It has undoubtedly been an eventful week here in Jackson. I want to make sure that y’all get a transparent view into what’s happening with the legislature at the moment. Hopefully, you will find this insight helpful…

Here’s the good, the bad, and the interesting:

The Good:

• The House voted overwhelmingly to eliminate the income tax with the passage of the Mississippi Tax Freedom Act of 2022. This is a sweeping move that would allow Mississippians to keep more of their own money. It also slashes the car tag rate and grocery tax, further ensuring that all Mississippians benefit from this approach to tax reduction.

• SB 2162, introduced by Sen. Kevin Blackwell, would create a pilot program to require certain agencies to develop a comprehensive regulatory catalog and to not introduce a new regulation without first getting rid of two or more regulations.

• HB415, SB 2186, SB 2089, and SB 2424 introduced by Rep. Nick Bain, Sen. Angela Hill, Sen. Chris McDaniel, and Sen. Dennis DeBar respectively would all place limitations on the salary of the State Superintendent of Education. I’m glad to see these efforts to reel in administrative spending. To read more about the largesse that exists in many public salaries, check out our Fat Cat Report here.

• SB 2434 from Sen. Jeremy England would have school districts make lesson plans publicly accessible. This would be an astounding move of transparency that would give parents a clearer view into what their children are learning and give teachers across the state a means of lesson sharing.

The Bad:

• HB 108 would expand the state’s Medicaid system. On average, 25% of current Medicaid payments across states are made wrongfully. Why would we expand a failing system?

The Interesting:

-The Senate voted to send the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act to the House for consideration. While the bill establishes a medical marijuana program in the state, it also places significant taxes on the industry.

• HB 645 would require sellers to let folks know if a mattress was previously owned. I wouldn’t sleep on this piece of legislation, just as I’d prefer knowing if a mattress I bought had already been used!

As bills move through the legislative process, you can stay updated on them, learn about what they do, and find out how your legislators are voting through our Legislative Tracker.

If you have any questions or comments, please let me know! We’ll continue this fight for liberty in Mississippi together.

All the Best,

Hunter

Members of the Legislature have introduced legislation that would bring major reform to the State's educational system by changing just a couple of things.

In the Senate, Senator Jeremy England (R-D 51) introduced legislation that would require public schools to make their educational material easily accessible to the general public. SB 2434 would be a major step in the right direction, as providing academic transparency is a key part in exposing the left-wing bias most, if not all, educational systems have (i.e., Critical Race Theory). Parents and taxpayers have a right to know exactly what their children are being taught and what their money is being spent on.

In regards to capping educational Fat Cat salaries, their has been numerous legislation pieces introduced from both chambers.

In the House of Representatives, Representative Nick Bain (R-D 2) authored HB 415 which would align the salary of the State Superintendent of Public Education's $300,000 salary to no more than 150% of the Governor's $122,160 salary. Back in the Senate, Senators Angela Burks Hill, Chris McDaniel, and Dennis Debar, Jr. have introduced similar legislation that would either require a limitation on the State Superintendent's salary or that it should not exceed the Governor's. Too much of our education budget is spent on administrative costs and bureaucratic salaries. We support efforts to ensure that more money goes into the classroom instead.

While just two examples of reforms that could be coming to public school classrooms and the system, we believe they would be an incredible help in transparency, getting parents and others more involved in the education of the Magnolia State's future, and keeping more money in the classroom (instead of someone's pockets).

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy approves of these introductions and will continue to update you as the 2022 Mississippi Legislative Session continues, and you can keep up with measures by watching our Legislative Tracker.

The issues of government administrative costs can often get enormously complicated, but in some cases, the issues can be fairly easy to grasp. For example, despite having a lower population than most other states, and a much smaller education budget, Mississippi’s Superintendent of Education receives among the highest salary of any state superintendent in the country.

Representative Nick Bain has introduced a bill to change that. House Bill 415 is a bill to cap the salary of the State Superintendent of Education to no more than 150% of the Governor’s salary. Senators Dennis DeBar, Angela Burkes Hill, and Chris McDaniel have introduced similar legislation in the upper chamber. The bills would save taxpayers money and direct more funding into the classroom. The Governor’s current salary is set at $122,160. The Superintendent’s salary is $300,000. 

