which are close to closure. Not only that, but we have to meet the emergency needs of hospitals across the state.”

When Mississippi rejected Medicaid expansion, Johnson said, “We turn down $1 billion federal dollars a year, 100% federal funding to ensure workers have access to health coverage in our state.”

Johnson said the “most permanent” thing Mississippi could do to improve access to health care — and create jobs as a state with one of the “lowest doctor-to-patient rates in the nation” — is to accept those federal dollars. Johnson also supports adding 12-month postpartum coverage for women to Medicaid.

Cockerham agrees with Johnson on the Medicaid issue.

“I support increasing Medicaid coverage for 12-month postpartum care for women and expanding Medicaid,” she said. “Attention to women’s health, especially the mother’s, should be prioritized. Extending coverage for postpartum care would provide additional support for mothers in our state.

“The Mississippi Economic Council has studied the effect of expanding Medicaid in our state. Expanding Medicaid would ensure Mississippians have access to health care, help keep rural hospitals open, and increase business development in southwest Mississippi. In addition, a long-term financing solution is needed for rural hospitals.”

Mims, a Medicaid committee member and also chairman of Public Health and Human Services, said he is also very concerned about the low doctor-patient ratio in the state, but he believes expanding Medicaid is not the answer.

“Sixty-five percent of births are on Medicaid today,” he said. “I think we can look for other ways to improve health.”

Mims said he is working on legislation that would help the state retain and hire nurses and doctors.

“We have about $300 million left in ARPA. We spend about 1.1 billion in 2022. I want to find ways to send some of that money to our hospitals to help them. Like the rest of us, they too have been dealing with higher wages, higher material costs and supply chain issues. Your refunds are not following the same rate of increase in cost. Finally, I think we need to find ways to encourage nurses in rural areas of our state to fill positions that will oversee citizens in nursing or medical schools. We need more nurses and doctors in Mississippi.”

Sojourner said, “Now is not the time to expand Medicaid and push for new welfare programs that will only steal more income from Mississippi families.
“To make the economy grow, we must give taxpayers a break, reduce the size of government, and roll back the federal excess that is limiting individual freedom and stifling small business growth in Mississippi.”

Response to decisions of the Federal Supreme Court

Mims said he has been meeting with the Life Commission and discussing ways to support mothers and newborn babies in light of the Roe v. Wade of the Supreme Court.

“Because of this, we estimate that 5,000 more babies will be born in Mississippi,” Mims said. “We have 19 to 20 health centers qualified by the federal government. They can provide means to help these mothers and babies now. We need to adapt to these FQHCs. We also have to facilitate reception and adoptions. Sometimes there is bureaucracy in both. We need to look at ways to make it cheaper and cut red tape and find ways to make sure parents pay child support. We think so, but we need to make sure everyone is.”

Mims also challenged the religious communities that prayed for the Roe v. Wade for decades.

“I believe they need to step up and be part of the solution,” he said.

One thing Johnson said he is passionate about is giving Mississippi people back the ability to solve problems with ballot initiatives.

On May 14, 2021, the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned Initiative 65, the medical marijuana initiative of 2020, because the petition did not meet signature distribution requirements in the Mississippi Constitution, which states, “The signatures of qualified voters of any congressional district shall not exceed one-fifth of the total number of signatures required to qualify an initiative petition for placement on the ballot.”

During the 2001 redistricting following the 2000 census, however, the number of congressional districts in the state was reduced from five to four, creating a mathematical impossibility of following the state’s constitutional requirements regarding ballot initiatives.

To fix this, the state constitution would need to be amended.

“The Supreme Court ruled that we needed to make a change to the law, and it’s very important that we do,” Johnson said. “That’s how we were able to ratify the flag change and pass the medical marijuana bill. We took it away and we need to get it back.”

Education

In the last session, a historic increase in teachers’ salaries was approved. Cockerham said attention now needs to be turned to school district support staff, one of his top priorities this session, in addition to infrastructure and support for judges and “the court system’s support for judges and law enforcement officials to deal with their cases in a timely manner, as well as ensuring that drug, veterans and mental health courts continue to thrive in Mississippi.”

One thought being discussed by state officials is modifying the school calendar so that summer vacations are shorter and additional vacations are added during the school year.

Most think that this decision should take into account the opinion of those most affected by it.

“Summer break is used by our teachers and administrators to plan and for students to catch up for the upcoming school year,” said Cockerham. “The population that will be most impacted, including teachers, parents, administrators and the Mississippi Association of Educators, must be an integral part of any discussion to modify the school calendar to shorten summer vacation and add additional breaks during the school year.”

Mims said: “Before COVID, we were seeing very good improvements in education. We’ve seen our third graders score high on the national stage. I think our current calendar makes sense. I am not in favor of changing our calendar unless I see something that makes me change my mind.”

Sojourner said education needs to be addressed at the university level.
“We must do something to block the ‘awakened’ culture that is harming our society by indoctrinating our young people who are trying to further their education,” she said. “There are steps we can take to do this and there is no better time than 2023. Let’s start by introducing legislation to end tenure for university professors. We must have the ability to remove those members of the institution who are more interested in imposing their personal cultural beliefs on students rather than simply teaching the subject of the course.”