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ALEC's Rich States, Poor States index now has Mississippi at 24th for economic outlook. The trend lines, and the policy choices behind them, explain why.

The latest Rich States, Poor States index has just been published by ALEC, and for anyone who cares about the direction of our state, it makes for encouraging reading.

Mississippi now ranks 24th in America for economic outlook. That is a forward-looking measure, built from fifteen different state policy variables — tax burden, regulatory environment, labor law, and more. A decade ago, the idea of Mississippi sitting in the top half of that table would have been difficult to imagine. Today, we are there — and we are still climbing.

Three trends worth noting

Public sector shrinking, private sector growing. The number of public sector employees in Mississippi is falling — which means the private sector, the part of the economy that actually generates wealth, is becoming more prominent. That is a structural shift, not a one-off.

Public Employees Per 10,000 of Population (full-time equivalent)

The cost of doing business is falling. The non-wage costs of hiring people in Mississippi have come down steadily. That is one of the reasons so many firms are now choosing to invest here rather than somewhere else.

Average Workers' Compensation Costs (per $100 of payroll)

More people are moving in than out. This may be the most important of all. For too long, young Mississippians moved to Birmingham, Nashville, or Austin to find better opportunities. Now, at last, the trend is reversing. More people are moving to Mississippi than leaving it.

Absolute Domestic Migration

How we got here

None of this happened by accident. It is the cumulative result of half a decade of serious policy reform — and at every stage, opposition was loud.

In 2021, Mississippi enacted serious labor market reform — making it easier for people to work, to train, and to move between careers.

In 2022, we replaced an old, progressive tax code with a flat tax.

Year after year, we have kept energy costs among the most affordable in the country — a quiet advantage that every family and every employer benefits from.

In 2024, we passed education funding reform so that the money at last follows the child.

In 2025, we enacted the historic elimination of the state income tax — a policy that only a few years ago was dismissed as politically impossible.

And in 2026, we have begun to take on the thicket of red tape that has held back our healthcare economy.

Every one of these reforms was resisted. Each was said, at the time, to be too ambitious or too politically risky. Each now stands as part of the answer to why Mississippi is moving up the rankings.

How laws actually pass

Ideas do not turn into law without people willing to fight to make it happen. Sycophancy might get you into the signing ceremony. It takes robust advocacy to ensure that there is a bill to be signed in the first place.

The rest of the country is beginning to notice. Mississippi is no longer the state that others use as a punchline. We are becoming a state that others are studying.

There is a great deal still to do. But the direction of travel is clear — and you have helped set it.

Something remarkable has happened here in Mississippi. The state that for most of the last century sat at the bottom of nearly every American economic table has, quietly, pulled ahead of the United Kingdom in GDP per capita. Last week, Governor Tate Reeves highlighted the fact on X/Twitter in his characteristically Southern style - and the tweet went viral.

It is a moment worth pausing over — and worth understanding because what Mississippi has achieved over the past five years is not an accident or down to luck. It is the product of a deliberate, sustained program of free-market reform that few governments successfully deliver.

I first noticed that Mississippi was overtaking Britain in terms of output per person back in 2023, and wrote about it for both The Atlantic and The Sunday Times. The reaction from British commentators at the time was a familiar scramble for excuses — purchasing power parity adjustments, Ukraine, Covid — anything, in fact, other than the policy choices Britain itself had been making for thirty years.

Now the claim that Mississippi has overtaken the UK is no longer disputed. A new report from the Institute of Economic Affairs last week asked British voters to guess where the UK would rank among America’s fifty states on GDP per capita. On average, they placed their country seventh. In reality, as the report showed, the UK ranks fifty-first — dead last, below every single U.S. state, including Mississippi. More than a quarter of respondents said they felt “shocked” when shown the truth. Alas, facts do not care about British feelings.

I am glad Governor Reeves has now put the spotlight on this again. But to me the more interesting question is not how far Britain has fallen. It is how far Mississippi has climbed.

