“People overestimate what they can accomplish in one legislative session and underestimate what they can accomplish in ten.” 

In this series, we are conducting a review of the incredible record Mississippi lawmakers have compiled over the past 10 years. The list provided here is not comprehensive, and we feature only the policies we like: some of which were initiated by MCPP (marked by an *asterisk* below).

So far, we have covered:

10 Years of Regulatory Reform Achievements

10 Years of Social Welfare Achievements

10 Years of Religious Liberty Achievements

10 Years of Second Amendment Achievements

10 Years of Pro-life Achievements

10 Years of Healthcare Achievements

10 Years of Education Achievements

In this final part of the series, I will be reviewing the budgetary and tax achievements advanced by the Mississippi Legislature. 

Budget

Several highlights are worth mentioning as we consider Mississippi’s budgeting efforts over the past 10 years. To begin with, the state held down bond debt: perhaps mostly thanks to Governor Tate Reeves, who as Lt. governor was a fiscal hawk. The state also did a reasonably good job in maintaining its Rainy Day Fund. Most notable was Mississippi’s emergence as a leader in performance-based budgeting. This type of budgeting tries to measure the relation between the amount spent and the results: in other words, the bang for the buck. 

The proper implementation of performance-based budgeting requires a cultural shift and not just the tweaking or cutting of agency budgets. Implementation is very important, and results can be elusive. This was suggested even as far back as 2003 in a report by then-auditor Phil Bryant.

In 2014, the Legislature made a substantive attempt at instituting performance-based budgeting with HB 677, sponsored by Rep. Becky Currie. That law empowered the Legislative Budget Office (LBO) to require select agencies to inventory agency programs and activities. As I commented in 2014 about this law: “Performance-based budgeting promises to make agencies more accountable and efficient by introducing objective standards that measure successful outcomes, rather than just inputs. The evidence for performance-based budgeting is somewhat mixed, but more budget transparency is a good start. The next step would be to review agency fine/fee collections, with any eye toward lowering and eliminating these hidden taxes.”

This next step, in fact, was accomplished in 2015 and 2016 with a legislative package known as “Financial Ready.” These reforms, passed as part of an expansion of performance-based budgeting efforts, required an identification of all sources of revenue for each agency, including fine/fee revenue and federal funding.*

Also, in 2015, thanks to the leadership of Senator Joey Fillingane and Rep. Greg Snowden, Mississippi became a founding member of the Compact for a Balanced Budget (SB 2389). This Article V effort to amend the U.S. Constitution features a pre-ratified amendment to force the federal government to operate with a balanced budget. The compact was reaffirmed in 2021 with the passage of HB 1326, again thanks to the leadership of Senator Fillingane.*

Finally, we will add that MCPP was a leader in encouraging and facilitating transparency for state spending. Thanks to our website, seethespending.org, taxpayers were able to access millions of government financial records so as to better hold state and local officials accountable. (One reporter called the effort “a near-miraculous step forward in state and county government transparency.”) See The Spending was happily made obsolete once the state decided to post spending records online at transparency.mississippi.gov. (We’re still waiting for them to catch up to the level of detail featured at See The Spending, though.)

Taxes

In 2012, the Legislature significantly expanded the inventory tax credit with a bill (SB 2934) sponsored by Senator Joey Fillingane. Mississippi is one of only nine states that impose this tax, which is assessed regardless of whether a business earns a profit. Total repeal of the tax is made problematic because it is actually a property (ad valorem) tax levied by localities on business inventories. 

In 2015, thanks largely to the efforts of Speaker Philip Gunn, the Legislature came close to eliminating the state’s personal income tax. The measure (HB 1629) would have delivered a $1.5 billion tax cut for Mississippians. It died after being amended by the Senate.  

