The Mississippi cultural retail attraction program died in the Mississippi legislature in 2014, when the authorizing law expired without passage of an extension. Despite this end, one last holdout project is still alive and could receive more than $96 million from the program.

The Galleria received its third extension from the Mississippi Development Authority in July that moves the deadline for the start of construction to 2022. That’s nine years after the project was authorized in 2013 and eight years after the program ended.

The Gulf Coast Galleria is being developed by Coast developer Bob Mandal and Rise Partners of Chattanooga — which took over for original partner CBL Properties — at a site located at the junction of Interstates 10 and 110, which connects the primary artery with downtown Biloxi and the beaches at its terminus at U.S. 90.

There is some activity at the site, which has now been cleared. Two car dealerships owned by Mandal face I-10 and the city of D’Iberville has expanded D’Iberville Boulevard, which runs through the heart of the site before crossing I-10.

The project was authorized on December 19, 2013 by the MDA, with a minimum required investment of $50 million and an estimate of a $320 million capital investment by the developers.

The developers received their first extension from the MDA on December 17, 2015 that gave them a 60-day extension. 

The second was on January 11, 2016 that gave the developers until December 19, 2019 to begin construction. 

The latest one was approved by the MDA on July 27, 2018 and it expires on December 19, 2022.

Under the cultural retail attraction program, Mississippi returns 80 percent of the sales tax revenue to the developer until the total reaches 30 percent of construction costs. Each retail project in the program must offer either $1 million worth of state-related art, historic markers or audio-visual equipment, or host space for the MDA for 10 years for tourism promotion purposes.

There are two other projects that are receiving money under the program.

The $113 million DeSoto MidSouth Tourism Project LLC, which built the Tanger Outlets Southaven, has earned $6,972,588 of a possible $33,990,000 as of October 2018.

The Outlets of Mississippi in Pearl could receive up to $24 million on an $80 million investment.

There were other projects covered under the cultural retail attraction project that didn’t pan out, including one on property owned by the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority in Rankin County. It was approved for a rebate of $48.8 million for a $162.5 million investment.

The Mississippi legislature passed Senate Bill 2463 in 2013, expanding the existing sales tax rebate program to include cultural retail attractions. A bill to reauthorize the program died in the 2014 legislative session after the MDA approved more than $150 million in possible rebates.

With several projects still approved for the incentive program, there were several attempts by state Sen. David Blount (D-Jackson) to put the final nail in the cultural retail attraction program’s coffin. 

He filed a bill in 2016 to kill cultural retail projects that weren’t complete by July 1 of that year. It failed in committee. He tried again with an amendment to another bill, which increased the amount of the historic structure tax credit, to accomplish the same task. It passed the Senate, but was eliminated in conference.

The Mississippi legislature passed Senate Bill 2463 in 2013, expanding the existing sales tax rebate program to include “cultural retail attractions.” A bill to reauthorize the program died in the 2014 legislative session after the MDA approved more than $150 million in rebates.

Gov. Phil Bryant has signed the Fresh Start Act, protecting the 14th Amendment right of ex-offenders to obtain gainful employment.

Senate Bill 2781, authored by Sen. John Polk (R-Hattiesburg) and Mark Baker (R-Brandon), prohibits occupational licensing boards from using bureaucratic rules to prevent ex-offenders from working. The law requires occupational licensing boards to eliminate blanket bans and “good character” clauses used to block qualified and rehabilitated individuals from working in their chosen profession. 

“Both federal and state courts clearly affirm that occupational licensing boards must provide an objective and legitimate reason to deny an ex-offender a license to work,” said Dr. Jameson Taylor, Vice President for Policy at Mississippi Center for Public Policy. “According to the Mississippi Supreme Court, the freedom to engage in a profession is a ‘God-given, constitutional liberty.’ Mississippi licensing boards need to clean up their rules so they don’t run afoul of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Fresh Start requires them to do so while leaving every licensing board free to set high standards for their specific profession.” 

Under the Fresh Start Act, licensing boards must adopt a “clear and convincing standard of proof” in determining whether a criminal conviction is cause to deny a license. This includes the nature and seriousness of the crime, the passage of time since the conviction, the relationship of the crime to the responsibilities of the position and evidence of rehabilitation. The law also creates a preapproval process that allows ex-offenders to determine if they may obtain a particular license before undertaking the time and expense of training, education and testing. In addition, the law protects licensed individuals who fall behind on their student loans from losing their occupational license. 