For most of the last hundred years, the Magnolia State always seemed to be last. Our per capita income was the lowest in the Union. Serious investment passed us by. But recent years have seen a decisive shift.

In 2021, Mississippi passed meaningful labor market reform, making it easier for people to work, train, and switch careers. In 2022, we replaced an old tax code with flat tax reform - a clear signal that Mississippi had stopped apologizing for letting people keep more of what they earn.

Year after year, we have kept our energy among the most affordable in the country — a quiet advantage that every family and every employer benefits from. As other parts of the world that embraced aggressive renewable energy policies grapple with rising costs, Mississippi’s more measured energy approach is looking increasingly wise. 

In 2024, we passed education funding reform that finally lets the money follow the child, putting more of it into the classroom. In 2025, we took the historic step of passing legislation to eliminate the state income tax altogether — a policy that only a few years earlier had been dismissed as impossible. And in 2026, we have begun cutting through the thicket of red tape that has held back our healthcare sector for too long.

No single one of these reforms was enough by itself to turn the state around, but together this package of free-market reforms is enough to lift the trajectory of an entire state. And these reforms compound. Labor market liberalization makes tax reform more potent. Lower taxes make affordable energy more valuable. Better schools raise the human capital on which all of it depends. This is what a real politics of growth looks like — not a single heroic leap, but a steady accumulation of practical wins, year after year.

This is why our numbers have moved. It is why they will keep moving.

If you want to know why Britain is floundering, imagine what Mississippi might be like if we had had Bernie Sanders in charge for the past twenty years. Taxes there are too high. Regulation is intrusive. Immigration is out of control. Energy costs are sky-high. Britain has been run by a succession of Bernies, and it’s been a disaster.

Mississippi shows the alternative. The policies that lifted this state from the bottom of the American table are not secret. They are practical, proven, and available to any government willing to pursue them with the courage and patience they require.

The world is starting to notice Mississippi’s success. So should we.

Amazon has just announced another multi-billion-dollar data center project in Mississippi — the latest in a flood of inward investment now pouring into our state.

But here’s the thing worth reflecting on: even AI-related investments on this scale are only a fraction of what is flowing into data centers and AI infrastructure across the country. What is happening in AI is not just another tech cycle. It is going to be absolutely massive — and genuinely transformative in ways that will touch every kind of institution.

You would not know that from much of the media coverage. I’ve lost count of the number of articles warning about catastrophic job losses, mass unemployment, and whole industries being wiped out. The narrative has been relentlessly negative. But I think it is wrong — and I am not alone in thinking so.

Speaking at a recent event in Jackson, the author Matt Ridley explained something called the Jevons paradox. Named after the nineteenth-century economist William Stanley Jevons, the idea is counterintuitive but well-established: when something becomes cheaper or more efficient to use, people do not simply consume less of it — they consume more. Efficiency generates demand rather than redundancy.

So, too, with AI. Yes, it may make legal advice or specialist expertise far more affordable and widely available. But that does not mean lawyers and professionals will be put out of work. It means people will seek legal advice far more often than they did when access was expensive and limited. Making intelligence radically cheaper will not make smart people redundant. It will unleash more of it.

We are already beginning to see the first signs of an AI productivity boom. I am convinced that the people and organizations that embrace AI and use it effectively will not simply do the same things faster. They will become hyper-productive — able to produce, communicate, research, and act at a level that was simply not possible before. That is not a recipe for fewer jobs. It is a recipe for more output, more value, and more opportunity.

Running a think tank, I find myself thinking a great deal about what AI means for organizations like MCPP. Over the past forty years, the liberty movement in America has built an impressive infrastructure — dozens of policy institutes in Washington and one in virtually every state. That network has done enormous good. But there is a challenge that comes with maturity and growth.

As organizations get larger, productivity per person can fall. What begins as a lean, mission-driven operation can gradually become more corporate. The original focus blurs. 

Without constant effort to guard against it, there is a real danger that — rather like a rain dancer claiming credit for precipitation — organizations end up claiming agency for things that would have happened anyway.  My hunch is that some of the established donor groups are aware of all this.  