The next year, however, the Senate essentially got its way with the passage of the 

Taxpayer Pay Raise Act. Sponsored by Senator Joey Fillingane, the law enacted the largest tax cut in Mississippi history. The measure (SB 2858) reduced taxes by more than $400 million over 12 years, beginning in 2017. The law cut the personal income tax and taxes on self-employment. It also phased out the franchise tax, a burdensome tax on investment that few states impose anymore.* 

In 2021, Speaker Gunn again introduced legislation to essentially eliminate the state income tax. The Mississippi Tax Freedom Act of 2021 (HB 1439) would have eventually eliminated the individual income tax and reduced the grocery sales tax in exchange for raising various sales taxes. After passing the House, the measure was not taken up by the Senate.

It seems likely Mississippians will see another tax cut before statewide general elections in 2023. Whether this entails an elimination of the personal income tax remains to be seen. 

That said, Mississippi’s overall tax burden has risen over the past 10 years, as compared to other states. In FY2011, Mississippi’s state and local tax burden was 8.4 percent, 40^th lowestin the nation. For calendar year 2019 (latest data available), it was 9.5 percent, 33^rd highest in the nation. In terms of overall taxes paid, as a percentage of national income, Mississippi is falling behind other states. With states like North Carolina and Arizona slashing taxes and attracting new residents and investment, Mississippi is going to have to significantly cut taxes again in order to remain competitive.

US Senators have blocked the passage of a bill that would have fundamentally overhauled America’s election process.

As I noted in a video a few days ago, the bill, dubbed the “For the People Act,” is anything but for the people. This radical legislation would have dramatically altered how elections are run in our country. Frankly, it boils down to a federal takeover of the election system that we’ve preserved in this nation for the last 200 years.

The bill lost by only one vote, showcasing the intense divide that currently exists in the US Senate.

Here are some of the worst parts of this (now dead) bill:

- It authorizes the IRS to investigate and consider the political and policy positions of nonprofits when these groups apply for tax-exempt status. This would make room for political targeting via taxation. Imagine the chilling effect on speech that would occur if the IRS was constantly staring down non-profits and threatening punishment if the wrong thing is said or the wrong idea is advanced.

-It would eliminate state voter ID laws that verify the identity of voters and strengthen election security. The vast majority of Americans across the political spectrum continue to support voter ID laws.

-It pushes a one-size fits all redistricting model on every state. The bill would strip voters of their ability to decide how districts are drawn. 

-It would force the public to fund candidates running for Congress. Nobody should be forced to fund political campaigns involuntarily.

-It would limit the capacity for states to clean their voter rolls. This bill would have made it even harder to clean up these lists. This makes it more likely that folks who have died, moved away, are ineligible, are noncitizens, or are registered multiple times will be left on voter lists. Why would any official want to make it more difficult for states to have accurate voter lists?

-The bill would have automatically registered any individual who has an interaction with a state agency such as the DMV. To be clear, this does not refer just to eligible citizens. It would have registered every individual no matter if they’re simply a resident or even if they should not be voting. There is absolutely no sensible reason to register those who should not be voting.

-It would require that all states allow for absentee ballots on demand. Furthermore, it allows for ballot harvesting, a process by which campaign officials and other political actors can work to collect absentee ballots. This practice has been widely criticized by folks across the political aisle.

-It would force states to allow for online registration and unaccountable same day registration without oversight.

-Finally, it dramatically restricts the free speech rights of candidates, citizens, and nonprofits by enacting a range of new regulations.

Thankfully, the bill is dead. This is thanks, in part, to the “No” votes of both Senator Roger Wicker and Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith.

The bill will undoubtedly be reintroduced again. However, its death strikes a major blow at efforts to centralize election control and remake Mississippi’s election laws in the vein of New York or California’s systems.

"Capitalism is the unequal distribution of wealth. Socialism is the equal distribution of poverty." -Winston Churchill

America is at a crossroads regarding its economy and identity. This all comes in the wake of a government that has expanded spending to record levels and a nation that is recovering from government-imposed lockdowns. 

As states begin opening back up, the circumstances have created an ideological and economic policy vacuum as various factions clammer to define "the new normal." 

