Gov. Reeves Signs $524-Million Tax Cut As Education, Infrastructure Funding Woes Remain
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed an income-tax cut Tuesday afternoon that will eliminate $524 million from state revenues. House Bill 531, known as the Mississippi Tax Freedom Act of 2022, eliminates the state’s lower tax bracket and cuts 1% off the top bracket. The new income tax will phase in over a four-year period, starting in 2023.
“This is a tremendous victory, and it will make a massive impact on the lives of Mississippians, and it will make a tremendous impact on our economy for years and years to come,” the governor said at the public bill signing. “… We will be on our way to returning over half a billion dollars to the people of our state.”
The legislation ends Mississippi’s 4% tax bracket on income between $5,000 and $10,000 and phases out the remainder of its 3% tax on income under $5,000. Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn had wanted to eliminate the state income tax completely, but Mississippi Senate leaders called such an action too drastic and said it would not be fiscally responsible.
“It’s not ‘Field of Dreams.’ I don’t print money,” Lt. Gov. Hosemann told Mississippi Free Press State Reporter Nick Judin in late 2020. “We have to have enough funds to pay for highway patrol, education, all the other things we pay for as a state.”
Read more: https://www.mississippifreepress.org/22641/gov-reeves-signs-524-million-tax-cut-as-education-infrastructure-funding-woes-remain/