“We have thousands of open positions available in Mississippi,” said Taylor. “We need skilled labor. We also have one of the highest ex-offender populations in the country. We shouldn’t let red tape prevent people from pursuing their dreams and supporting their families.”

According to a study published by Arizona State University, states with heavier occupational licensing burdens have much higher 3-year recidivism rates. More than 10 states have codified the protections contained in Fresh Start, including Tennessee and Georgia.

“Fresh Start leaves every occupational licensing board free to protect consumer health and safety by maintaining rigorous standards for licensure,” concluded Taylor. “But it also directs licensing boards to follow the Constitution by outlining legitimate reasons to deny someone a license. In the past, broad licensing restrictions have been used to keep “certain kinds of people” from working. Thanks to the leadership of Gov. Phil Bryant, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and Speaker Philip Gunn, Mississippi is cutting red tape so that people who want to work can obtain good-paying jobs.”

Payrolls in Mississippi dipped in the first quarter of 2019 as the state lost 2,900 jobs from December 2018 through March 2019.

In December, nonfarm payrolls in Mississippi reached 1,162,600. But after three months of decreases, payrolls were down to 1,159,700 in March. Preliminary estimates from February initially showed a slight increase to 1,161,900, but those numbers were revised down to 1,160,600. 

This is a reversal of 2018 when Mississippi added about 11,000 jobs for a modest job growth rate of one percent. 

Over the past month, Mississippi saw employment gains in construction (+500), financial activities (+100), and leisure and hospitality (+100). However, the state experienced reductions in manufacturing (-500), trade, transportation, and utilities (-400), professional and business services (-400), education and health services (-100), and government (-100). 

What is happening nationwide?

Nationally, the country has added around 540,000 jobs over the first three months of the year. Mississippi’s job growth rate of -0.25 percent came in 44th among the 50 states. Among Mississippi’s neighbors, Alabama was the top performer, growing at a rate of 0.47 percent. 

For Mississippi’s neighbor to the east, this is a continuing trend of strong numbers. In 2018, Alabama had a job growth rate of 2.13 percent. 

Idaho had the greatest percentage change in employment during the first quarter at 1.19 percent, followed by West Virginia (1.05%), North Carolina (.91%), Oregon (.90%), and Maine (.78%). 

What can Mississippi do better?

Mississippi has the fourth largest government share of state economic activity, and that is due to state and local spending, not federal funds. While there is a large contingent who would want to see the government spend more, it would actually be pretty difficult.

When the government grows, the state has increased ownership and the private sector shrinks. And economic freedom, which is based on free markets and voluntary exchange, individual liberty, and personal responsibility, wanes.

According to the most recent Fraser Institute Economic Freedom of North America report, which measures government spending, taxes, and labor market freedom, Mississippi was ranked 45th among the 50 states. Similarly, Cato Institute’s Freedom in the Fifty States, which measures economic and personal freedom, placed Mississippi 40th in their most recent rankings.

What is the correlation between economic freedom and prosperity? The freer states are more prosperous, have higher per capita incomes, more entrepreneurial activity, and lower poverty rates. We have the model. Similar  states have experienced  economic growth by adopting freedom-based policies. And it is important to know the difference between the reality of economic growth and the practice of economic development; those can be very different things. There is a role for corporate recruitment and economic development, but that can’t be the main driver of sustainable economic growth. 

Government incentives, often in the name of economic development and being ‘business-friendly,’ attempt  to recruit businesses to the state through financial benefits, such as site preparation, infrastructure, job training, or special tax breaks. In most cases, the  reason incentives are necessary is because of higher taxes or policies that burden businesses. In some cases, incentives are necessary because corporations take advantage of a highly competitive economic development and play the states against one another. There is a better way for us to play this game.

Instead of special incentives for a few, Mississippi should work to provide a favorable climate for every business. Let the market decide where a business locates or expands. An economic development officer can sell low taxes and low regulatory burdens to a company looking for a great location like Mississippi. What’s more, the data shows us that such policies allow existing businesses, already in our state, to expand and grow from a small employer to a large employer without getting any incentives from the taxpayers. Those are the best jobs. That’s sustainable economic growth.

To their credit, state leaders have attempted to improve the economic climate of Mississippi, most notably through tax and regulatory reform. In 2017, the legislature adopted a new law that will require all new licensing regulations to be approved before they take effect, ensuring new attempts to stifle competition will be reviewed before they are finalized.