Although many would have frowned upon the idea of the government giving out money on such a large scale, the recent events of the past year have further normalized the idea of government handouts to the populace. Despite assertations from many that such programs were only to be utilized during the pandemic, the nature of government has moved these programs closer to a position of permanence. 

In the words of Milton Friedman: "Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program." Indeed, efforts are underway even now to make such handouts the codified law of the land, with many in Washington advocating for an expansion of the welfare state to the extent that the nation has not seen since Lyndon Johnson's disastrous "Great Society."

Yet the question must be asked, what is the real economic benefit of the government handouts that the Left has continually attempted to advance? Although the shortsighted proposals of some promise at least temporary advantages, it is critical to consider whether or not these moves have long-term benefits for the economy. Time and time again, the government has shown itself to be a poor distributor of other people's money. 

Handouts stagnate economic growth because there is no exchange of goods or services when the money goes from the taxpayer to the government to the welfare recipient. Under free-market circumstances, economic transactions are voluntary exchanges that occur so that all parties get something of value. When there are more transactions, more economic activity occurs. On the other hand, the government gets the money it uses for the welfare state either by borrowing it on the taxpayers' credit or using force to enact taxation.

For instance, when the government uses one dollar for these entitlement programs, it transfers that dollar from the producer to the recipient by force. This transfer guts the value that could have been put into the economy if the recipient had worked for that dollar. Taking the money that taxpayers earned through their own labor and transferring it to handout recipients that did not work for it disregards the value of the taxpayer's labor.  

Yet, the damages from the redistributive entitlement programs do not just end with the disregard of taxpayer labor. Such programs also lower the productivity of the workforce as workers are incentivized not to work. This creates a consuming cycle as the businesses that are dependent upon employees cannot find a labor force to operate the business. 

When these places of employment are forced to close their doors because they can't find employees, there are fewer available employment opportunities. Government welfare programs are then further grounded into society to address all of the resulting unemployed. Through a cycle of government dependence and poverty brought about by entitlement programs, communities that were once thriving can be decimated as the whirlpool of government welfare programs consumes the economy. 

Finally, government handouts are more than just a problematic economic element. There is perhaps no more destructive force to destroy the motivation and work ethic of a workforce than the sedative of government handouts. When a government doles out the entitlement dollars to the citizens, it sends a message that the nanny state will provide some or all of their income.  

The American economy and work ethic are legendary as the world's greatest engine for free enterprise, industry, and innovation. To protect this incredible success, there must be a recognition that destructive consequences come from policy proposals to grow redistributive entitlement programs. 

A path of socialist programs is a path to ruin for America. Public policy should prioritize an economic environment where citizens can genuinely experience the value of their own labor and thrive in the success of the free market system.

***For Immediate Release***

(Baton Rouge, LA/Jackson, MS): The Pelican Center for Technology and Innovation, a division of the Pelican Institute, and the Mississippi Technology Institute, a division of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, have released a comprehensive joint report on the status of broadband internet access in Mississippi and Louisiana.

The report can be read in its entirety here.

The state-based technology centers seek to provide information to policymakers and the general public on removing barriers to broadband deployment and being proactive to get the two states more digitally connected.

In a day of telework, remote learning, telemedicine, and increasing digital connectivity, there is a growing need for fast and reliable internet service. As policymakers work to address the questions surrounding broadband coverage, speed, cost, and infrastructure development, the report aims to provide a comprehensive point of reference.

Eric Peterson, Director of the Pelican Center for Technology and Innovation, noted: "In order to close the digital divide, lawmakers must be armed with the information necessary to overcome the challenges of broadband implementation. Lawmakers need to be informed on what areas lack access and what issues cause lower adoption rates. By understanding the causes of problems in broadband deployment, lawmakers will be able to make great strides in closing the digital divide."