In an interview with the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, Representative Bain noted: “For me it is hard to justify her making that much. We have teachers in the classrooms with our children, who work their fingers to the bone, and they barely get by. It’s time we take a hard look at how she gets paid.” Representative Bain’s bill would lower the salary to a maximum of $183,240. This would place the Superintendent’s salary closer in line with the heads of other agencies in the state and the state education superintendents of other states.

Such actions by the legislature are applaudable. In 2021, MCPP released the “Fat Cat Report,” which outlined the top 50 state and local government salaries in Mississippi and found that many administrators within the education system made amongst the highest salaries in the state.

This coincides with an earlier report released by the State Auditor, which found that administrative costs have seen an overall increase. The report concluded that such funds could have been put back into the classroom, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. It is also important to note that while the costs of education superintendents and other administrators were included in the increased costs, such cost increases do not include actual teachers, which are categorized as an inside-the-classroom cost.

While government agencies and administrators often insist on the need for increased funding, a good place to start might just be by decreasing the salaries of overpaid administrators. There is no defensible case for Mississippi’s State Superintendent of Education to make far more than the superintendents of other states, particularly when the state has consistently had education budget challenges.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The American Conservative Union, Americans for Prosperity - Mississippi, Americans for Tax Reform, Bigger Pie Forum, Empower Mississippi, The Mississippi Center for Public Policy, The National Federation of Independent Business, National Taxpayers Union, and Taxpayers Protection Alliance have sent a letter to the Mississippi Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and members of the Senate and House of Representatives in support of the repeal of the state's income tax.

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy believes repealing the state income tax would be both a moral and economic good, leading to higher incomes, competitiveness, and prosperity for all Mississippians!

"Mississippi needs a boost," said President & CEO Douglas Carswell. "This coalition has come together to support abolishing the income tax because it’s so important. I hope every conservative in Mississippi will now help make this much needed tax break happen."

"Mississippi stands at a crossroads. With unprecedented revenue surplus and considerable federal dollars at its disposal, policymakers have a unique opportunity to prove that conservative state-based tax and spending reform can work to improve the lives of its citizens," reads the letter. "The Magnolia State can lead boldly in the elimination of the income tax, creating a more competitive environment that attracts new people and capital, increases productivity and grows the economy, and
yields better, higher paying jobs."

Senior Director of Policy & Communications said, "Mississippi has a chance to fundamentally transform its economy with the elimination of the income tax. We are proud to be a part of this conservative coalition fighting for change and are hopeful that the legislation will move forward. We will continue seeking to advance economic liberty as part of our Freedom Agenda for the state.”

For media inquiries, please reach out to Stone Clanton, [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Jackson, MS): On Thursday, Federal District Court Judge Carlton W. Reeves handed a first-round legal victory to a Jackson physical therapist in his challenge to Mississippi laws that are preventing him from opening up a new home health care business in Jackson. Charles “Butch” Slaughter filed his lawsuit in December 2020, after a 40-year-old moratorium on new home health agencies prevented him from expanding his clinic to offer in-home physical therapy to homebound patients. Even if this ban didn’t exist, he still might not be able to provide in-home services, since his competitors could use Mississippi’s Certificate of Needs (CON) laws to force him to battle them in court over whether the community really needs a new home health agency. The Mississippi Justice Institute, a non-profit, constitutional litigation center and legal arm of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, is representing Slaughter.

In his order denying the state’s motion to dismiss the suit, Judge Reeves notes that “It is no secret that significant financial interests are at stake when it comes to CON laws.” Judge Reeves explains that “Rent-seeking businesses make a sort-of ‘extra-legal’ contract with politicians: money and votes for the politicians, regulations that ensure a monopoly for the interest group. Meanwhile, consumers lose out. Without the market competition that normally regulates businesses’ behavior, the monopoly can charge otherwise unsustainably high prices for otherwise unsustainably mediocre products.”

“The home health moratorium and CON program are unconstitutional laws designed to protect health care monopolies from competition,” said MJI Director Aaron Rice. “We are thrilled that the court recognized that the government shouldn’t be in the business of reducing access to health care to line the pockets of powerful industry insiders, especially during a global pandemic.”

