Mississippi Today
Tables turned with Gunn, Hosemann on state revenue estimate
Tables turned with Gunn, Hosemann on state revenue estimate
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Last year, when it was Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann's turn to run the Legislative Budget Committee, House Speaker Philip Gunn was anxious to raise the state's revenue estimate to grease the skids for his proposal to eliminate the income tax.
This year, Gunn's turn to run the LBC, Hosemann wants the estimate upped to help his proposal to fully fund K-12 education.
But Gunn says he does not intend to call a meeting of legislative leaders during the final days of the 2023 session to raise the revenue estimate to give lawmakers more money to budget for the upcoming fiscal year, beginning July 1.
What a difference a year makes. This time last year, Gunn was urging Hosemann to call a meeting of the Legislative Budget Committee to raise the revenue estimate.
A key difference is that last year Gunn wanted to raise the revenue estimate to ensure enough money was available to enact the income tax elimination that he and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves coveted.
Gunn, who is not seeking re-election this year and ending his historic tenure as the first Republican speaker in the modern era, was hoping to increase the scope of the tax cut this session. But the plan was scraped after it was rejected behind closed doors by a sizable portion of his own Republican caucus.
Now Hosemann is wanting the revenue estimate raised, in part to make it easier to enact a plan to put an additional $181 million in kindergarten through 12th grade schools and achieve full funding of the Mississippi Adequate Program for only the third time since 2003. MAEP is the funding formula that provides the state's share of most of the basic needs of local school districts, such as teacher salaries, utilities and textbooks.
Gunn, who has the power to call the meeting this year, says he has no intention of doing so.
“No. We don't see any reason to adjust it (revenue) at this point,” Gunn said late last week as he headed from the House floor to a meeting.
A little background might help. The speaker and lieutenant governor alternate in chairing the 14-member Legislative Budget Committee. Hosemann chaired the panel last year. Gunn is the chairman this year.
Each year in the fall the Budget Committee along with the governor meet to decide on a revenue estimate that represents the amount of money available for the Legislature to appropriate during the upcoming session for the next fiscal year that begins on July 1.
The politicians rely heavily on the recommendation of five financial experts, including the state economist and treasurer, in making the estimate. But since the estimate is of the amount the state is going to collect during for the next fiscal year, beginning in July, it is educated guesswork at best.
The Budget Committee for years has normally re-assembled in the midst of the final days of budget negotiations between House and Senate leaders to revise the estimate. They argue the later meeting during the final days of the legislative session gives the state's financial experts an opportunity to glean more information on the outlook of revenue collections for the upcoming fiscal year.
Last year Hosemann finally called a meeting on the Friday before the weekend that was the deadline for House and Senate leaders to agree on a budget.
The legislative session is now in the final week before the deadline weekend. So, if Gunn is going to call a meeting, this is when it would occur, though he says he is not.
For a little comparison, through February of last year, seven months into the fiscal year, state revenue collections were $768.4 million or 21.5% above the estimate. During that time, the state had collected $433.3 million or 11.06% more that it collected during the same time period in the previous fiscal year.
Mississippi, like most states, has experienced and continues to experience unprecedented revenue growth. This year, revenue collections are $524.4 million or 12.4% above the estimate through February or $395.8 million or 9.1% above the amount collected the previous year.
Granted revenue collections have slowed slightly. But in past years, state leaders would have jumped at raising the estimate based on such strong collections.
And it is safe the say that if Gunn's income tax cut was on the table for consideration during the final days of the session, he also would be jumping to call a meeting to raise the estimate.
In January on Supertalk radio, Gunn was still pitching his income tax elimination plan.
“We had about $800 million more than we were even spending, and I advocated that it was time to give some of that back to the taxpayers,” he said at the time. “We are collecting more revenue from our citizens than we're even spending, let's return some of that to the taxpayers.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
EPA absolves MDEQ, Health Department of discrimination in funding Jackson water
About a year and half ago, on the heels of Jackson's infamous water system failure, advocates and politicians from Mississippi began publicly questioning the funding mechanisms that are supposed to support such systems.
In October 2022, U.S. Reps. Bennie Thompson and Carolyn Maloney wrote Gov. Tate Reeves, grilling him over an apparent disparity in how federal infrastructure funds were allocated to Jackson versus other parts of the state.