The report emphasizes data-driven public policy as a driving force behind successful broadband deployment. Matthew Nicaud, Tech Policy Specialist for the Mississippi Technology Institute, noted: “Broadband deployment has extensive implications on the state infrastructure, economy, budget, education, tech innovation, and business growth. By providing data about the current status of broadband deployment, we hope to provide policy recommendations that are fiscally responsible and economically successful.”

The report was produced as a joint initiative by the technology divisions of the Pelican Institute and the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.

For more information on the report or to request an interview, please reach out to Hunter Estes, [email protected], at the Mississippi Center for Public Policy or Ryan Roberts, [email protected] at the Pelican Institute.

***End***

Many Mississippians feel cheated. Having voted overwhelmingly to approve a medical marijuana initiative last November, our state supreme court has now annulled this citizen-led decision.

Worse, by declaring our state’s initiative process ‘unworkable and inoperable’, our supreme court has in effect struck down the only system of direct democracy we had in the Magnolia state.

Irrespective of how you feel about medical marijuana, something has gone badly wrong when 70 percent of people vote for something in good faith, but then have their decision reversed.

The problem isn’t our judges, however, but the process for triggering initiatives in the first place. Under our state constitution (Section 273) a popular vote can take place to amend the constitution only if enough signatures are collected across each of the state’s five congressional districts.

The trouble is that our state only has four congressional districts, not five.  Mississippi has only had four congressional districts since 2002, when we lost our fifth congressional seat.  Our law makers somehow never got around to updating the rules.  Responsibility for where we are today must rest with the legislature.

Five years ago, I was helping lead Vote Leave, the official campaign that won the Brexit vote in Britain.  Brexit is one of the greatest examples of ordinary folk being able to vote to achieve real change.  It shows us why citizen-led initiatives are essential.

Having won the Brexit vote, all sorts of attempts were made to try to overturn the decision of the people. I know what it is like to have direct democracy opposed by those that don’t want change.

There may now need to be a special session of the legislature to address the specific issue of medical marijuana.  Serious thought also needs to be given as to how we fix our system of initiative.

Besides ensuring that there is a workable process in place to allow signatures to be gathered, here are three further suggestions on how to strengthen our system of direct democracy:

Initiatives should change state law, not just the state constitution. The initiative process that we have allows citizens to vote to change the state constitution.  It ought instead to allow the public to vote to change ordinary state law.

The state constitution is supposed to set out the basic rules under which those wanting to shape and influence public policy operate.  It is unwise to try to determine public policy by perennially seeking to incorporate amendments into the constitution itself.

Why?  There is a risk that our constitution could become a hodge podge of competing claims.  Far from empowering ordinary people, it easy to envisage how judges would be left to trying to untangle the inevitable incoherence.  That’s hardly people power.

More importantly, good public policy emerges when new ideas can be implemented and then improved upon, being modified or even reversed if they don’t work.  Using constitutional amendments to achieve specific public policy outcomes is the equivalent of engraving change in tablets of stone. It puts things beyond the reach of further democratic scrutiny.  Allowing citizens to vote to change state law, itself subject to normal electoral cycles, would be much healthier for democracy.

Direct democracy should be direct. Curiously, the system of direct democracy in our state is actually rather indirect. Once enough signatures have been gathered to allow an initiative to take place, the legislature has considerable leeway to in effect doctor the question before it is put to the people.

Reform should not only allow popular votes to approve new laws – as happens in many other states across America.  People should be able to vote on the question, not a doctored version of it designed to favor the outcomes politicians might prefer.

Tax neutral? It is easy to argue that voters should be generous with someone else’s money.  But it is also profoundly dangerous.  Initiatives should not become a device that allows people to vote to pass on the bill for something to their neighbors, or indeed to the next generation of Mississippi taxpayers.

Plenty of other states in America allow citizens a right of initiative yet insist that any proposals are tax neutral.  We should consider doing so too.

The failure of our legislature to update the rules on initiative over almost two decades demonstrates that politics is too important to be left to politicians. Reform is needed to ensure that Mississippi has a right of initiative that actually works.

