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"State Spending Outpaces Family Income"
Family income in Mississippi has doubled over the past 20 years, with median family income growing from about $23,000 to about $46,000 per year.
That means that half the families in Mississippi make more than $46,000, and half make less.
Median household income, which includes those who live alone or in other non-family settings, has grown from about $15,000 to almost $33,000.
I mention those moderately interesting statistics to draw a significant contrast with how our state government has increased its spending.
The contrast is this: While median family income has increased 97%, and median household income has increased 112%, state government spending has increased 305%. That means that state government spending has grown at a rate almost three times faster than the income of the people in the state.
Does it make sense for the legislature to talk about raising taxes on incomes that have grown 100% in order to feed the government, whose spending has increased 300%?
For the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, I'm Forest Thigpen.