Slaughter saw a critical need for Mississippi patients to receive care in their homes, especially during the pandemic when many people are seeking alternatives to nursing homes and other care facilities that have been prone to outbreaks. His dream, though, was ended by the state’s moratorium and CON laws, which say that there is no need for new home health agencies in Mississippi, despite the fact that the number of patients seeking home care in the state has at least tripled while the moratorium has been in place. Rather than encouraging new businesses to respond to this increased demand, Mississippi’s laws allow large health care companies to monopolize home health services in the state.

Numerous studies have shown that CON laws do not reduce health costs and can serve as a barrier to patients getting the care they need. In 2004, the Federal Trade Commission and the United States Department of Justice issued a joint report, concluding, “CON programs are not successful in containing health care costs, and that they pose serious anticompetitive risks that usually outweigh their purported economic benefits.”

“No one should be banned from offering safe, cost-effective, and needed health care services just because other businesses don’t want competition,” said MJI volunteer attorney Seth Robbins. “Health care costs are already out of control and these laws only make that worse. Mississippi’s home health moratorium and CON laws are unconstitutional, and we’re looking forward to proving it at trial.”

For media inquiries, please reach out to Stone Clanton, [email protected].

In recent years there has been an increasing call to expand Medicaid in the state of Mississippi, with assurances of “free money” and a boost to the state economy. Despite such rosy pictures, recent events have demonstrated the danger of inviting an increasingly hostile federal government with open arms.

In November 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a rule that required staff members of the facilities that participate in Medicaid or Medicare to be vaccinated, with limited religious and medical exceptions. While the mandate was challenged in court, an opinion issued on January 13th, 2022, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the facilities must comply with the CMS vaccine order to continue to receive CMS funding, with the reasoning that Congress had already granted CMS such authority.

The legal doctrines surrounding the challenge to the mandate are outside the scope of this article. But ultimately, the bottom line is that the Mississippi nurses and doctors who have served on the front lines of the pandemic for months will now be subject to the whims of Washington. Instead of making personal choices regarding vaccinations, those in the hospital system have had the decision made for them by federal bureaucrats.

Granted, most of those in the hospital system are already vaccinated. However, the hospital system across the nation is already seeing an exodus of staff as they grapple with long hours, hazardous conditions, and demanding workloads. This has led to a staffing shortage and higher demand. Many hospitals have to pay exponentially higher pay rates just to keep staff in place. This has pushed many hospitals in the nation to the brink of bankruptcy.

The recent requirement from CMS adds to the existing strains. Right from the outset, hospital staff that have made the personal decision to remain unvaccinated will now be subject to discipline and/or termination. But furthermore, even the staff that might already be vaccinated now have clear signals from the federal government that the hospital staff could be subjected to increasingly draconian measures. Instead of waiting for the next round of edicts that might put them on the blacklist, many within the hospital system may simply choose to head for the exit and look for other opportunities. After all, the tyranny that comes for your neighbor today can just as easily come for you tomorrow.

This state of affairs hinges back to the fundamental question before Mississippi when it considers Medicaid expansion. Of course, there are strong arguments against Medicaid expansion from fiscal and policy angles, and such arguments absolutely stand true. But the recent actions CMS shed light on another angle of the issue.

In the case of vaccine mandates for hospital employees, the state is forced to comply against her will. This particular mandate applied to expansion and non-expansion states. However, can the state really complain if it further invites this same federal agency with open arms through Medicaid expansion and freedoms are infringed on some other way at a later date? States that have expanded Medicaid have seen far more federal control than non-expansion states. And naturally, one shouldn’t be surprised. The “power of the purse” is very real, and the more the federal government funds something, the more it controls it No matter the lofty promises of Medicaid expansion, no one can calculate the value of the freedom of Mississippians into a spreadsheet. Even if the federal government made Medicaid expansion seem more enticing, the question of tradeoffs must be asked. At the end of the day, is there any price tag that would justify Mississippi handing over even more control to a federal government on a trajectory that is all but disconnected from the interests of the people of the state? If the price of “free money” from Washington is a reduction in freedom itself, then that is a price tag far too high to pay.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Jackson, MS): Today, the United States Supreme Court issued an administrative stay temporarily halting enforcement of the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate for private employers, which has been challenged in court by multiple states and private employers, including Gulf Coast Restaurant Group which is represented by the Mississippi Justice Institute (MJI).

The mandate requires companies with over 100 employees to force their employees to be vaccinated, or be subject to weekly testing and constant mask wearing – on pain of losing their job. Companies can face fines of up to $14,000 per violation for failing to enforce the mandate.