“People overestimate what they can accomplish in one legislative session and underestimate what they can accomplish in ten.” 

In this series, we are conducting a review of the incredible record Mississippi lawmakers have put together over the past 10 years. The list provided here is not comprehensive, and we feature only the policies we like: some of which were initiated by MCPP (marked by an *asterisk* below). (Or, in the case of the many accomplishments below, nearly all of which were initiated by MCPP.)

So far, we have covered:

10 Years of Social Welfare Achievements

10 Years of Religious Liberty Achievements

10 Years of Second Amendment Achievements

10 Years of Pro-life Achievements

10-Years of Healthcare Achievements

10 Years of Education Achievements

In this installment, we will be looking at legislative accomplishments aimed at cutting red tape to make it easier to start a business, obtain a good job, and lead a good life in Mississippi. These are the highpoints over the past 10 years:

In 2013, MCPP worked closely with Senator Angela Hill to pass the state’s first cottage food law (SB 2553). This reform unleashed a culinary revolution of small entrepreneurs baking cakes and cookies and making pickles and other homemade goods. The law exempted small entrepreneurs from onerous regulations better suited to largescale providers. In 2020, we successfully expanded the law, with a bill (HB 326) sponsored by Rep. Casey Eure.*

In 2015 and 2016, we led the way in passing a legislative package known as “Financial Ready.” These reforms, passed as part of separate bills related to performance-based budgeting, require state agencies to identify their dependency on federal grants and quantify the fiscal and other compliance costs associated with these grants. Mississippi was the second state in the country to enact Financial Ready.*

Also in 2015, MCPP launched the effort to combat the Obama administration’s arguably unconstitutional Clean Power Plan. In addition to collaborating with state policymakers to voice their objections as part of the federal rulemaking process, we worked on various bills to provide for more transparency and accountability for the plan. In the end, lawmakers passed a resolution declaring Mississippi’s opposition to this federal attempt to take over state electrical grids (SCR 637).*

In 2017, MCPP was proud to work with Americans for Prosperity (MS-AFP) to help pass a law (HB 1425) that requires the state to actively review new regulations issued by occupational licensing boards. AFP led the way in this effort, and we assisted with messaging support and other expertise. The law implements a structure to provide “active supervision” over occupational licensing boards so that they “use the least restrictive regulation necessary to protect consumers from present, significant and substantiated harms that threaten public health and safety.” In 2020, Rep. Jerry Turner strengthened the review process so as to apply to existing (and not just new) regulations (HB 1104).

In 2019, the Legislature made it easier for certain Mississippi residents with a criminal record to obtain an occupational license. Known as “Fresh Start,” the law strikes a balance between protecting public safety while helping ex-offenders reintegrate into their families and communities by getting good-paying jobs. According to the Institute for Justice, following the passage of Fresh Start, “Mississippi now has some of the best laws in the country for ex-offenders seeking licenses.” Fresh Start was sponsored by Rep. Mark Baker and Senator John Polk (SB 2781) and was a priority for MCPP.*

Also, in 2019, Mississippi became the first state in the nation to pass a comprehensive law to protect the privacy of those who give to the causes and charities they hold dear. This law has sparked a movement of states committed to protecting free speech and the freedom of association from government agencies seeking to weaponize and politicize charitable giving. This legislation (HB 1205) was sponsored by Rep. Jerry Turner and Rep. Mark Baker and was a priority for MCPP.*  

In 2020, the Legislature again turned toward eliminating burdensome occupational licensing requirements. Sponsored by Senator Chuck Younger and championed by Rep. Steve Hopkins, the Military Family Freedom Act (SB 2117) makes it easier for military personnel and their families to obtain a Mississippi occupational license by recognizing existing credentials and experience earned in other states. Arguably the best law of its kind in the country, this reform put Mississippi on the map as a destination state for military families seeking to live and work here.*

