Mississippi Today
How Mississippi’s tax structure favors the wealthy and hurts the poor
Mississippi has the nation’s lowest per capita income at $46,248 annually and the highest percentage of people living in poverty at 18.2%.
Yet the state’s tax structure does little if anything to try to offset those statistics for the state’s poorest citizens.
In fact, the tax structure does more to harm the poor than to help them. Mississippi’s low-wage earners pay a greater percentage of their income in state and local taxes than do the state’s more affluent residents, a recent study found.
A January report by the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy found that Mississippi has the 19th-most regressive tax system in the nation, where low-income residents are forced to pay a larger percentage of their income in taxes than the state’s wealthier citizens.
The study shows the income tax is the only tax that requires wealthy Mississippians to pay more than the poor. Gov. Tate Reeves wants to eliminate the income tax. The personal income tax already has been cut twice in recent years. In addition, multiple tax cuts for businesses also have been enacted or are being phased in.
Currently, a $525 million reduction in the income tax is being phased in plus the state also is phasing out a major tax on businesses. Instead of eliminating the income tax, Kyra Roby, policy analyst for One Voice, which advocates for the poor in Mississippi, said that tax cut should be reversed and that the state should add a 6% income tax bracket for those earning more than $100,000 annually.
According to the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy report, the bottom 20% of Mississippi wage earners — those earning less than $19,300 — pay 12.4% of their income in state and local taxes, which is more than any other income group.
By contrast, the top 1% in Mississippi — those making more than $362,300 annually — pay 6.9% of their income in state and local taxes. The next 4%, earning between $182,500 and $362.300, pay 8.2%, and the next 15%, earning between $104,800 and $182,500, pay 9.6%.
What makes the Mississippi tax system so punitive for the poor is primarily the state’s sales tax. Mississippi’s 7% sales tax on most retail items is among the highest in the nation. And the state’s 7% sales tax on food is the highest statewide grocery tax in the nation. Sales taxes and excise taxes, such as those levied on internet sales, are viewed as being more of a burden on the poor than on the wealthy. The tax on food is considered particularly punitive for the poor since it requires a poor person to pay a greater percentage of their income for a necessity than the wealthy.
Reeves has long advocated for eliminating the income tax as has much of the House leadership in recent years. Reeves argues that eliminating the income tax would boost the state economy and help working Mississippians. Reeves cites three states that he says he wants to emulate in eliminating the income tax: Texas, Tennessee and Florida. Interestingly, all three, like Mississippi, have a greater percentage of their residents living in poverty than the national average.
While House leaders have in the past voiced support for Reeves’ plan to eliminate the income tax, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who presides over the Senate, has said he would support further tax cuts, but stopped short of endorsing a complete elimination of the income tax this year. Hosemann also said a cut and possibly an elimination of the grocery tax should be considered.
Although it is generally conceded that eliminating the grocery tax would be more beneficial to poor Mississippians, that decision would have much more of an impact on state revenue.
Research in 2019 conducted by the campaign of Jim Hood, the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for governor that year, estimated that the complete elimination of the grocery tax would cost the state $327 million annually. The personal income tax generates more than $2 billion annually in state revenue, though that number could drop in future years as the $525 million tax cut enacted in 2022 is phased in.
Reeves has never been an advocate for reducing or eliminating the grocery tax, though many other Republican policymakers have in the past.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.biloxinewsevents.com/?p=326322
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1960
Jan. 1, 1960
Nearly 1,000 Black protesters marched 10 miles through the rain and sleet to the downtown airport in Greenville, South Carolina, to protest its segregation policies and its mistreatment of Jackie Robinson, the first Black player in Major League Baseball.
Months earlier, Robinson had come to speak at an NAACP banquet, where he encouraged Black Americans. As he left the airport that night, he sat with NAACP leader Gloster Current in the “Whites-only” waiting room at the airport, where Robinson signed autographs. The airport manager ordered them to move to the “Colored” waiting room. They said no.
When the manager brought a police officer, they responded that they had a legal right to stay where they were and refused to move. After the incident, Robinson complained to the NAACP’s Thurgood Marshall, whose office was already pursuing a case against the airport. In the future, Robinson said, “I hope that we can walk in the airport and sit down and enjoy ourselves.”
During their march, protesters sang “America the Beautiful” and other songs in what they called their “prayer pilgrimage.” As they arrived at the airport, they were met by a 300-man white mob that included Klansmen. The protesters continued, and 15 of them entered the airport.
“We will no longer make a pretense of being satisfied with the crumbs of citizenship while others enjoy the whole loaf only by the right of a white-skinned birth,” the Rev. C.D. McCullough of Orangeburg declared.
The walls of segregation soon fell at both airports.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Legislature will have to address judicial, legislative redistricting next year
Mississippi lawmakers next year will have to put together two complex jigsaw puzzles when they gather under the Capitol dome for their 2025 session.
State lawmakers will be required to redraw Mississippi’s 23 Circuit Court and 20 Chancery Court districts and comply with a federal court order to redraw some of their own legislative districts, as well.
“It’s going to be very, very difficult to do this,” Senate President Pro Tempore Dean Kirby told Mississippi Today.
Kirby, a Republican from Pearl and chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, said that Senate leadership plans to comply with an order from a federal three-judge panel who ruled earlier this year the Legislature must create new state Senate and House maps with Black-majority districts and conduct special elections in 2025 under those newly created districts.
