Mississippi State Government & Agencies
BPF strives to inform citizens and elected officials on its views regarding public policies that benefit or cause hard to Mississippi's economic condition. Bigger Pie believes sound public policy grounded in fiscal responsibility is a cornerstone to successful communities.
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State Government Is Flush with Money
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PERS
Legislative Session 2021
The Mississippi Flexible Tax Incentive Could See Needed Changes
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.
Will the Initiative Process in Mississippi Be Revived?
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.
MS Tax Freedom Act of 2022 Bill Proposes Reducing Grocery Tax and Cost of Car Tags
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.
PERS’ Lessons from the Municipal Retirement Systems
Thirty five years after it was closed, MRS still covers 1,510 retirees in 19 cities.
Allocating Mississippi’s $1.8 Billion ARPA Funds
This upcoming legislative session promises to be a contentious but historic one as lawmakers allocate $1.8 billion in federal funds given to the state.
Tie PERS’ COLA to the Rate of Inflation
For decades, the COLA automatically increased as the U.S. dealt with historically low inflation. The solution for the Board of Trustees is simple: Tie PERS’ COLA to the rate of inflation as measured by the CPI.