In 2021, thanks to the leadership of our legal center, the Mississippi Justice Institute, the Legislature altogether eliminated occupational licensing requirements for select practitioners in the cosmetology field. This law (HB 1312) was sponsored by Rep. Jerry Turner.*

Finally, in 2021, building upon our success with the Military Family Freedom Act, lawmakers made it easier for anyone who has earned an occupational license in another state to obtain a license in Mississippi. Authored by Rep. Becky Currie, this legislation (HB 1263) was a priority for MCPP and the result of years of hard work to make it easier for qualified professionals to move to Mississippi and work in their chosen field.*

Students who are falling behind in school – in particular, those who are at below grade level – are at greater risk of dropping out of high school. This can have detrimental lifelong impacts, as well as negative economic consequences for dropouts and society at large.

*This report can be read in its entirety here.*

This issue is much more important in this era of COVID-19, as many more children are falling behind grade level. Policymakers should therefore pay attention to state remedial education programs and consider whether current resources, both state and federal, are being used to the best advantage for kids who are falling behind.   

The Achievement Gap Has Gotten Bigger

Research conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic by the consulting firm McKinsey found that minority and low-income students are at much greater risk of falling behind because of school closures and disruptions. They found that:

• Black students may fall behind by an additional 10.3 months;
• Hispanic students may fall behind by an additional 9.2 months;
• Low-income students may fall behind by an additional year.

Achievement gaps between groups of students were very large and stubbornly persistent for decades heading into the COVID-19 pandemic.  And, from March 2020 to June 2021, McKinsey estimates that these achievement gaps will grow by another 15 to 20 percent. 

McKinsey forecasts that the learning loss from COVID-19 “may translate into long-term harm for individuals and society.” They estimate that the decline in student achievement will have a national cost in upcoming years of $110 billion in annual earnings for students, higher crime and incarceration rates, and other negative social outcomes.

Other recent studies are arriving at very similar conclusions.

New Solutions Are Needed

Given the decades-long failure of existing remediation programs and the acute learning losses due to the pandemic, it is time to try something new to help students who are falling behind.

The research consensus on remediation programs for public school students is that they have performed poorly for decades. Federal and state funding for remediation programs have increased significantly over time. For example, federal Title I-A funding increased by 81 percent between 1980 and 2017 in real (inflation-adjusted) terms.[1] Despite this large increase in funding, Title I has not boosted student achievement (Brookings report: Dynarksi and Kainz, 2015) and been poorly targeted to the students most in need (Hamilton Project, Gordon, 2016).  Further, achievement gaps between groups of students have been stubbornly persistent for decades (Hanushek, et al., 2020).

Students who fall behind grade level and remain behind for a period of years often end up as high school dropouts. The economic consequences of dropping out of high school are severe: lower lifetime earnings, more poverty, increased use of government welfare programs, reduced generation of tax revenue, higher rates of divorce and out-of-wedlock births, higher incarceration rates, more drug use, lower life expectancy, etc.

Given the expensive and absolute failure of federal remediation programs, it is clearly left up to the states to do something about helping students who are behind grade level.

[1]Congressional Research Service, 2017. Title I-A grants are to be used to “provide supplementary educational and related services to low achieving and other students attending elementary and secondary schools with relatively high concentrations of students from low-income families.”

*To continue reading this report in its entirety, click here.*

What a mess!  Last week Mississippi’s Supreme Court overturned the medical marijuana initiative that voters had overwhelmingly approved in November last year.

The ruling renders a democratic decision 1.3 million Mississippians helped make null and void.  Worse, the state Supreme Court ruled that the entire initiative process itself is ‘unworkable and inoperable’, meaning that we no longer have any meaningful form of direct democracy in the Magnolia state.

Irrespective of our own personal views about medical marijuana, I hope we can all agree that something has gone badly wrong when 70 percent of voters can vote for something, as they did for medical marijuana, but have their choice ignored. 

What went wrong?  