And the Taxpayer Pay Raise Act in 2016 will eliminate the three percent income tax bracket, allow self-employed individuals to deduct half of their federal self-employment taxes, and remove the franchise tax on property and capital when fully implemented. Even though Mississippi’s overall tax burden is still above the national average, this will move Mississippi closer to a flatter income tax and make our business climate more competitive.

These reforms weren’t easy, but showed forward thinking to align us closer with neighboring states. Making the case for spending more money on your favorite government program is not a path to  prosperity. We need to think much bigger and much smarter. If we want to do better than the bottom ten in categories like per capita income, it starts with doing better in categories like business friendliness, regulatory practices, entrepreneurial environment, private capital encouragement, and tax rates. 

Tying annual increases of K-12 education spending to the price of consumer goods for urban consumers, depending on which measure is used, could become very expensive for taxpayers.

Increasing K-12 education spending commensurate with the 18 percent cumulative rate of inflation suggested by public education advocates would’ve added up to $1.042 billion in additional spending between 2007 and 2017. These figures include federal, state and local revenue.

Synchronizing increases in K-12 spending to the Consumer Price Index from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (21.9 percent cumulative rate of inflation) would’ve hit taxpayers with $1.228 billion in additional spending during that time.

The Consumer Price Index measures the average change, over time, in prices paid by urban consumers for various goods and services, including food, beverages, health care, insurance, housing, and energy. 

That includes electricity rates and gasoline prices.

Mississippi, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, has 51.2 percent of its total population living in rural areas.

The furor over inflation and whether K-12 spending needed to be more closely tied to it came out of a report issued by state Auditor Shad White’s office. 

The report by the auditor’s office showed that the growth in K-12 spending on administrative and other non-classroom costs from 2007 to 2017 outpaced the increase in the amount spent in the classroom. 

According to the report, administrative costs increased 17.67 percent during the decade, while instruction costs increased 10.56 percent.

The amount of money being spent overall (federal, state and local) on K-12 education in Mississippi increased 12.89 percent from 2007, when it was $4.9 billion, to 2017, when it was up to $5.5 billion.

This inflationary data might not be applicable to government spending on K-12 education, except in a few cases. 

According to BLS data, the annual rate of increase for food and beverage prices for urban customers averaged 2.3 percent.

Diesel is needed to fuel school buses and national retail prices, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, averaged $3.17 per gallon due to five years of prices of $3.80 and higher in the South. 

Diesel prices from 2013 to 2017 decreased from $3.92 to $2.65, a drop of 32.39 percent.

White’s report isn’t the first time that alarms have been sounded over increasing administrative costs. 

The Joint Committee for Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) released a report in 2015 that showed spending from 2005 to 2015 on instruction decreased by 3.2 percent while that spent on administration increased by 13 percent.

According to data from the state’s Legislative Budget Office, federal and state taxpayers have spent about $3.426 billion on average in the last four years for K-12 education, which averages about 16.3 percent of the state’s total budget when all revenues (general fund, special funds and federal funds) are considered.

These figures don’t include local property taxes and other revenue, such as 16th section land lease income.

Mississippi recently hosted its largest pro-life walk yet. 

Three-hundred and fifty eight registered walkers and 52 partner churches raised over $70,000 for The Center for Pregnancy Choices Metro Area at their first annual LifeWalk. This exceeded their goal by over $20,000. 

Due to generous local business partners underwriting the event, 100 percent of LifeWalk proceeds will go to serving the women of Hinds, Rankin, and Madison counties facing unplanned pregnancies. 

The CPC Metro Area offers free and confidential medical-quality pregnancy tests, high-quality sonograms, options counseling, literature, parenting classes, referrals to community services, infant supplies, and prenatal vitamins. They are funded solely from the generosity of local Mississippians, their businesses, and their churches. 

The two clinics in North Jackson and Fondren are staffed with registered nurses and trained decision specialists. Their medical capabilities are made possible by their medical director, two volunteer radiologists, and a pharmacy that provides prenatal vitamins. 

Truly, the Jackson area community makes their mission possible. 