AI, I believe, is a way to reinvigorate the liberty movement in all sorts of wonderful ways. It might even, whisper it softly, be a little disruptive — in the best possible sense.

Small organizations that use AI well can now be more effective than much larger ones that do not. The capacity of a campaign group should never be measured by the size of its payroll — and AI is only going to make that point blindingly obvious. Again, I suspect donors in search of better bang for their buck will grasp this.  

Here at MCPP, we have started to use AI in lots of new and creative ways. We are working on our first animated children’s cartoon, based on our children’s book What Makes America Special. We have enormous amounts of data, and AI now allows us to use it in smarter ways to identify and reach exactly the people we need to be talking to. MCPP already has perhaps the largest owned audience of any conservative organization in this state — and AI means we are experimenting with new ways to extend our communication reach even further.

AI will never replace the personal relationships that sit at the heart of public policy work. But what it can do is free us up to spend more time on exactly those human connections — the conversations, the trust-building, and the relationships with legislators and opinion-formers that no algorithm will ever replicate. The multi-billion dollar data centers now dotted across states like Mississippi are only one of the ways in which the AI revolution is making itself felt here. The deeper transformation — the one that will reshape how organizations like ours think, communicate, and campaign — is only just beginning. We intend to be at the front of it.

Something significant is happening in America's South, and it deserves more attention.
 
While New York and California are losing residents, states like South Carolina and Alabama are gaining population at a record pace - and alongside that growth, it is southern states like ours that are generating some of the most impressive economic numbers in the country.
 
A recent JL Partners poll found that 36 percent of Americans now expect the South to lead economic growth over the next decade. That puts it well ahead of the West Coast (23 percent), the Northeast (21 percent), and the Midwest (19 percent). Young graduates are even more bullish: nearly four in ten name the South as the region most likely to grow fastest in the coming decade.
 
The data backs up the optimism.
 
Real GDP growth in 2024 tells the story clearly.  Mississippi and South Carolina grew at 4.2 percent. Alabama and Arkansas at 3.8 percent.  Tennessee at 3.0 percent. All surpassed the national rate of 2.8 percent. Between 2020 and 2024, 78 percent of all U.S. jobs added to the economy were located in the South. The region's population has grown by seven million since 2020 — and the pace appears to be accelerating.
 
Manufacturing is a key part of the picture. U.S. industrial output has roughly doubled since the Reagan era, and much of that expansion went South rather than overseas. Alabama alone has added over 50,000 auto jobs since 2000. Combined, Alabama and Mississippi now produce more vehicles annually than Italy or the United Kingdom.
 
Finance is following manufacturing. Charlotte, Dallas, Miami, and Nashville have become major financial hubs. JPMorgan Chase now employs more people in Texas - around 31,000 -  than in New York.
 
Even higher education is shifting. SEC universities have seen a 91 percent surge in out-of-state undergraduate applications between 2014 and 2023, with many of those students coming from the Northeast.
 
What explains it?
 
The answer is policy.  Southern states like Mississippi have built environments that are straightforwardly more attractive for businesses and workers alike.
 
Taxes are lower. Several southern states have no income tax — Texas, Florida, and Tennessee among them - while Mississippi and South Carolina are on a path to eliminating theirs entirely.
 
Regulatory burdens are lighter: South Carolina recently repealed a range of Certificate of Need rules that had constrained its healthcare economy, a stark contrast to California's expanding compliance requirements.
 
Labor markets are more flexible, with most southern states operating as right-to-work states. Occupational licensing restrictions are being reduced, making it easier for people to enter the workforce. And electricity costs are significantly lower, in part because the South never adopted the rigid renewable mandates that have driven up prices in the Northeast and California.
 
This is, in many ways, a natural experiment in governance. Fifty states, trying different approaches side by side - and some are producing markedly better results than others. The South appears to have found a formula that works.
 
None of these policy wins happened by accident.  They were the result of years of sustained advocacy - and you have been a vital part of that. Your support has helped make the case for lower taxes, lighter regulation, and greater economic freedom. The results speak for themselves.