The problem is the process for triggering the initiative vote.  Our state constitution (Section 273) allows a popular vote to take place to amend the constitution if enough signatures are collected across each of the state’s five congressional districts.

Sounds good, doesn’t it?  Making sure that support for an initiative comes from across the state is perfectly sensible.  But there is one small flaw; our state only has four congressional districts, not five.  Mississippi has only had four since 2002, when we lost our fifth congressional seat – and our law makers never got around to updating the rules.

We should not blame the state supreme court for this fiasco.  They only interpret what the rules say.  Responsibility lies with our legislature, which over almost two decades failed to act to update the rule book.

Before coming to Mississippi, I co-founded Vote Leave, the official campaign that won the Brexit vote in Britain.  The Brexit vote is a powerful example of how ordinary folk can achieve real change.  It shows why citizen-led initiatives are essential.  

After a clear majority voted for Brexit, all kinds of efforts were made to try to overturn the result.  I know what it is like to have direct democracy opposed by those that don’t want change.  Today many Mississippians who voted last fall for initiative 65 will feel cheated.

While there needs to be a special session of the legislature to address the issue of medical marijuana, lawmakers should take their time when it comes to fixing the initiative process. It's something we need to study, hold hearings on and address in 2022. 

Mississippians only gained a right of initiative in the 1990s.  It now turns out that that right never actually existed for most of that time after all.  Our law makers need to get this right.  

Obviously there must be a workable process for gathering signatures to trigger initiatives.  But we should take this opportunity to ask if other improvements are needed to ensure that we have a system of direct democracy that actually works.

Is it, for example, healthy that popular votes are aimed at achieving amendments to the state constitution, rather than statutes?  Our state constitution sets out the basic rules by which the political game is played.  Rather than continually aiming to change those, might it be preferable if popular voters changed statutory law?

Under the current set of rules, when an initiative looks likely, our lawmakers have – in effect – an opportunity to try to doctor the question.  Should we make it harder for this to happen?

Last, but not least, should we insist – as some other states do – that initiatives are tax neutral, in order to avoid a situation in which Mississippians are encouraged to vote to be generous with someone else’s money?

Far from undermining the argument for giving people the power of initiative, the failure of our lawmakers to act over the past two decades shows precisely why citizen-led initiatives are essential.  We cannot simply leave politics to politicians.

This post was originally published in the Clarion Ledger and can be read here.

“People overestimate what they can accomplish in one legislative session and underestimate what they can accomplish in ten.” 

In this series, we are conducting a review of what Mississippi lawmakers have accomplished over the past 10 years. The list provided here is not comprehensive, and we feature only the policies we like: some of which were initiated by MCPP (marked by an *asterisk* below).

So far, we have covered:

10 Years of Religious Liberty Achievements

10 Years of Second Amendment Achievements

10 Years of Pro-life Achievements

10-Years of Health care Achievements

10 Years of Education Achievements

In this installment, we will be looking at legislative accomplishments regarding social welfare. We will focus on only two laws: but they are each, in their own right, very significant accomplishments. The first is the 2017 HOPE Act. The second is the 2019 Children’s Promise Act. MCPP led the way in getting these policies passed and has, also, assisted with the ongoing implementation of these programs.

The Hope Act*

In 2015, Rep. Chris Brown, Rep. Jason White, and Senator Josh Harkins partnered together to strengthen Mississippi’s welfare system by rooting out fraud and abuse. One of those bills (HB 740) passed the House, but died in the Senate. In 2016, Senator Kevin Blackwell joined the effort and an even stronger bill almost passed both chambers. Finally, in 2017, Mississippi passed what some observers still consider the gold standard for recent state welfare reform efforts: The HOPE Act (HB 1090). According to one independent review, the HOPE Act moved “Mississippi to the forefront of states in overall benefits integrity and the move from reliance on benefit programs to employment.”  

Even higher praise came from the law’s critics, with The Nation commenting: “The legislation reads like a compilation of all-time favorites from a Republican wish list.”

