Mississippi’s gross domestic product increased by 1.9 percent in the third quarter of 2019, preceded by a 2.3 percent growth in the second quarter. 

According to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, 49 states saw positive growth in the third quarter. Mississippi’s numbers were slightly below the Southeast and national averages, which were both 2.1 percent. This placed Mississippi 31st nationally.

Mississippi’s growth was most prominent in the following industries: Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting, nondurable goods manufacturing, wholesale trade, and retail trade. The state outpaced regional and national growth in a couple key sectors. 

The average growth in Southeast for agriculture related work was 0.08 percent, but it grew by 0.40 percent in Mississippi. Mississippi also saw a 0.66 percent growth in retail, up from the Southeast average of 0.52 percent. 

Nondurable goods manufacturing was the fastest growing sector in the quarter, at 10.1 percent. In Mississippi, it grew by 0.37 percent. 

Among neighbors, Louisiana and Arkansas had the fourth and fifth highest growth rates nationally. 

Percentage change in real GDP in the Southeast 

During the first three quarters of 2019, Mississippi’s GDP grew by 1.0 percent, 2.3 percent, and now, 1.9 percent. Data on the fourth quarter will be released in April. 

Unemployment numbers for 2019

While we have seen positive signs from the GDP, Mississippi was the only state in the country to post an over-the-year unemployment rate increase in 2019. For December, 2019, Mississippi’s unemployment rate stood at 5.7 percent, one percent higher than at the same point in 2018. 

Alabama had the largest over-the-year decrease, as their unemployment rate dropped from 3.8 to 2.7 percent. Our neighbors added about 46,000 jobs in 2019, while Tennessee added 50,000.

Mississippi, meanwhile added just 6,000 jobs in 2019 after losing 1,400 jobs in December. 

Mississippi is in a dangerous cycle, but it is one that can be corrected. There are policies the state can adopt that would put Mississippi ahead of the curve when it comes to national policy and positioning the state to be competitive nationwide.

For starters, Mississippi needs to move away from a desire to overregulate commerce and embolden government bureaucrats. Mississippi has more than 117,000 regulations that cut across every sector of the economy. A successful model to stem this growing tide would be a one-in, two-out policy where for every new regulation that is adopted, two have to be removed. If a regulatory policy is so important, let’s make the government prove it. 

The Trump administration adopted a similar executive order in 2017, and the numbers show we are actually seeing decreases greater than two-to-one, and these are not insignificant regulatory reductions. 

This could be particularly beneficial in healthcare and tech policy. No department regulates more than the Department of Health, but our goal should be a push toward free market healthcare reforms that encourage choice and competition. In tech policy, the state has the opportunity to be one of the first states to essentially open the door for innovation, rather than one where entrepreneurs need to seek permission from the state. If Mississippi wants to get in the technology world, and we are convinced this is essential, a permissionless innovation policy in healthcare would be a big step in the right direction. 

We should also not require people to receive permission from the state to work when they do move here. Open the door to productive citizens by allowing for universal recognition of licensing, following the path paved by Arizona. If you have been licensed in one state, that license should be good in Mississippi. Again, we could be ahead of the curve. 

At the same time, our occupational licensing regime should be reviewed. Today, 19 percent of Mississippians need a license to work. It was 5 percent in the 1950s. While there are some occupations where a license is obviously prudent, we’ve expanded into far too many occupations. 

This serves to lower competition and increase costs for consumers, while not providing those consumers with a better product. Occupational licensing is an example of how Mississippi misses the opportunity to grow her economy by acting in defensive ways to protect the slices of our economic pie for the well-connected when the reality is we could create a much bigger economic pie if we encouraged more creative disruption, competition, and risk-taking. 

Finally, Mississippi needs to shed its abundant reliance on government and the public sector. Whether for public assistance, grants, contracts, jobs, or specific tax breaks, the citizens and companies in Mississippi are too dependent on state government. And the state is too dependent on the federal government. We have the third highest level of economic dependence on federal grants-in-aid in the nation (43%) and the fourth highest level of our economy driven by the public sector in the country (55%). Politicians, state agency directors, and government bureaucrats cannot create the economic growth we need. They can, however, work together with our various representatives and create an environment that allows and encourages private economic activities. Ultimately, with such an environment, it will be the entrepreneurs, business owners, productive workers, creative disruptors, capitalists, managers, and consumers who deliver the economic growth we all seek. 

Mississippi can share the success of our neighbors. It will just take work. 

By action of the Board of Supervisors on Thursday, Rankin county has made youth vaping illegal-er. 

