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The highest tax rates in the country may be found in California or New York, but Mississippians have among the highest tax burdens in the Southeast, even outpacing national averages.
As a percentage of personal income, Mississippians have a state and local tax revenue rate of 10.57 percent. The national average is 10.08 and the Southeast average is 8.57.
Among neighboring states, Alabama has a rate of 8.23, Arkansas is 9.91, Louisiana is 9.22, and the income-tax free state of Tennessee is 7.76. This means Tennessee runs their government for about 25 percent cheaper than Mississippi. Mississippi is the only state in the Southeast, save for West Virginia, over 10 percent. The Mountaineer state is the highest in the region at 11.23.
Mississippi’s percentage has gone up steadily over the past few years. From 2010-2012, it ranged from 9.84 to 9.88. But this trend has, unfortunately, been going in the wrong direction over the past four decades. In 1977, the national average was 10.82 and Mississippi was at 9.82. The national average has decreased .7 percent, while Mississippi’s average has increased .8 percent.
Why does this matter? Because Americans are fleeing high tax states and moving to low tax states.
Twenty-six states had a tax burden of 8.5 percent or greater. Of those 26, 25 had a net out-migration. Only Maine was able to buck the trend. And not surprisingly, of the 17 states that had net migration gains in 2016, all but one has a tax burden of less than 8.5 percent. All totaled, more than 500,000 individuals moved from the top 25 highest-tax states to the 25 lowest-tax states in 2016.
Those high tax states, Mississippi among them, lost an aggregate income of $33 billion.
So what can we do in Mississippi? We can follow the lead of high-growth, low-tax states in the Southeast that have lower taxes, lighter licensure and regulatory burdens, and a smaller government.
Even with the much publicized and much shared remark from Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith about public hangings, the path to victory for any Democrat is very difficult. And potentially impossible to complete.
Last week, Mississippians had the unique task of voting in two separate U.S. Senate races.
Sen. Roger Wicker, who has served since 2008 and was running in the regularly scheduled Senate race, defeated State Rep. David Baria, a Democrat from Hancock county, 59-39.
The other election was to fill the remainder of the term for former Sen. Thad Cochran, who retired earlier this year. Under Mississippi’s special election rules, there is simply a non-partisan, jungle primary where the top two vote getters advance to a runoff if no candidate receives 50 percent plus one.
The election featured three main candidates: Sen. Hyde-Smith, who was appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant, State Sen. Chris McDaniel, a Republican from Jones county who nearly toppled Cochran four years ago, and Mike Espy, a former Democratic Congressman and member of the Clinton cabinet.
The final vote was 42 percent for Hyde-Smith, 41 percent for Espy, and 17 percent for McDaniel. The presence of two Republicans diluted the overall GOP vote and takes away from the work Espy will have in the runoff.
Republican and Democrat totals in special election
Special election results, by county (combined Republican and Democrat votes)
When total Republican vote is highlighted, rather than top vote getter in each county, it tells a different story than a map showing Espy making inroads in a number of traditional Republican counties. In fact, the total GOP vote looks very similar to the Wicker/ Baria map. Republicans were somewhat split, but at the end of the day Democrats only received 40 or 41 percent in both elections.
Indeed, Copiah, Oktibbeha, and Yazoo counties were the only counties carried by Wicker where the GOP did not receive a majority between Hyde-Smith and McDaniel.
While trailing by just one point may appear comforting, the path to a majority is much harder for Espy. Rather than 15-20 percent of the electorate being up for grabs, it is more likely that Espy is near the Democrat ceiling when it comes to a Senate seat in Mississippi. Especially when it is a runoff on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
Going back to 2006, Republicans have won between 55 and 64 percent of the vote in the six Senate elections held in the state. The high point for Democrats was Ronnie Musgrove’s 45 percent in 2008. And that was with Musgrove running as a conservative (something Espy certainly is not). With Barack Obama on the top of the ballot and John McCain held to just 56 percent.
Both campaigns will work on turning out and maximizing their support in the runoff. The problem for Espy is there likely aren’t enough people to turn out. Even McDaniel himself quickly came out and endorsed Hyde-Smith, something he didn’t do in 2014. It would be wishful thinking to presume McDaniel voters are up for grabs in any significant fashion.
The Mississippi Justice Institute filed an appellate brief in the Mississippi Supreme Court in a lawsuit brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center challenging the constitutionality of charter school funding in Mississippi.
The brief was filed on Friday, November 9.
MJI represents several parents of children who attend charter schools in Mississippi, and urged the Mississippi Supreme Court to affirm a trial court’s ruling that the funding for charter schools is constitutional.
The appeal is being handled by MJI Director, Aaron Rice, and MJI pro bono counsel, Michael B. Wallace, a shareholder in the law firm of Wise Carter Child & Caraway, P.A. MJI joined with the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, MidTown Public Charter Schools, and the Mississippi Charter School Association in filing the joint brief.