Each of the 52 participating churches had a Walk Ambassador who assembled their own walk teams. Each walker raised their own sponsorship in their respective spheres of influence and set personal goals accordingly. Highland Colony Baptist Church stands out as a church that went above and beyond, raising the most funds of any participating church. Nine families raised $1,000 or more for the clinics, while 22 others raised $500 plus by their own accord. First Baptist Church in Raymond formed the largest team, with 32 walkers. A young woman from Clinton raised over $2,700 as an individual. Funds poured in from Madison, Ridgeland, Jackson, Flowood, Brandon, Pearl, Terry, Florence, Raymond, Clinton, Star, and Pelahatchie.

It is abundantly clear—Mississippi is a pro-life state. We are ready to put our money where our mouth is. We are literally walking the walk we talk. Following Gov. Phil Bryant signing our Heatbeat Bill this session, recently halted by a court order, we see that Mississippians will not wait for courts to catch up with our progress. 

Neither the state nor federal government fill the gap for the women of Mississippi quite like The CPC Metro Area does. 

Voluntary associations and local philanthropy show us that private institutions and individuals support women in crisis. 

It’s common knowledge that Mississippi receives plenty of negative coverage in the news. Whether it's fair or not, Janelle Hederman and her brother, Will, are working to change that. 

They view their Airbnb property as a place that provides a positive, engaging, Southern experience for those visiting; a counter to the less than favorable image some have of the state. That’s a good thing.

Janelle and Will have been hosting for five years now. They split the work of the Airbnb half and half. Will, who resides in Texas, handles the online element and bookings, while Janelle restocks the property with necessities and takes care of the things that can’t be done via computer. 

The property sits up against the reservoir in Rankin county. Wood paneling lines the walls of the house of this house with a very 60s feel about it. The Hedermans bought the property, which had been in the family, from their cousins six years ago. They knew that such a peaceful location shouldn’t be wasted, but at the time, neither lived in the state. The Hedermans did not want a long-term renter and the property was already furnished so it seemed more economical and efficient to sign on with the then-up and coming Airbnb. 

The big question was who would vacation in Rankin county. Over 150 bookings, 600 people, and five years later, that question has been answered. 

Guests have ranged from in-state, California, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Kansas, to the United Kingdom and France. They even come from minutes away as in the case of two medical students who initially came for a month to study. They ended up staying for two. The Hedermans have also hosted students and their parents, bass fishermen, softball and soccer teams, family reunions, and wedding rehearsal dinners. They’ve even had people come film music videos and documentaries on the property.

When asked what the draw is about Airbnb, Janelle thinks that it comes down to how economical it is. The Hedermans property has bedding for 12 people, however, it can accommodate more. The sports teams have brought the most in, consisting of 15 or 16 people. In addition to the economy of Airbnb, entertainment is provided. The Hedermans have fishing poles, john boats, and canoes all ready to be taken out on the reservoir, along with plenty of space for kids to run around the yard. It’s all part of the welcoming experience.      

While the city of Jackson considers regulations that would drive most Airbnb operators out of town, the Hedermans have already had to fight for theirs. Two years ago, Pearl River Valley Water Supply tried to put an end to Airbnb in the area. In the end, PRV did not succeed in eliminating Airbnb properties, but the issue did bring up concern regarding property rights. Janelle says many neighborhoods already have covenants that address whether residents can rent their property out or not and thinks it should be left that way. 

There’s no need for any overhead government or government agency to come in and tell neighborhood residents what they can or can’t do. 

According to Janelle, Airbnb is in the middle of a Southern clash; on one hand, Mississippians are friendly and want the comfort of knowing everyone in their neighborhood without strangers coming and going. On the other hand, companies like Airbnb can have a significant impact on economies, which Mississippi needs.

As a resident of Belhaven, Janelle believes Jackson’s economy itself could use a facelift. As to concerns about strangers coming and going, Janelle says Airbnb is based on the premise of the Golden Rule. The company has a system in place to hold everyone accountable. Just like guests have the ability to rate a property and leave a review, hosts can do the same for guests. Once you have a bad review as a renter, there’s little chance a host will be willing to take you on again. 

In Janelle’s experience, the majority of Airbnb users are good, honest, hardworking people looking to have a good time and a good experience in a quiet place. Ultimately, Janelle is convinced that the concern of not knowing one’s neighbors should give way to the economic factor.

Janelle is confident that having Airbnb makes people more comfortable in coming to the state, and once they are here, an opportunity to show them all the good happening throughout the state, opens up. 

Possibly changing negative minds about Mississippi. 

Gov. Phil Bryant has signed legislation that creates a first-in-the-nation tax credit for targeted investments in Mississippi’s foster care system. 

