Connect with us

The Center Square

Op-Ed: Good public policy provides uplift for Mississippi | Mississippi

Published

on

www.thecentersquare.com – Douglas Carswell | Mississippi Center for Public Policy. – 2023-06-23 16:13:00

The average person in Mississippi is 25% richer today than they were in 2017. In just five years, the per capita income in our state went from $36,902 to $46,248.

Before you ask, those dollar amounts are in constant 2022 dollars. In other words, even allowing for inflation, Mississippians are a quarter richer now than they were only five years ago.

Does it surprise you that Mississippi is actually doing well? For as long as anyone can remember, Mississippi has been browbeaten into believing that we are bottom of the class, with the lowest income and slowest growth.

It is time we stopped thinking of our state as last. As someone new to this state, I can see it’s an outdated image. As someone that has looked at the numbers, I know it just isn’t so.

Between 1959 and 2022, Mississippi was the second fastest-growing state in America, with average annual growth of 2.61% per year.

Pretty impressive, no? It would have been a lot more impressive if it was not for the period between 1980 and 2010. Having achieved some remarkably fast growth relative to other US states in the 1960s and 1970s, Mississippi slowed down dramatically in the 80s, 90s and the noughties.

Mississippi had three decades of sluggish growth from about 1980 to 2010 because our state had bad public policies.

For much of the period from 1980 to 2010, Mississippi was a one-party (Democrat) fiefdom. The size of government grew. More and more people were hired to work at public expense, crowding out the private sector. With too much government and too many people living at public expense, taxes rose relative to those in other states. More bureaucrats meant more bureaucracy. After decades of more government, you needed permits and approval for far too many things in our state.

With Mississippi not prospering, her leaders turned to Washington for help. Politics in the state focused on how to secure handouts from the feds. If grants from the federal government made a state rich, Mississippi would be the richest state in America. They don’t — and Mississippi stayed in the economic slow lane.

The real news is that after decades of these bad public policies, Mississippi is starting to grow rapidly again. Why? Because bad public policy is being replaced by good public policy.

In the past few years, Mississippi has significantly cut the tax burden, notably slashing the state income tax to a flat 4%. Since 2018, the size of the public payroll has been significantly reduced.

In 2021, there was an important move made to deregulate the labor market, with a universal occupational licensing law. This has put pressure on licensing boards to remove some of the most arduous red tape.

As a direct consequence of this not only is per-capita income in our state rising, but we are growing faster relative to other states. Having been one of the slower-growing states since the 1980s, between 2020 and 2022, Mississippi was the 15th fastest-growing state in America.

Just imagine what our state might achieve if we were to build on these public policy improvements and completely eliminate the income tax?

What if we repealed some of the so-called certificate of need laws that inflate the cost of health care in our state, and made Mississippi a less costly place for employers to hire?

Far from being bottom of the class, Mississippi school standards have in fact improved. The use of phonics and testing has had a significant impact on children’s literacy. What if we built on that achievement by giving mom and dad control over their child’s share of education tax dollars to spend at a school of their choice?

Mississippi needs leaders prepared to build on the impressive reforms of the past few years, and which are already having a significant impact in improving our state. We need leaders who believe that with good public policy, Mississippi can be the equal of any state. It is good policy, not federal handouts that will decide if we prosper.

Douglas Carswell is the President & CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.

Read More

The post Op-Ed: Good public policy provides uplift for Mississippi | Mississippi appeared first on www.thecentersquare.com

The Center Square

LA could lose $270M if 2028 Olympics go awry; already faces $1 billion deficit | California

Published

on

www.thecentersquare.com – Kenneth Schrupp – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-31 20:47:00

(The Center Square) – The city of Los Angeles could be on the hook for $270 million if the 2028 Olympics are not on budget. With the city already facing a $1 billion deficit and the state infamous for the ballooning $135 billion budget for its high speed rail program, many wonder if the city can handle the Olympic games.

L.A. famously turned a profit from its 1984 Olympics by minimizing new construction, and has sought to do so for the 2028 games. The latest plan for the “no build” games has moved some events to Oklahoma City — canoe slalom and softball — which could be an attempt to minimize local costs. 

L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia, who has been warning the city is “broke” since 2024, has pointed out difficulties the city may have in hosting the games, especially compared to Paris, which hosted the game in 2024.

“L.A. is the next Summer Olympics host city. Will we be ready?,” said Mejia on X. “Compared to Paris, Los Angeles has 2x the population, 10x the unsheltered population, 1/10 the transit ridership, ¼ the transit vehicles per million people, 3x the road deaths.” 

The city is on the hook for the first $270 million over budget the Olympics costs in excess of the approved $6.9 billion budget, with the state of California — which itself faces annual deficits rising to the tens of billions of dollars — taking the next tranche. 