The Mississippi Conference of the NAACP and Black voters from across the state filed a federal lawsuit against the state last year arguing the legislative districts that were drawn in 2022 by the state Legislature diluted Black voting strength.
The state has a Black population of about 38%. Currently there are 42-Black majority districts in the 122-member House and 15 Black majority districts in the 52-seat Senate.
The federal panel ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and ordered the state to create a majority-Black Senate district in the DeSoto County area in north Mississippi and one in the Hattiesburg area in south Mississippi. The panel also ruled the state must create a majority-Black House district in the Chickasaw County area in northeast Mississippi.
However, the Legislature will also have to tweak many districts in the state to accommodate for the new Black-majority maps. State officials in court filings have argued that the redrawing would affect a quarter of the state’s 174 legislative districts.
“None of us are happy we’re having to do this,” Kirby said.
Legislative leaders will also have to address changing the boundaries of the state’s chancery and circuit court judicial districts.
State law mandates the Legislature must complete judicial redistricting by the fifth year after the U.S. Census is administered. The last Census was performed in 2020, meaning the Legislature’s deadline is 2025.
If the Legislature does not redraw the districts by the deadline, state law requires the chief justice of the state Supreme Court to modify the districts.
Senate Judiciary A Chairman Brice Wiggins, a Republican from Pascagoula, will be the main point-person in the Senate for judicial redistricting.
The current court districts have largely remained unchanged for 30 years. But Wiggins told reporters in November that he wants to substantially redraw the judicial districts based on population shifts and caseload data collected from the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Legislature’s watchdog and research office and other agencies.
The Jackson County lawmaker, over the objections of some Democrats, tried to push a bill through the Legislature during the 2024 session to overhaul the district boundaries, but negotiations between the House and the Senate stalled in the end.
Wiggins’ reason for trying to overhaul the district lines is that some districts around the state hear thousands more cases than others, and judges receive the same taxpayer-funded salary, regardless of the number of cases they deal with.
House Judiciary B Chairman Kevin Horan, a Republican from Grenada, is the lead House negotiator on judicial redistricting. He did not respond to a request for comment on the House’s plans for judicial redistricrting.
House Speaker Jason White, a Republican from West, said through a spokesperson that he will “continue to gather feedback from members” and plans to “come forward with a plan for judicial and legislative redistricting.”
The 2025 legislative session will begin on January 7.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Bolivar County workshop empowers expecting parents
At the Bolivar County Library in Cleveland, expecting parents gathered in early December for a hands-on workshop to prepare for labor and delivery.
The event, led by certified doula Brittany Isler, aimed to equip families with tools and confidence for a safe birth experience.
Among the attendees was Lakiyah Green, 17, who is six months pregnant and expecting her first baby, a boy, in March. Isler will be Green’s doula later this year and receive free services to guide her through the birthing process.
“I wanted to learn everything about birth,” Green said. “I saw this online, and my stepmother encouraged me to come. The positions and movement techniques we learned today were so helpful.”
Green shared her excitement for the journey ahead.
“I’m excited and have confidence in the process,” she said. “Coming here gave me even more confidence.” When asked what she was most excited about, her answer came with a smile: “Just meeting my baby.”
Isler, who has worked as a doula for three years, is passionate about empowering families with knowledge and support.
“Lactation is my first love, but I became a doula after hearing clients’ birth stories and realizing they needed more support,” she said. “I’ve experienced traumatic births myself, and I know how important it is to advocate for moms and teach them they have a voice.”
The workshop emphasized evidence-based practices, including six simple steps for achieving a safe and healthy birth.
“Many moms in this area don’t know their options or feel they have the right to ask questions,” Isler explained. “Classes like these help break down stigmas and empower parents with knowledge.”
In Mississippi, where maternal health outcomes are among the poorest in the nation, free workshops and services like these provide critical resources to families who might not otherwise afford doula support.
“Education helps improve outcomes because knowledge is power,” Isler added. “Now, these parents know they have choices, and they’re not alone.”
The session created a warm and welcoming environment, with parents sharing their thoughts and learning about building a supportive birth team. Events like this offer hope and reassurance to families preparing for childbirth in a state where maternal health education is critically needed.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
-
News from the South - Alabama News Feed5 days ago
Severe Storms Possible Saturday Evening through Early Sunday: Friday Evening Forecast 12/27/2024
-
News from the South - Texas News Feed5 days ago
Players remember coach who died trying to rescue daughter
-
Local News Video5 days ago
FIRST ALERT: Storm update, Alert Day coming Saturday (12/27/2024)
-
News from the South - Texas News Feed5 days ago
‘His shoe game is on point’: Alamo Bowl head coaches share compliments at Friday’s kickoff luncheon
-
News from the South - Texas News Feed7 days ago
Killer on the run while family spends Christmas without murdered son
-
News from the South - Tennessee News Feed4 days ago
Which state sent the most people to Tennessee in 2023?
-
News from the South - Louisiana News Feed5 days ago
Blue Cross must pay over $400M for breast cancer care, judge rules in Louisiana
-
News from the South - Texas News Feed5 days ago
Air Force veteran overcomes physical, emotional trauma to become a top paraclimber