Sponsored by Rep. Mark Baker (R-Brandon), The Children’s Promise Act (HB 1613) will provide concrete assistance to nonprofit organizations working on diverse problems around the state, including human trafficking, opioid addiction, and autism.

Dr. Jameson Taylor, Vice President for Policy with the Mississippi Center for Public Policy explains why this legislation is so important: “No one person or entity has all the answers when it comes to foster care. This tax credit will crowdsource the solutions by inviting new donors to support the development of much-needed services to children and families in crisis.”

According to the National Council of Nonprofits, tax incentives for charitable giving generate as much as a 5 to 1 return. Some of the Mississippi nonprofits eligible for this credit receive no government money, meaning that every child they divert from foster care saves money for the state. 

One of these is Baptist Children’s Village. Others, like Canopy Children’s Solutions, are leveraging modest grants into multimillion dollar savings for the state. In addition, these nonprofits are generating significant long-term savings by helping to break cycles of abuse, poverty and welfare dependency.

“Due to changes in federal funding, foster care providers are being forced to reorient their services,” said Taylor. “Some of them are closing certain facilities, others are facing closure altogether. The Children’s Promise Act creates an innovative funding model that will help foster care nonprofits proactively work with the Department of Child Protection Services (CPS) to continue to address the challenges raised by the Olivia Y lawsuit.”

In 2018, the legislature passed a $1 million tax credit for individual donations made to nonprofits working with foster care kids, disabled children, and low-income families. This program was based on a successful model in Arizona. HB 1613 expands this individual credit to $3 million. The Children’s Promise Act also creates a $5 million business tax credit targeted toward nonprofits working directly with CPS. Mississippi is the first state in the country to enact a business tax credit for donations to foster care providers. 

“This new law will encourage game-changing investments in foster care,” concluded Taylor. “Mississippi is continuing to lead the way in transforming lives and communities by passing best-in-the-nation welfare reform and, then, empowering the private sector to work alongside government in addressing generational poverty.”

The Children’s Promise Act is endorsed by the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, the Mississippi Association of Child Care Agencies, and the Governor’s Faith Advisory Council.

A report by State Auditor Shad White’s office says that despite decreases in both the number of K-12 students and teachers in the last decade, spending on administration and non-instructional costs grown faster than classroom costs.

Administrative costs have ballooned by 17.67 percent ($822 million to $968 million), while instructional costs have grown in comparison by 10.56 percent, increasing from $2.2 billion in the 2006-2007 school year to $2.4 billion in 2016-2017. 

Administrative costs are defined by the report as including superintendent and district spending, principal and school office costs not related to instruction, operations and maintenance of district offices, non-student transportation, supervision and training of non-instructional staff and information services.

This increase in non-instructional spending has occurred despite a large decline in enrollment in Mississippi’s public schools. There were 494,135 students enrolled in the 2006-2007 school year and that shrunk to 481,428 in 2016-2017, a decrease of 2.5 percent. 

That decline is even more pronounced this school year, as there are now 4.75 percent fewer students enrolled in Mississippi public schools as compared with the 2006-2007 school year.

The number of teachers has also declined 8 percent, going from 34,390 in 2007-2008 to 31,662 in 2016-2017.

According to the report, if the amount of federal, state and local money spent on outside the classroom spending decreased every year at the same rate of the decline in the number of students, Mississippi taxpayers would be spending $358 million less annually on these costs. 

Doing this would’ve increased the percentage of K-12 spending in the classroom from 57 percent to 63 percent of all education spending.

Just keeping these costs the same as 10 years before would’ve meant there’d be $285 million more to spend annually on instruction or teacher pay hikes.

A decade ago, taxpayers spent $10,597 per student in public schools, with $4,608 spent per student outside the classroom. In 2016-2017, that amount was up to $12,390 per student, with $5,411 of that spent on non-classroom expenditures. That represents an increase of $803 per student.

The biggest percentage increase in the outside the classroom spending accounts were administrative staff services (up 113 percent) and information services (103 percent).

One example of this administrative bloat is in the Jackson Public School District. This district has earned an F grade in the Mississippi Department of Education’s annual accountability grades in the last two years, yet the state’s second largest school district has 265 central office employees or 96 per each of the district’s more than 25,000 students. 

DeSoto County, the state’s largest school district with 34,000 students, has a central office with 141 positions or about 241 students per administrator.