The Board voted to prohibit the possession and use of vaping or e-cigarette products for people under the age of 21, according to the Clarion Ledger. Three Rankin county municipalities, Pearl, Flowood, and Brandon, had all recently passed similar ordinances, though the age limit was 21 just for students, but 18 for all others. Similar bills have been introduced in the House and Senate this year. 

One of the comments made by proponents was that the sheriff’s department had confiscated more than 100 vaping products on school grounds. Yet, state law already makes the possession and use of tobacco products on school property illegal, and you have to be 21 to purchase tobacco products thanks to a recent change from the federal government. Even the previous age requirement of 18 was still older than most students. 

The choices of minors won’t change because of government actions. They are doing something that is already illegal. Rather, we are just pushing more people to the black market. And that is where vaping related illnesses generally originate. 

According to a new report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), those with illnesses were linked to marijuana vapes – not nicotine – and, at least 85 percent of those were purchased somewhere other than commercial sources. Still, even that number may be lower than the actual statistics. 

Regardless, the CDC has now removed language from their website suggesting people refrain from all vaping products. Instead, they suggest you avoid purchasing products from “informal sources,” more commonly referred to as the black market. 

Yet, proposals to limit vaping products would do just that. 

We’ve played the prohibition game before. It doesn’t end well. During alcohol prohibition, individuals made their own liquor that was often much more dangerous than what you could legally buy prior to prohibition. Today, many people roll their own cigarettes in locales that have absurdly high taxes. Again, these are often more dangerous as you can get more nicotine by leaving out a filter. 

And when it comes to vaping, teens can turn to YouTube for do-it-yourself videos on raising nicotine levels. This won’t change as we pass more laws. 

The bans won’t provide an alternative to current cigarette smokers hoping to kick the habit, nor will they stop teens from vaping. Instead, they will only increase lawlessness. 

In this episode of Unlicensed, Brett and Hunter talk about Gov. Reeves’ State of the State call to reduce regulations, some good early bills that will do just that, National School Choice Week, and wine in grocery stores. We also talk about Penn National purchasing a minority share in Bartstool Sports for more than $160 million. 

Senate Bill 2196, sponsored by Sen. Kevin Blackwell, allows minors to operate an occasional business without a permit or license from the government. 

Other states, starting with Utah, have begun to pass similar laws. This bill is a response to local governments across the country taking aim at occasional businesses run by young kids, usually lemonade stands.

In California, the family a five-year-old girl received a letter from their city’s Finance Department saying that she needed a business license for her lemonade stand after a neighbor complained to the city. The girl received the letter four months after the sale, after she had already purchased a new bike with her lemonade stand money. The young girl wanted the bike to ride around her new neighborhood as her family had just moved.

In Colorado, three young boys, ages two to six, had their lemonade stand shut down by Denver police for operating without a proper permit. The boys were selling lemonade in hopes of raising money for Compassion International, an international child-advocacy ministry. But local vendors at a nearby festival didn’t like the competition and called the police to complain. When word of this interaction made news, the local Chick-Fil-A stepped up as you would expect from Chick-Fil-A. They allowed the boys to sell lemonade inside their restaurant, plus they donated 10 percent of their own lemonade profits that day to Compassion International.

In New York, the state Health Department shut down a lemonade stand run by a seven-year-old after vendors from a nearby county fair complained. Once again, they were threatened by a little boy undercutting their profits. A state senator in New York has since filed legislation to legalize lemonade stands. That is correct, we need new laws to clarify that a seven-year-old can run a lemonade stand with the government’s blessing.

For those who may read this and believe the world has gone crazy, we do have a story in Missouri that ended on a good note – though there is plenty of crazy in this story. An eight-year-old boy was being heckled by neighbors inquiring about his permit. If those potential customers got sick, they wanted to know “who we should go to.” The neighbors then proceeded to yell at the boy’s mom after the boy went inside. Fortunately for the boy, the local police department heard about the incident and came by the boy’s lemonade stand to show their support, and to provide their stamp of approval.

As parents and as a society, we should be encouraging entrepreneurship. We should celebrate young boys and girls who want to make money, whether it’s for a new bike or to give to a ministry. When children have the right heart and the right ideas and are willing to take actions, we shouldn’t discourage it. The lessons are valuable. They learn that money comes from work, that you have to plan, and then produce a stand, signs, and lemonade. Introducing kids to the concepts of marketing, costs, customer service, and the profit motive is a good thing.

MCPP has reviewed this legislation and finds that it is aligned with our principles and therefore should be supported. 

Read the bill here.

Track the status of this bill and all bills in our legislative tracker. 