We are officially in the final stretch of the legislative session.

Sine Die — the last day of the regular session — is set for April 5.

That means lawmakers have just days left to finalize remaining legislation, negotiate the state budget, and bring this year’s work to a close.

But as things stand right now, one big question remains:

Will everything actually get done before the clock runs out?

What “Sine Die” Really Means

“Sine Die” is simply the final day of the legislative session. It is the point when lawmakers adjourn and, in theory, wrap up all unfinished business.

By that deadline, the Legislature is expected to:

Once Sine Die arrives, the regular session is over.

At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work.

Why a Special Session Is on the Table

In reality, not everything always gets resolved in time.

When lawmakers are unable to reach agreement on major issues — most often the budget — the Governor can call a special session.

A special session is different from the regular session in one key way:

Only the issues identified by the Governor can be considered.

That means instead of hundreds of bills being debated at once, lawmakers are brought back to focus on a much smaller set of priorities.

Mississippi saw this just last year, when lawmakers were called back to Jackson to finalize budget negotiations after the regular session ended.

Given the ongoing tension between the House and Senate this year, the possibility of a special session is very real.

What Could Be Included

If a special session is called, the scope of what gets addressed will depend entirely on what leadership chooses to prioritize.

That could include:

In some cases, special sessions are narrowly focused. In others, they become an opportunity to revisit major policy debates that were left unfinished during the regular session.

At this point, it’s still an open question which direction things will go.

Why This Matters

The final days of session — and the potential for a special session — will shape how this legislative year is ultimately remembered.

A session that has seen several high-profile setbacks could still end with meaningful action, depending on how these final decisions are handled.

And because special sessions operate under a more limited and controlled agenda, they can sometimes move quickly once priorities are set.

Looking Ahead

The final days of session — and the potential for a special session — will shape how this legislative year is ultimately remembered.

A session that has seen several high-profile setbacks could still end with meaningful action, depending on how these final decisions are handled.

And because special sessions operate under a more limited and controlled agenda, they can sometimes move quickly once priorities are set.

Track Legislation in Real Time

If you’d like to follow along as bills move through the process, you can track key legislation throughout the session using the Mississippi Center for Public Policy’s bill tracker.

Track Bills at the Capitol Here!

After a session filled with difficult setbacks and stalled reforms, this week brought a meaningful — and important — step forward.

On March 23, HB 1622 was signed into law by the Governor, marking another shift in how Mississippi approaches healthcare regulation.

While it is not full repeal of Certificate of Need (CON) laws, it represents real progress — particularly for rural communities that have long struggled with access to care. Here’s what that means.

What HB 1622 Does

At its core, HB 1622 creates a Small Community Hospital Pilot Program, allowing certain hospitals to operate with exemptions from traditional CON requirements.

For decades, Mississippi’s CON laws have required healthcare providers to obtain government approval before expanding services, adding facilities, or making certain investments.

HB 1622 begins to loosen those restrictions — specifically for smaller and rural hospitals.

Under this new law:

These changes are targeted, but they matter — especially in parts of Mississippi where access to care is limited or declining.

Why This Matters

Mississippi faces significant challenges when it comes to healthcare access and outcomes.

In many rural areas, residents must travel long distances for specialized care, and hospital closures have left gaps that are difficult to fill.

By easing regulatory barriers — even in a limited, pilot format — HB 1622 begins to address those challenges.

This bill also takes an important step toward reducing one of the most problematic aspects of the current system: the ability for existing providers to block new competition through appeals.

Under HB 1622, if a competitor challenges a CON approval and loses, they may now be required to cover the legal costs of that challenge. That change alone could help reduce unnecessary delays and open the door for more timely healthcare expansion.

A Step — Not the Finish Line

It’s important to be clear: this is not full CON repeal.

Mississippi still maintains one of the more restrictive CON systems in the country, and meaningful reform will require continued effort.

But HB 1622 — alongside HB 3 earlier this session — shows that movement is happening.