The mandate was scheduled to take effect on January 10, 2022. However, the Court’s administrative stay prevents the Biden Administration from taking any steps to enforce the mandate while litigation continues to determine whether the mandate is lawful.

“This decision is a major victory in our client’s fight against the Biden Administration’s unconstitutional vaccine mandate,” said MJI Director Aaron Rice. “We will continue fighting against the private employer mandate and we have every confidence that the Supreme Court will put a permanent stop to this unprecedented federal overreach.”

The Mississippi Justice Institute is a non-profit, constitutional litigation center and the legal arm of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.

For media inquiries, please reach out to Stone Clanton, [email protected].

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed HB 531 to repeal the Mississippi income tax.

HB 531, also known as the "Mississippi Tax Freedom Act of 2022," was principally authored by Speaker Philip Gunn, along with Representatives Lamar, White, Steverson, Barnett, Massengill, Bain, Newman, Rushing, Kinkade, Morgan, Pigott, J. Ford, Calvert, Smith, Creekmore IV, Goodin, Tullos, Carpenter, Hood, Oliver, Robinson, and Boyd.

Similar to the 2021 income tax elimination House bill increases the tax exemption available to Mississippians (for single workers, the exemption would go up from $6,000 to $37,700 and for married workers, from $12,000 to $75,400). The remainder of the income tax elimination would occur in subsequent years by allowing a 1.5% rate of growth in spending but applying any revenue collected over that rate to increase the exemption until the tax is completely repealed. The Increases the sales tax rate is still there, though the offset is a full percentage point lower. The new bill also still reduces the grocery sales tax rate in subsequent years.

This year’s bill does have some differences, though, including the omission of the special interest sales tax rate increases. Additionally, this year’s plan supplements counties from the state to allow for a 35% reduction in car tags. Both of these are major improvements to the bill, as well as the reduction in increase in the proposed sales tax rate.

We applaud the efforts to abolish this awful levy, as we believe repealing the state income tax would be both a moral and economic good, leading to higher incomes, competitiveness, and prosperity for all Mississippians!

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy approves of this legislation and will continue to update you as the 2022 Mississippi Legislative Session continues, and you can keep up with measures by watching our Legislative Tracker.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Jackson, MS): Yesterday the Mississippi House of Representatives voted to repeal the state income tax with HB 531. The Mississippi Tax Freedom Act of 2022 was principally authored by Speaker Philip Gunn, along with Representatives Lamar, White, Steverson, Barnett, Massengill, Bain, Newman, Rushing, Kinkade, Morgan, Pigott, J. Ford, Calvert, Smith, Creekmore IV, Goodin, Tullos, Carpenter, Hood, Oliver, Robinson, and Boyd.

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy welcomes this early "victory" as a sign of hope and a mark of achievement on the 2022 Freedom Agenda.

Similar to the 2021 income tax elimination House bill:

• Increases the tax exemption available to Mississippians. For single workers, the exemption would go up from $6,000 to $37,700 and for married workers, from $12,000 to $75,400.; The remainder of the income tax elimination would occur in subsequent years by allowing a 1.5% rate of growth in spending but applying any revenue collected over that rate to increase the exemption until the tax is completely repealed.
• Increases the sales tax rate.
• Reduces the grocery sales tax rate in subsequent years.

This year's bill does have some differences, though, including the omission of the special interest sales tax rate increases. Additionally, this year's plan supplements counties from the state to allow for a 35% reduction in car tags.

“Three cheers to the House of Representatives for voting to abolish the state income tax!” said Douglas Carswell, President & CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. “Our state needs a boost, and getting rid of the state income tax will give every Mississippi worker a tax break and help our economy to become more competitive. Neither Texas, Tennessee, nor Florida have a state income tax – and they are thriving. Scrapping Mississippi’s state income tax would help lift up our state.”

Senior Director of Policy & Communications Hunter Estes said, “This directly allows hard-working Mississippians to keep more of their own money, which is an idea everyone should be able to get behind. We're hopeful the Senate will pass this major legislation, too.”

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy believes repealing the state income tax would be both a moral and economic good, leading to higher incomes, competitiveness, and prosperity for all Mississippians!

For media inquiries, please reach out to Stone Clanton, [email protected].