House Bill 261, sponsored by Rep. Becky Currie, would allow those holding an occupational license from another state to receive one in Mississippi.

The bill would also allow the spouse of a member of the military who is stationed in Mississippi to receive a license if they hold one from another state. 

As of now, a new state resident who is part of a licensed occupation often has to go through the same process as someone receiving their license for the first time with the resultant fees and tests. Also, if the educational requirements for the license in their former state aren’t as stringent, a new resident will have to pay for additional training to make up the difference. 

Mississippi does have limited reciprocity agreements with some states with some occupations to honor their licenses, but HB 261 would end this practice and allow most new residents to trade in their former state’s license with a new Mississippi one with little hassle.

A licensee would have to be in good standing with their former state’s regulators and would need to be licensed for a year to be eligible. The new worker would also have to pass a test to determine their knowledge of Mississippi laws and regulations concerning their occupation.

This bill would require the state’s occupational licensing boards would have to adopt rules to implement the new law by January 1, 2021.

In 2019, Arizona became the first state to pass such legislation that allowed new residents in the Grand Canyon State to bring their licenses with them rather than start the process of licensure again.

Mississippi is in need of occupational licensing reform. According to a report by the Institute for Justice, the Magnolia State is ranked 19thworst in the number of lower-income occupations that require a license. The report found that Mississippi licenses 66 out of 102 lower-income occupations studied.

MCPP has reviewed this legislation and finds that it is aligned with our principles and therefore should be supported. 

Read the bill here.

Track the status of this bill and all bills in our legislative tracker. 

Students, parents, and educators visited the state Capitol on Tuesday to celebrate National School Choice week.

The biggest issue for school choice in Mississippi is the re-authorization of the state’s Education Scholarship Account program, which is set to expire on July 1 without legislative action. A bill to renew the program passed the Senate last year, but died in the House Education Committee without a vote.

John Wells, whose 11-year-old daughter Jalyn is receiving assistance through the ESA program, said she had gone from being non-verbal as a 5-year-old to being an A and B student. The ESA allowed the Wells family to get their daughter a speech therapist and a tutor.

“Parents, we know who knows our children best and that’s us,” Wells said. “We know what they can handle and what they can’t. We’re so thankful for the legislators that voted this through and supplied this and I’m sure there are hundreds of parents throughout the state that are thankful for all of the help they get to educate their children. We really want you to encourage you to speak to your leaders and keep it going and even expand it. 

“There’s so much we can do with it. It’s an amazing thing to be able to choose where your children go to school, choose how you live your life with your children because there are so many people who don’t get to have this choice.”

Tamala Boyd Shaw is the founder and executive director of the second charter school, Leflore Legacy Academy, to be opened in the Delta region. She told the crowd that an equitable education is the civil right of the 21stcentury.

The Greenwood school’s application was rejected on the first attempt by the Mississippi Charter Authorizer Board and she thought about giving up before deciding after prayer to redouble her efforts.

Now the school is set to open in time for the next school year. Boyd Shaw said that she’s now interviewing support staff and will hire the teachers next. She also said they’ve found a turnkey building for the school and will start with sixth grade and add a grade every school year until they can start a high school.

“Understanding charter schools and school choice is really more than understanding the differences than traditional public schools,” Boyd Shaw said. “It’s about understanding the needs of students and the desires of parents. I would encourage legislators and others in decision-making seats to dig deeply when thinking about whether they are for or against school choice and think about the children.”

The Mississippi Alcoholic Beverage Control department says they couldn’t possibly handle wine in grocery stores.

Those wishing to purchase wine face a couple major hurdles in Mississippi: Mississippi is one of 17 states that control wine (and liquor) sales and distribution, along with being one of only 11 states that prohibit grocery stores from selling wine. 

As is often the case with government-sanctioned and empowered monopolies, the requirement that you must purchase wine from a liquor store has created a strong lobbying force which uses government regulations to protect their entrenched interests.

“Many liquor store owners, though, are afraid allowing wine sales in grocery stores will hurt their business and equally important, cut down on quality choices for customers,” a recent Northside Sun article said. “Tasho Katsaboulas, spokesman for the Mississippi Beverage Merchants Committee, said larger retailers would likely sell the cheaper wines, the same ones that current liquor stores rely on to make ends meet.”

Frankly, our public policy should not be dictated by the whims of any entrenched interests be it business, union, lobby, or otherwise. Our political leaders ought to be seeking to enhance liberty and freedom for the citizens in the market, not restrict certain industries from having to face potential competition.

