Critical Race Theory. Teacher pay. Income tax. Here’s how Reeves wants to use MS budget.
Mississippi needs to give teachers pay raises, to prevent Critical Race Theory from being taught in schools and to start the process of eliminating the state’s income tax, Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday.
He released his Executive Budget Recommendation for Fiscal Year 2023 on Monday and followed with a press conference in Jackson to present key issues.
He said his budget recommendations should be treated as a blueprint for areas like development, telemedicine and education, and also a road map toward public policy, which will be a “bold move” to deliver economic growth.
Mississippi is in the best financial shape ever, he said, with revenue of $1 billion more than projected in the last fiscal year. In the first four months of this fiscal year, he said the state continues to take in about $100 million more than projected each month.
Some Legislators will want to spend the $1 billion surplus, he said. He proposes using it toward eliminating the state income tax in the next 5 years. Reeves said he isn’t married to that time frame, and would consider eliminating the tax in just 3 years, or taking a little longer.
Mississippi competes daily with Texas, Florida and Tennessee when companies are looking for new locations to bring new jobs, he said.
“In every instance we are at a disadvantage because they don’t have an income tax and we do,” he said.
The state will receive about $1.8 billion in infrastructure money from the federal government and the cities and counties will collect another $800 million, he said. Reeves said it will be vital to spend the money on “transformational projects” that “can also solve generational challenges.”
Reeves’ budget plan
Here are some of the priorities in Reeve’s budget recommendations:
▪ Teacher pay — to ensure Mississippi has the “best, brightest, most effective teachers in the classroom,” he proposes an across-the-board pay increase of $1,300 the first year and $1,000 each for next two years. Reeves wants to reward teachers for a job well done during the coronavirus pandemic, he said. The pay raises will move the state from 37th to 21st in pay, and fourth in the Southeast, he said.
▪ Math and computer science — He also proposes $3 million to expand math coaches to support teachers and $400,000 to train and prepare teachers for career education. He suggests hiring a dedicated computer science coordinator at the state level to increase teacher readiness to teach computer science, which will be required in all schools by the 2024-25 school year.
▪ Critical Race Theory — “Honestly we find ourselves at a critical point in our American history,” Reeves said, and called Critical Race Theory propaganda from a group that wants to divide Americans. He wants a law passed next year to outlaw the teaching of Critical Race Theory in Mississippi schools.
▪ Election integrity — He wants Mississippi to clean up state voter rolls. “We make it easy to vote, hard to cheat,” he said. Counties should distribute a confirmation to each person on the voter roll, and direct that they respond, update voter information and vote once in four consecutive years to remain on the rolls.
▪ Workforce development — Reeves wants to see the expansion of training in high-demand professions like health care, tech, fiber installation, advanced manufacturing and commercial trucking.
▪ Safety — He proposes $5 million to help attract law enforcement officers he said are making mass exodus from other states and $5.5 million to double the size of the Capitol Police force in Jackson from 75 to 150 officers.
Other priorities include: $200 million for broadband expansion, $50 million to enhance the site development program through Mississippi Development Authority, revitalize downtowns, increase tourism, improve state parks, expand accessibility to telemedicine, improve 911 technology and funding and improve prisons.
This story was originally published November 15, 2021 at 2:03 PM.