The HOPE Act contains multiple commonsense reforms. One such policy entails verifying whether people on Food Stamps (SNAP) live in Mississippi, are in prison, or, even, whether they are still alive. Another reform is the restoration of federal income and asset tests, thus insuring that millionaires and others stay off welfare. In addition, the law instituted a third-party eligibility auditing system estimated to save state and federal taxpayers millions of dollars.

In November 2019, the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) undertook an analysis of just one of the reforms in the HOPE Act: a codification of the federally mandated (but often ignored or “waived”) requirement that able-bodied adults without children work, train or volunteer in order to receive Food Stamps. 

The results were astonishing.

Prior to the reform, notes FGA, “Just two percent of able-bodied, childless enrollees were engaged in full-time employment. A staggering 85 percent of these able-bodied adults were not working at all.”

After Mississippi reinstituted the SNAP work requirement, able-bodied adult enrollment declined by 50 percent within 3 months, decreasing by 72 percent after almost two years. This reduction in welfare dependency resulted in $93 million in taxpayer savings a year.

Even more encouraging, former welfare recipients obtained employment in more than 700 different industries, with incomes more than doubling.

Again, these advances are from just one of the reforms in the HOPE Act. It is certainly a popular achievement worth celebrating and one MCPP is proud to have played a leading role in helping pass.

The Children’s Promise Act*

Another very important and popular policy victory championed by MCPP is the Children’s Promise Act. 

Foster care in Mississippi, as in other states, has struggled under the weight of broken families, drug addiction and human trafficking. The problems the foster care system faces are too complex for government to handle alone. The idea behind the Children’s Promise Act is to generate better outcomes by encouraging the state and the private sector to work together. This is encouraged by offering a tax credit for donations made to nonprofits working with the Department of Child Protection Services (DPS).

The National Council of Nonprofits estimates that every $1 in tax breaks for nonprofit donors saves government $5. A tax break for foster care nonprofits is thus a great way to save the state money. More important, by inviting new donors to support foster care nonprofits, the state is also inviting new eyes, hands, and hearts to take a fresh look at how we can help foster kids, children in poverty, and children with special needs.

The initial iteration of the Children’s Promise Act was passed in 2018. That law (HB 1566), sponsored by Rep. Roun McNeal, contained two different personal income tax credits aimed at helping children with special needs, as well as children in foster care. The law also increased the state tax credit for families hoping to adopt.

The first tax credit in HB 1566 was an $800 credit for donations to diverse organizations (QCOs) that assist low-income families and children with special needs. The second tax credit was a $1,000 credit for donations to organizations (QFCCOs) that specifically work with children in foster care. The law also doubled the state’s existing adoption tax credit from $2,500 to $5,000.

In 2019, MCPP worked with our coalition partners to take the 2018 law and transform it into the Children’s Promise Act (HB 1613), sponsored by Rep. Mark Baker.

This law expanded and improved upon the initial framework laid down in 2018 and significantly increased the amount of money available to help nonprofits in Mississippi. The law contains five different tax credits:

1. The original $800 personal income tax credit for donations to nonprofits helping low-income families and children with special needs;
2. The original $1,000 personal income tax credit for foster care nonprofits;
3. A continuation of the $5,000 adoption tax credit;
4. A business tax credit for donations made to foster care nonprofits;
5. A business tax credit for donations made to educational service nonprofits.

In 2020, the Legislature again expanded the Children’s Promise Act, doubling the cumulative business tax credit from $5 million to $10 million and providing additional funding stability for the program.

Along with Arizona, Mississippi has been a pioneer in using tax policy to strengthen the state’s foster care and social welfare systems. We were the first state, in particular, to enact a business tax credit to generate largescale donations to foster care nonprofits.

MCPP is proud to have played a leading role in helping pass and implement the Children’s Promise Act and encourages our readers to take advantage of these individual and business tax credits that are doing so much good.