But along with liquor stores who don’t want the new competition of grocery stores, you also have the state who says they can’t handle that additional volume.

“If you pass wine in grocery stores, I don't know where you would put it,” Department of Revenue Commissioner Herb Frierson recently told members of the state Senate.

According to Frierson, the 211,000 square foot warehouse in Madison that stores wine and liquor is at full capacity, even without Kroger or Walmart being in the market. Keep in mind that it is current government law which mandates that the state control the acquisition and distribution of all alcoholic beverages through one warehouse.

Just as our state policy should not be dictated by the business interests of a certain group, it should not be limited by the ineffectiveness of the government bureaucracy.

If the customers, through the free market prefer to purchase wine through a grocery store, then they should be allowed to do so, and further they should have access to do so without the imposition of government.

Current options on the table involve expanding the existing warehouse which is operating at capacity, decentralizing the process and building warehouses across the state, or privatizing the distribution system.

Ultimately, the state should seek to privatize the system and transfer control of distribution. This would give retailers the ability to work directly with distributors (as they do with everything else they sell in grocery stores), rather than the state, and allow them to make buying choices based on consumer demand, not availability in the state warehouse.

Other states have undergone this privatization process and thus have not only facilitated the empowerment of the free market but have also reduced the existing burden of government operations.

Gov. Tate Reeves said one of his top priorities as governor will be cutting red tape during his first State of the State address tonight.

“Often, the most impactful thing that we can do at this building is get out of the way and allow innovators to thrive,” Reeves said. “That is why one of my priorities will be cutting red tape. We are assembling a team that is committed to ensuring that the people of Mississippi are never held back by cumbersome government. Regulations and processes that may have been well-intentioned, often serve only to slow our state down. We are going to fix that.”

Mississippi has more than 117,000 regulations on the books. These regulations lead to higher costs for consumers, while having a detrimental effect on economic growth. 

We now have a history of empirical data on the relationship between regulations and economic growth. A 2013 study in the Journal of Economic Growth estimates that federal regulations have slowed the U.S. growth rate by 2 percentage points a year, going back to 1949. A recent study by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University estimates that federal regulations have slowed growth by 0.8 percent since 1980. If we had imposed a cap on regulations in 1980, the economy would be $4 trillion larger, or about $13,000 per person. Real numbers, and real money, indeed. 

“If you are being held back by some unnecessary government rule or process, we will provide an easy way for you to let us know,” Reeves added. “And whenever we can take action, we will do so quickly. We will have a bias towards action. We will listen to the people of Mississippi and clean up our codes to put them first.

“And there’s no question, much of the red tape in government is the result of well-intentioned, but now outdated actions. But do not fool yourself: there are many who use regulation to protect themselves from competition. That must end.”

Mississippi licenses 66 low-and-middle income occupations. This includes everything from a shampooer, who must receive 1,500 clock hours of education, to a fire alarm installer, who must pay over $1,000 in fees.

According to a recent report from the Institute for Justice, Mississippi has lost 13,000 jobs because of occupational licensing and the state has suffered an economic value loss of $37 million.

“We must make it easier for everyone to earn money in Mississippi,” Reeves continued. “That means eliminating those unfair regulations that keep people from getting licenses to work. We must make it simpler for anyone to thrive in our state. As governor, I plan to take a hard look at all of the regulations on the books that make it harder for people to live and work here. If you want to make a living in Mississippi, we want to make it easy for you to live in Mississippi. 

“That will be a focus of our administration.”

House Bill 4, sponsored by Rep. Brent Powell, would increase the number of liquor store retail permits that an individual can own from one to three. 

Currently, no person, either individually or through a firm, partnership, or LLC, shall own or control interest in more than one permit for liquor stores. This limits a person’s ability to earn a living and run a business, while also limiting competition and consumer choice. 

This, however, is just one small part of the state’s desire to regulate, and in many cases, prohibit, legal alcohol sales in the state. 

While the internet, technological developments, and more have made the purchase and production of alcohol freer and easier in other states, Mississippi has denied its citizens personal liberty on this issue. 

The state has discouraged craft beer production, overregulated alcohol distribution, and cracked down on the ability for citizens to privately produce alcohol. Permits are difficult to secure, and thus many businesses have been left in the dark, unable to expand or operate. 

Mississippi could make considerable strides by entrusting in its citizens a greater personal responsibility and freedom when it comes to alcohol sale and production. 

There is much the state could do, but this is a step in the right direction. 

MCPP has reviewed this legislation and finds that it is aligned with our principles and therefore should be supported. 

Read the bill here.

Track the status of this bill and all bills in our legislative tracker.