The Mississippi Justice Institute is the legal arm of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. It represents Mississippians whose state or federal Constitutional rights have been threatened by government actions.
The Mississippi Justice Institute is supported by voluntary, tax-deductible contributions. It receives no funds from government agencies for its operations. To learn more about MJI, visit www.msjustice.org.
For the past several years colleges and universities throughout the country have embarked on a mission to limit free speech, in the name of protecting the feelings of those who might not like to hear what someone else says.
Delta State University is one of those schools, but their speech codes go further than most.
For the most part, Delta State’s student regulations include commonsense rules and procedures for any university, such as a requirement that you pay your bills and punishment for destroying property. And there are some rules that likely aren’t followed (or enforced), such as the prohibition of alcoholic beverages on campus or at university sponsored events.
But far more problematic is policy number 27 which states that “words, behavior, and/or actions which inflict mental or emotional distress on others and/or disrupt the educational environment at Delta State University” could possibly “subject violators to appropriate disciplinary action, including suspension and expulsion.”
Essentially, you could be punished up to expulsion for words that inflict emotional distress on others. What is emotional distress? Obviously, different words could upset different people in different ways.
We saw students nationwide requiring days off and tests postponed after the triggering event of Donald Trump winning the presidency in 2016. So we know there are plenty of items that cause mental and emotional distress among our youth on college campuses. And in many instances, for illegitimate reasons (i.e., being unhappy about an election).
Delta State has long had trouble with free speech. They were one of just two schools in Mississippi to receive a speech code rating of red from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, or FIRE.
Policy number 27 is likely unconstitutional, but more than that it is scary. Scary that a university would put such a policy in place that violates the free speech rights of one student and threatens to expel that student for doing nothing wrong at all. Just something that may have upset someone.
For more than a century, the American university system was considered the best in the world for providing a classical liberal undergraduate education. And for preparing their students to be successful in life. For the sake of our future generations, we must reclaim our universities from the insanity we see daily.
But for now, if you’re on campus at Delta State, use extreme caution with your words. One man’s free speech might be another man’s emotional trigger and the university wants to be the arbiter.
(While the link to the policies is no longer live, a cached version from November 5 can be found here.)
Jeffrey Vitter, the chancellor at Ole Miss, will resign effective in January.
Vitter has been chancellor since January 2016 and he still has two years remaining on his contract. It is likely that he stays on in some role at the university. But this is the second consecutive chancellor to have an abrupt exit from Oxford. In 2015, the Institutions for Higher Learning, which selects the leaders of the eight public universities in the state, chose not to extend the contract of then-Chancellor Dan Jones.
Jones was at Ole Miss for only four years. Prior to Jones, Robert Khayat served as chancellor for 14 years as the university experienced tremendous growth.
There have been numerous issues at Ole Miss recently ranging from football probation, and the marked decline in attendance and interest among fans and alumni, to declining enrollment to how the Ed Meek controversy, among other controversies, was handled.
IHL will be tasked with selecting the next leader for Ole Miss. All indications are that this will be a relatively long process with multiple factions supporting different people.
Only 29 percent of students who entered a public university in 2009 in Mississippi graduated within four years.
That is according to the most recent data from the Education Achievement Council Report Card, which was recently made available by the Institutes for Higher Learning. The national average, according to the United States Department of Education, is 40 percent for all four-year institutions and 35 percent for public institutions.
Fifty-two percent in Mississippi graduate within six years and 54 percent graduate within eight years. Nationally, 59 percent graduate (including data from both all institutions and public institutions only) within six years.
Ole Miss had the highest four-year graduation rate at 39 percent, though that is still less than two-in-five students. Thirty-one percent graduate within four years at Mississippi State. Mississippi Valley State had the lowest four-year graduation rate at just 10 percent.
Ole Miss (61 percent), Mississippi State (60 percent) and Southern Miss (50 percent) were the only three institutions to have more than half of the freshmen graduate within six years. Mississippi University for Women just missed that cut at 49 percent. Valley, once again, had the lowest six-year graduation rate at just 25 percent.
But Valley also had 47 percent of their new undergraduate students enrolled in one of more intermediate courses, with about a quarter enrolled in both math and reading courses during their first year.
In contrast, just seven percent of new undergraduate students at Mississippi State and eight percent at Ole Miss required such courses. The system average was 16 percent.
Higher education spending accounts for about 13 percent of the state budget. Broken down, the total state expenditure per full-time equivalent student topped $15,000 at half of the universities. The highest was Mississippi State at $15,975 followed by Ole Miss ($15,772), Southern Miss ($15,462), and Valley ($15,124). Delta State had the lowest mark at $12,520.
The report cards for each university can be found here.