Then days later, the Environmental Protection Agency's civil rights office opened an investigation into two state agencies — the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and the Mississippi Department of Health — in response to the NAACP's claims of discrimination under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VI prohibits discrimination — based on race, color or national origin — in providing federal assistance.
On Monday, though, the EPA announced it had ended the probe after finding no evidence the agencies had short-changed Jackson's water system. In its investigation, the EPA looked at the funding amounts and racial demographics of cities that received water funding from MDEQ and the Health Department and determined there was no correlation between the two factors.
“The evidence overwhelmingly shows that the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality did everything right,” MDEQ Executive Director Chris Wells said in a press release following the EPA's announcement.
The two agencies are in charge of disbursing funds from the EPA called “state revolving loan,” or SRF, funds, which are meant to help cities make infrastructure improvements. MDEQ handles SRF funds related to wastewater infrastructure, while the Health Department handles SRF funds for drinking water.
But the claims against the agencies were only part of the 2022 complaint the NAACP filed with the EPA. The federal agency did not address another complaint: The group also focused on the state Legislature, which has denied attempts in recent years by Jackson to raise money for its water system, such as creating a new 1% tax.
Click here for the EPA's full responses to MDEQ and Health Department.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
MSGOP Chair Bordeaux stepping down. Mike Hurst endorsed as successor
Mississippi Republican Party Chairman Frank Bordeaux announced on Wednesday that he will not seek reelection to his post and endorsed former U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst to succeed him.
Bordeaux, an insurance executive, wrote on Facebook that he's had a great tenure as the party's chairman, but it was time to “pass the torch” to a “new leader with a fresh perspective.”
“We've seen a lot of success,” Bordeaux said. “We've elected more Republicans in the last few years to local, state, and federal offices than at any point in history. With every election, we've gained seats and put more conservatives in positions to improve the lives of Mississippians.”
Republican Gov. Tate Reeves in September 2020 backed Bordeaux, a longtime Coast resident, to replace former GOP Chairman Lucien Smith, a move that likely proved crucial to the governor transforming the Coast into a political firewall of support during the 2023 statewide election.
It's typical for a sitting Republican governor, as head of the state party, to pick a new chairman. While the executive committee technically elects a GOP chairman, a governor's choice is typically installed by acclamation. There has been no major executive committee challenge to a Republican governor's chairman nomination in recent history.
Reeves did not immediately make a statement after Bordeaux' announcement on social media, but Hurst in a statement on Wednesday indicated he has Reeves' support.
“I want to thank Gov. Tate Reeves for his support, Chairman Frank Bordeaux for his incredible leadership, and the staff of the MSGOP, who have all raised our party to new heights and have achieved so much for our conservative principles over the last number of years,” Hurst said.
“Our future is bright in Mississippi and, if elected chairman, I hope I can play a small role in making our state and our party even better in the future,” Hurst added.
READ MORE: Lucien Smith out as MSGOP chair; Gov. Reeves backs Gulf Coast businessman to replace him
Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann in a statement Wednesday said: “Being chairman is a tough, uncompensated job which takes a significant amount of personal time. Frank's leadership through part of the pandemic and the recent statewide election has been pivotal to bringing organization, unity, and success to the Republican Party across the state. We appreciate his service and look forward to continuing his efforts under the guidance of Mike Hurst.”
Hurst has been involved in state and national Republican politics for years. He is currently a partner in the Phelps Dunbar law firm's Jackson office. Hurst served as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi under President Donald Trump's administration from 2017 to 2021, and previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney.
Prior to his presidential appointment, Hurst was the founder and director of the Mississippi Justice Institute, a division of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. He also previously served as a legislative director and counsel to then-U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering, and served as counsel to the Constitution Subcommittee of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee.
Hurst's wife, Celeste Hurst, was elected last year to the state House District 77 seat, representing Madison, Rankin and Scott counties.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Crooked Letter Sports Podcast
Podcast: It’s crunch time in both college and high school baseball.
We are into the second week of May, which means the college and high school baseball seasons have reached the point where every pitch matters. At present, Mississippi State is a likely 2-seed, Southern Miss is a 3-seed and Ole Miss is on the outside looking in. The Rebels, however, can change that this weekend when No. 1 ranked Texas A&M comes to Oxford. Also, Tyler gives the lowdown on all the high school baseball playoff action.
Stream all episodes here.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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