MS Legislative Session

This year, the General Fund has a rare, large surplus that presents an opportunity for tax cuts (such as a possible elimination of the state’s income tax, [personal but not corporate]) or spending in sectors such as education or infrastructure.

There were two bills last year that could’ve helped clarify and streamline the incentives and the process to obtain them.  Although they were almost identical and passed both houses, a final version was never agreed to. Those same bills have been introduced this year.  The Mississippi Flexible Tax Incentive, known as MFLEX, would require companies to meet investment and job creation requirements before they receive any taxpayer funds.  Doing so would protect taxpayer funds from fraud and waste and ensure that incentives only go to companies that fulfill their promises.

In this year’s Legislative Session, eight proposals were introduced to reinstate the initiative process in some form.  Only one survived the Feb. 1 deadline for committees to act on them. House Concurrent Resolution 39, introduced by Speaker of the House Philip Gunn, proposes to allow the initiative process to be used only to create, amend, or repeal statutes, but it would not allow doing so to the Constitution.

The Mississippi Tax Freedom Act of 2022, authored by House Speaker Philip Gunn, would eliminate the state’s personal income tax, but also would cut some other taxes as well in addition to increasing the state’s sales tax.