Mississippi did not join most states in holding statewide elections on Tuesday. That will be next year when every statewide, legislative, and county office will be on the ballot.
But that doesn't mean we didn't have action in the Magnolia State.
Mississippi was in the unique position of holding two United States Senate elections, with the regularly scheduled election for the seat currently held by Sen. Roger Wicker and the special election following former Sen. Thad Cochran’s retirement earlier this year.
Wicker won going away, picking up 59 percent of the vote. In the special election, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who was appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant, will be in a runoff with Mike Espy, a former Democratic Congressman and secretary in the Clinton administration.
Under Mississippi election law, special elections are essentially a jungle primary. There is no party identification, and everyone who qualifies is on the ballot. If no candidate receives a majority, as was the case on Tuesday, a runoff is held three week later. Hyde-Smith received 42 percent of the vote, Espy was at 41 percent, and Chris McDaniel, who almost defeated Cochran four years ago, was at 16 percent.
What McDaniel’s poor showing may mean will be a question that is being asked today, and will be discussed over the next year.
Essentially, the Republican vote was the same in both Senate races. It was just slightly split in the special election. If Hyde-Smith is successful, she will join a larger Republican majority in the Senate. Pending final counts in Arizona, Republicans may be up to a 54-46 majority in the Senate when all is said and done. This has one major political implication – judicial confirmations.
Conservatives will no longer have to hold their breath on Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski (or Jeff Flake). Perhaps now the many constitutional conservatives and federalist society members will have an opportunity to fill the vacancies and counter balance the President Obama era judges. And there will plenty of energy to use the new strength in the Senate to confirm President Trump’s judicial nominations.
What else might happen in Washington? That is to be determined with Democrats winning control of the House of Representatives. Their immediate priorities seem to be a furthering of “the resistance” with investigations and potential impeachment proceedings, but they will likely also attempt to push through a progressive agenda. Expect a lot of gridlock for at least the next two years, but for those of us who favor limited government that isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the world.
The divided government will likely be good for trade, which is a good thing for the market. Criminal justice reform should continue to receive attention. We expect to see more regulatory reform from the White House and his Cabinet, something that will benefit us all. We expect immigration and healthcare policy to continue to be lightning rods. However, we may also see bipartisan agreement on areas like infrastructure spending. Unfortunately, that probably portends an increasing debt load for the American people.
One thing we can predict with relative certainty – Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump will be a great spectacle. While that may not be a great compliment to the current state of affairs in our Republic, it should make for very entertaining content for television… and Twitter is guaranteed to survive for at least a few more years.
After a great deal of debate and discussion over the past year, the new food truck regulations in Tupelo do not include the controversial, and potentially illegal, restrictions that some on the council had floated.
According to the Daily Journal, the final draft looks similar to the draft that was released last month. It did not include a blanket restriction on streets that food trucks could be located, nor did it have a provision requiring food trucks to be a certain distance from brick-and-mortar restaurants.
Protection for brick-and-mortar restaurants is what originally propelled this discussion.
Earlier this year, Councilman Willie Jennings said, in proposing the regulations, “I just want to make sure the established businesses are protected.” Another councilman, Markel Whittington, said brick-and-mortar restaurants have requested food truck regulations. While he didn’t feel food trucks posed a ‘threat’ to those restaurants, he believed it was appropriate for government to act ‘on behalf of select business interests.’
“I think we have to protect some of our taxpayers and high employers,” he said.
And after the first draft of the ordinance was released, Councilman Mike Bryan began to lobby for those brick-and-mortar restaurant protections, such as a ban on major roads. He continued that push until the end still calling for a Main Street parking ban.
“I feel like it is not fair to brick-and-mortar businesses to allow food trucks to park in front of their business,” Bryan said earlier.
But in the end, the controversial provisions were not included. And while there has been some support on the council, Mayor Jason Shelton has long opposed the protectionist measures.
When Tupelo leaders began discussing food truck regulations, Mississippi Justice Institute, the legal arm of Mississippi Center for Public Policy, sent a letter to the city warning of litigation if these regulations passed.
“The very regulation Tupelo is discussing—a regulation about how close a food truck should be to a restaurant—was found to be unenforceable just this past December in Baltimore. Food truck regulations around the country have been challenged over and over in court, from Louisville, to San Antonio, to Chicago, and many places in between. Cities ultimately realize that these kinds of cases are very hard to defend,” the letter said.
Having the food truck option is good for consumers and it is good for the economic interests of a city, whether that is Tupelo or any other city in Mississippi. A glance of the growing cities throughout America shows a thriving food truck market. Food trucks or brick-and-mortar restaurants is not an “either-or” proposition. They can both survive next to each other, and competition will only make each better.
And more choice for consumers is always a good thing. Because it will be the consumers who decide if food trucks are a benefit for Tupelo, not government regulators.