Rather than one sweeping change, we are seeing incremental steps:

That approach may not be fast, but it is beginning to move the system in the right direction.

Learn More

If you’d like to take a deeper look at what these reforms mean for Mississippi, we’ve published a new policy paper outlining the impact of both HB 3 and HB 1622.

Read the Full Analysis Here

Looking Ahead

Healthcare reform remains one of the most important — and complex — policy challenges facing Mississippi.

Expanding access, encouraging competition, and reducing unnecessary barriers will take time, but this week’s development is a reminder that progress is possible. As always, I’ll continue tracking what’s happening at the Capitol and breaking it down in plain language.

Track Legislation in Real Time

If you’d like to follow along as bills move through the process, you can track key legislation throughout the session using the Mississippi Center for Public Policy’s bill tracker.

Track Bills at the Capitol Here

JACKSON, MS — The Mississippi Center for Public Policy (MCPP) hosted British author and science writer Matt Ridley for a special luncheon on Thursday, March 19, bringing together policymakers, business leaders, and community members for a discussion on energy, innovation, and economic growth.

Ridley delivered an optimistic, data-driven presentation highlighting the critical role of free markets, innovation, and abundant energy in advancing human prosperity.

Drawing on historical and economic insights, Ridley emphasized that prosperity is not the result of top-down government planning, but rather emerges from individuals trading, specializing, and exchanging ideas—a principle rooted in Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations.

He identified affordable, reliable energy as a central driver of economic progress, noting that cheap energy fueled the Industrial Revolution and dramatically improved living standards worldwide.

Ridley also highlighted significant global gains over recent decades. In his lifetime, he noted, extreme poverty has fallen from approximately 50 percent to just 8 percent, while child mortality has dropped from 15 percent to 3 percent. On average, global life expectancy has increased at a rate equivalent to adding roughly seven hours of life per day.

However, Ridley warned that energy policy remains a critical determinant of economic success. He pointed to the United Kingdom as a cautionary example, where energy costs are now three to four times higher than in the United States due to restrictions on oil and gas development, bans on shale gas, and a heavy reliance on intermittent renewable sources.

By contrast, Ridley praised the U.S. shale revolution, driven by private-sector innovation and entrepreneurship. The United States now produces more oil than Saudi Arabia, with abundant, affordable energy supporting growth across key sectors including manufacturing, chemicals, artificial intelligence, and data infrastructure.

Ridley also discussed the concept known as the “Jevons paradox,” explaining that as energy becomes cheaper and more efficient, its use expands—fueling further economic growth and technological advancement.

His message for policymakers was clear: maintaining access to affordable, reliable energy is essential for continued prosperity. He encouraged leaders to embrace economic freedom, reduce unnecessary regulatory barriers, and foster innovation.

“Ensuring plentiful, affordable energy is key to Mississippi’s continued economic success,” said MCPP President and CEO Douglas Carswell. “Events like this help bring important ideas and conversations to the forefront as we work to build a stronger future for our state.”

MCPP expressed its gratitude to all who attended and continues its mission to promote policies that advance freedom, prosperity, and opportunity for all Mississippians.

As the legislative session moves into its final stretch, the focus at the Capitol is beginning to shift.

Major policy bills are clearing their final hurdles, others have quietly fallen away, and attention is now turning toward the biggest issue left unresolved: the state budget.

Here’s a look at what moved last week — and what it means for Mississippi.

Modernizing Alcohol Laws: A Shift Toward Freedom and Local Control

Lawmakers advanced two notable alcohol-related measures:

While these may seem like small changes, they reflect a broader policy shift.

For years, Mississippi’s alcohol laws have been shaped by outdated restrictions and one-size-fits-all rules. These proposals move in a different direction — toward greater individual choice and local decision-making.

Instead of statewide mandates, communities would have more authority to decide what works best for them, and consumers would have more flexibility in how they purchase products.

It’s a step toward modernization — and toward trusting Mississippians to make their own decisions.

