Although this year’s legislative session officially ended back in March and there are no major statewide or regional elections in Mississippi this fall, many of the elected officials voiced their disagreements on several issues on Wednesday and Thursday at the 128th Annual Neshoba County Fair at Founder’s Square.
One of the main issues that still divides state Republicans and Democrats is the ongoing budget cuts caused by less-than expected tax revenue. Democratic State Attorney General Jim Hood criticized Gov. Phil Bryant and the Republican leadership’s decision to give tax incentives to several corporations that have built facilities in the state. Hood also pointed out the failure of similar tax cuts in Louisiana and Kansas, who are also facing budget shortfalls.
“We owe about $4.3 billion on bonds. It’s like we’re running on a credit card, and then we’re giving our money away to large out-of-state corporations,” Hood said.
Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, who took the stage right after Hood as the last speaker on Wednesday, immediately rebuffed Hood’s claims and said the state was on the right economic track.
“The longer he talked the more I became convinced the heat has gotten to him. His vision is blurry and he’s not making sense,” Reeves said. “Can somebody track General Hood down and keep him hydrated today? I’m beginning to worry about him – and his friends in the news media, who can’t see straight either.”
Reeves touted the state’s improved education results and low unemployment numbers.
“I see a Mississippi with record low unemployment – 4.9 percent in May – It used to be that people looked for jobs,” Reeves said. “With 4.9 percent unemployment, we now have jobs looking for people.”
Bryant, who as tradition has dictated, took the stage last on Thursday, defended the corporate tax incentives as the only way to bring industries and jobs to the state. Bryant also criticized the effort by the United Auto Workers union to expand their membership at the Canton Nissan plant. The Mississippi Black Legislative Caucus in March hosted a rally supporting the effort to unionize at the plant which featured speeches by former Presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson-D, Second District and actor and labor activist Danny Glover.
“The most advanced automobiles known to man are built in Canton, Mississippi. And I don’t think we need a union to come in there and tell us how to make a better automobile,” Bryant said. “They can get back on the Bernie Sanders bus and go back to New York, and I’ll pay their way.”
The UWA vote at the Nissan plant, where more than 6,400 workers build the Titan and Frontier pickups and the Murano SUV, is set for Thursday and Friday.
Hood and state Rep. Michael Ted Evans-D, District 45, also voiced their support for a lottery, another hot button issue that has been mostly divided among party lines.
“We’ve legalized whiskey, beer, cigarettes and casinos … but we’ve got to study the lottery. Forty something states have the lottery, but we have to do a study,” Evans said. “What in the world is there to study? I just believe the lottery is going to help the state of Mississippi and I’m all for it.”
Hood said that the lottery has been successful in neighboring states and that the revenue from the lottery could make up for shortfalls.
“I’m a Baptist and us Baptists don’t believe in gambling. We don’t believe in drinking, or dancing or none of that in public anyway,” Hood said. “But I’ve got to be realistic ... a lottery would generate anywhere from $80 to $160 million a year. Arkansas is getting $80 million per year, and if you did scratch cards, you could get more.”
Hood and Evans also criticized budget cuts to many state agencies for the 2018 Fiscal Year.
“It ain’t right when you can’t help the working people of Mississippi,” Evens said. “I’ve asked you three years in a row, have your taxes went down? Are your schools any better, is your roads system any better? And nobody out here can raise your hands and say it’s better. None of it has gotten better but we keep given the state dollars away to all the major corporations.”
Hood said Bryant and the Republicans’ decision not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act during Bryant’s first term could have cost the state around $91 million per year in lost revenue and has hampered his office’s chances of fighting the growing opioid epidemic.
“I was a district attorney in the 1990s and the early 2000s and I saw the crack epidemic and the methamphetamine epidemic, and neither of those touched the situation that is approaching us now with this opioid epidemic because it touches all walks of life,” Hood said. “The problem is that is takes money to treat these people who get addicted to opioids and the problem is the legislature has made cuts at a time when we need to be increasing.”
However, Reeves said that the budget cuts to some agencies such as the vehicle fleet buying freeze will save the state $10 million and has spurred economic growth.
“Working together, we eliminated inactive commissions off the books. We removed needless regulations on licensing boards. We are getting government out of the way so our industries can grow,” Reeves said. “We believe a smaller government that costs less and a flatter, fairer tax code can help grow our state economy and create more jobs.”
Among the other statewide officials who spoke on Wednesday and Thursday were Speaker of the House Phillip Gunn, State Treasurer Lynn Fitch, State Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith and State Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney.