In 2019, then-mayor Eric Garcetti said he expects the city to earn $1 billion in profit from the 2028 games. Not a single Summer Olympics has generated a profit since the 1984 L.A. Olympics, with games typically running billions of dollars over budget.

The post LA could lose $270M if 2028 Olympics go awry; already faces $1 billion deficit | California appeared first on www.thecentersquare.com

Continue Reading

The Center Square

Taxpayers covering California rents over $7,000 near Mexican border | California

Published

on

www.thecentersquare.com – Kenneth Schrupp – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-31 17:01:00

(The Center Square) – According to federal data, taxpayers may now be helping cover California rents of up to $7,030 near the Mexican border.

Under the federal Section 8 housing voucher program, families are expected to dedicate 30% of their incomes to housing costs, while a federal voucher covers the rest. Vouchers are portable, with the Department of Housing and Urban Development aiming to provide tenants with “greater ability to move into ‘Opportunity Neighborhoods’ with jobs, public transportation, and good schools.”

In San Diego County, there are three ZIP Codes where fair market rents covered by Section 8 exceed $7,000 per month for a four-bedroom home: swanky coastal Del Mar, whose notable homeowners include Microsoft founder Bill Gates and football star Aaron Rodgers, and neighboring Rancho Sante Fe, whose residents include Bill Murray and Phil Mickelson, is joined by Chula Vista, a more modest community that adjoins the California-Mexico border.

The San Diego County income limit for a family of five to qualify for Section 8 is $49,500, meaning that family would be expected to contribute up to approximately $1,237.50 per month towards the up to $7,030 fair market rent authorized for Section 8 vouchers of up to $5792.50 per month. 

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which administers the Section 8 program, FMR is set by the 40th percentile rent, as determined by the results of the American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. 

As of March 31, there are four four-bedroom homes for rent in Chula Vista’s 91914 ZIP code listed on Zillow, ranging from $3,800 per month to $10,000 per month, with two of the rentals under the $7,030 threshold. 

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’s January 2025 report, 2.3 million households receive Section 8 vouchers, which are expected to cost federal taxpayers $32.8 billion in fiscal year 2025.

Because maximum voucher amounts are set by local rents, expensive, densely-populated coastal regions receive a disproportionate share of voucher funding.

The post Taxpayers covering California rents over $7,000 near Mexican border | California appeared first on www.thecentersquare.com

Continue Reading

News from the South - Louisiana News Feed

Town of Montgomery fails audit, lacking payment documentation, budget | Louisiana

Published

on

www.thecentersquare.com – By Emilee Calametti | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-31 15:37:00

(The Center Square) — A recent audit showed the town of Montgomery lacked several supporting documents, including vendor payments, operating losses, and meeting minutes for the Board of Aldermen.

After failing to complete an audit report before the deadline and reconcile financial accounts, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office released an audit summary on March 26 detailing its findings for Montgomery’s 2023 fiscal year.

The independent auditor did not provide an opinion due to the findings.

“We do not express an opinion on the accompanying financial statements of the governmental activities, business-type activities, and each major fund of the town,” the report said. “Because of the significance of the matter described in the Basis for Disclaimer of Opinion section of our report, we have not been able to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis for an audit opinion on the financial statements.”

The auditor could not perform necessary procedures due to the lack of documentation concerning transactions and bank reconciliations. An analysis by management showed that the town overlooked adopting a budget for the audited period.

No meeting minutes for the Board of Aldermen were recorded, for the year ending Dec. 31, 2022, concerning budget. The lack of minutes is reported by the auditor to be an administrative oversight. Failing to adopt a budget violates state law and the Home Rule Charter.

The schedule of findings provided by the independent auditor states no documentation was available to support various vendor payments for the first quarter of 2023.

Findings also showed the utility system reported substantial operating losses, which resulted in a depletion of finances. Rates were not adjusted to offset costs, resulting in a significant decrease in funds. Montgomery officials submitted the audit late in violation of state law.

There were also cases of reconciliation issues and payroll documentation. According to the auditor, the bank accounts operated by the town had not been properly reconciled. As for payroll, employees recorded their timesheets but there is no record of supervisor approval for some. 

The different findings were originally reported in 2021, some in 2022, and now again for the 2023 audit. 

Montgomery, population 620, is located in north central Louisiana on the west bank of the Red River. 

Emilee Ruth Calametti serves as staff reporter for The Center Square covering the Northwestern Louisiana region. She holds her M.A. in English from Georgia State University and soon, an additional M.A. in Journalism from New York University. Emilee has bylines in DIG Magazine, Houstonia Magazine, Bookstr, inRegister, The Click News, and the Virginia Woolf Miscellany. She is a Louisiana native with over seven years of journalism experience.

The post Town of Montgomery fails audit, lacking payment documentation, budget | Louisiana appeared first on www.thecentersquare.com

Continue Reading

Trending