Workforce Development: Cutting Red Tape and Strengthening Opportunity

Another important development this week was the passage of legislation to create a state-run Office of Apprenticeship.

This change would shift oversight away from the federal government and place it at the state level.

Supporters argue this will:

At its core, this is about making workforce development more responsive to Mississippi’s actual economic needs — not a federal template.

As our state continues to grow and attract new investment, aligning workforce training with real-world demand will be critical.

The Biggest Issue Ahead: Budget Negotiations

With most policy deadlines now behind us, the Legislature is turning its attention to the state budget — a process that is already underway.

Lawmakers are working to finalize a $7+ billion budget, and early signs point to familiar challenges:

The budget will define the final weeks of the session — and how it’s handled matters.

A disciplined, transparent approach to spending is essential to maintaining Mississippi’s recent economic momentum.

Could a Special Session Be Ahead?

Given the dynamics already in play, there is growing discussion about the possibility of a special session if lawmakers are unable to reach agreement before adjournment.

Mississippi faced this situation just last year, when unresolved budget negotiations required lawmakers to return to Jackson to finish their work.

If that happens again, it will raise important questions about process, priorities, and how major decisions are being made.

For a deeper look at this issue, you can read Douglas Carswell’s most recent piece outlining the case for a potential special session on education reform:

The Case for a Special Session - Mississippi Center for Public Policy

Looking Ahead

The final phase of the legislative session is often where the most consequential decisions are made.

With policy debates largely settled, the focus now shifts to:

Track Legislation in Real Time

If you’d like to follow along as bills move through the process, you can track key legislation throughout the session using the Mississippi Center for Public Policy’s bill tracker.

Bill Tracker - Mississippi Center for Public Policy

Governor Tate Reeves announced that he is open to calling a special legislative session on education. He should.

Two and a half months into the session, Mississippi’s state legislature has so far accomplished remarkably little.

Senator Jeremy England’s well thought out efforts to restore the ballot initiative (SCR 518) failed. Speaker Jason White and Representative Jansen Owen’s flagship school choice bill (HB 2), a product of months of work and careful deliberation, died. So too did the House proposal on teacher pay (HB 1126). Ditto for plans to reform PERS, the Public Employee Retirement System, into which a lot of first responders and others had put enormous thought.

Having convened for more than 40 days, it is hard to think of a single significant legislative achievement this session.

That the legislature has so little to show for all those hours (and per diem payments) is not due to a lack of effort on the part of many lawmakers. There was no shortage of good proposals. The problem is that they all died in the Senate.

Governor Tate Reeves now has the power to break the logjam with a special session.

He should make it clear that he will call a special session for April, with a single education bill on the agenda, one that both raises teacher pay (modeled on HB 1126) and gives parents more power (modeled on HB 2). Any lawmaker who votes against what is put before the special session will be voting against teacher pay increases.

At the same time, our Governor should make it clear that if there is no agreement, he will call a second special session in May, then in June, July, and into the summer if that is what it takes.

In Texas, where families now control their child’s education tax dollars, that is what Governor Greg Abbott ended up having to do. Governor Reeves would be in good company.

Lawmakers are up for reelection next year. This time next year, some might face primary elections. It would be a bold move to go into a long summer, months before a potential primary election, repeatedly voting to kill teacher pay increases and parent power.

In his comments earlier this week, Governor Reeves remarked, “I do not have much time left”. With the end of his eight year term in sight, and term limited, he appears to be reflecting on his legacy. What an impressive legacy it already is.

Mississippi is on a roll economically. In 2024, we ranked second nationally in real GDP growth. Household incomes have surged. Outside investment is pouring in. After decades of decline, more people moved to Mississippi last year than left.

But for a Southern state now surrounded by neighbors that have embraced school choice, one key policy remains conspicuously absent: effective, meaningful school choice here at home.

Governor Reeves has a historic opportunity to change that by calling a special session. In doing so, he could deliver this long sought reform, cement a lasting achievement for Mississippi families, and virtually guarantee that his successor is pro parent power too. 

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