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Tax cut, teacher pay raise proposals sail through House

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Major tax cut, teacher pay raise proposals sail through House with bipartisan support

In less than 45 minutes Wednesday afternoon, the House approved legislation that would provide the largest tax cut in the 's history and one of Mississippi's largest teacher pay raises.

Both bills now go to the Senate, where members are working on their own tax cut and teacher pay raise bills. While the House passed both bills in only the second week of the 2022 session, it is likely that the final outcome for both proposals will not be known until much later in the 90-day session.

Still, House Speaker Philip Gunn said his chamber's members sent a strong message on Wednesday.

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“These two items were top agenda items,” said Gunn, a Republican from Clinton. “We intended to roll both out early. We are glad to get them passed in short order. I think both had overwhelming .”

Indeed, they did. The Mississippi Tax Act, touted by the speaker for two years, passed 97-12, with all the no votes coming from a minority of the 43-member Democratic caucus. Nine Democrats either did not vote or voted present. The START Act (the Strategically Accelerating the Recruitment and Retention of Teachers) passed 114-6, with six members of the 77-member Republican caucus against it.

House Ways and Means Chair Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, who presented the tax bill to the House members, pointed out that passing both bills on the same day sent a message that the Legislature could enact the historic tax cut and still meet the needs of the state.

READ MORE: Gunn's hallmark plan to eliminate income tax, reduce food tax

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READ MORE: The House's massive teacher pay raise proposal

House Education Chair Richard Bennett, R-, said the teacher pay proposal would provide a raise of $4,000 for all teachers — and more than $6,000 for some teachers — starting July 1. He said the increase is needed because pay is the top reason young people are not entering the teaching profession.

“We are competing with other states for our teachers,” Bennett told members.

Of the tax bill, Lamar said, “I believe it is time for historic, transformative, game changing legislation. This is absolutely transformative.”

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The tax bill would phase out the state income tax in an estimated 10 years to 12 years, reduce the sales tax on food from 7% to 5.5% this July and ultimately reduce it to 4% and cut the car tag tax by 35%. To partially offset the massive cut, the bill increases the sales tax on most retail items from 7% to 8.5%.

When fully phased in, it is estimated that the bill will cut taxes $1.5 in today's dollars. The current state-support budget is about $6.6 billion.

Rep. Zakiya Summers, D-Jackson, unsuccessfully offered an amendment to the tax bill that would have given low-income “working families” an additional tax break. They would have been eligible to from the state 15% of the earned income tax credit they receive from the federal government. The earned income tax credit provides funds to low-income working families, based on a number of conditions such as their income and their dependents.

Lamar said he did not rule out working with Summers later in the process to incorporate her proposal once he receives more information on the program.

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Rep. John Hines, D-Greenville, said he supported the tax cut bill because “it is an to give people some relief on buying their groceries and car tags. In Washington County, the biggest complaint we get is on the cost of car tags.”

Plus, he added the passage of the bill is an opportunity to work on “building consensus” in the House. Hines said the bill needs “to be tweaked,” but there is time in the process to do that.

Lamar said there is money to do both the teacher pay raise and tax cut because of last year's unprecedented 15.9% revenue growth and anticipated double-digit growth for the current fiscal year.

While there was little debate of the proposal on the House floor, One Voice, a nonprofit advocating for working families, said of the proposal: “Working families in the state will still be left to shoulder an even greater burden of replacing lost revenue from the tax cut with increased sales taxes on everyday items. These families already pay, on average, a larger share of their income in sales and property taxes than wealthier households.”

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The teacher pay raise proposal, costing about $219 million, would move the starting teacher pay in Mississippi from $37,000 to $43,124 annually to $39,897 for the region and $41,163 for the nation, according to information provided by the House leadership.

The bill also provides a $2,000 salary hike for teacher assistants.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi News

Nettleton hires Houston DC Kyle Bond as next head football coach

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www.wcbi.com – Jon Sokoloff – 2024-03-28 20:51:30

SUMMARY: Nettleton High School has hired Kyle Bond as its new head football coach. With over a decade of coaching experience, Bond started at Kossuth High School in 2012 and has since worked at and Booneville, where he led the team to an undefeated regular season and division championship in 2018. Bond spent the last four seasons as the defensive coordinator at Houston. He takes over from John Ketih, who left to become an assistant principal at New Albany Middle School. Bond's coaching experience and at Houston make him a promising addition to the Nettleton football program.

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Mississippi News

Aberdeen mayoral election: Incumbent Charles Scott

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www.wcbi.com – Allie Martin – 2024-03-28 18:45:46

SUMMARY: Voters in Aberdeen, Mississippi, will head to the polls for municipal elections, with Charles Scott running for reelection against challenger Dwight Stevens. In an interview, Mayor Scott discussed his goals for a second term, highlighting his focus on improvements, youth leadership, and community involvement. He emphasized his experience in the military as preparation for the mayoral role and mentioned his pride in securing grant money for the Aberdeen Port. Scott also outlined plans for Aberdeen Vision 2030, a roadmap for future . The election will take place on Tuesday, with no Republican challenger, meaning the winner will become the next mayor.

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Mississippi News

Mostly clear through Easter weekend – Home – WCBI TV

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www.wcbi.com – Ashleigh Bryant – 2024-03-28 18:26:14

SUMMARY: Clear conditions are expected to continue through the end of the in Columbus, Mississippi. Temperatures will drop into the 30s on Thursday night with possible patchy frost. Friday will bring more sunshine with high temperatures in the low to middle 70s. The will see temperatures pushing towards 80 degrees with no rain expected. Next week, warm and humid will flow into the Deep South, with a of scattered showers and thunderstorms on Tuesday. It is still uncertain if these storms will be severe, but it is being monitored closely.

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