Jackson Jambalaya

well, okay then

Of you could raise taxes

OR give less corporate welfare to build shopping malls...

Or stop paying Butler Snow a king's ransom every year...

Build more over capacity with tax credits and call strip malls "resorts". Hasn't that worked in the past?

tax "credits' don't cost our tax base anything. If the entity wasn't there to begin with (prior to the credit) then there was no tax to credit against.

People ought to quit confusing 'tax credits', subsidies, TIFS, and infrastructure 'grants' - some do cost the state treasury and others are dependent on a growth to the treasury for them to materialize.

Phil did a good job on this. Balance of cuts and utilizing savings. Common sense.

11:52 - So, since I wasn't here "to begin with", I shouldn't pay taxes, either, right?

No fault here. Common sense and reality.

Paraphrasing the MSBusJournal:
The revenue shortfall follows a series of tax cuts Bryant pushed through in his first term, including $100 million in yearly losses from changes in the way income taxes are calculated for multi-state businesses and an additional $126 million annually from reductions in the state’s business inventory tax.

Those tax cuts were in addition to more than $100 million in sales tax rebates given to shopping mall developers. Sales tax holidays on hunting and fishing gear pushed through by Bryant also took a bite out of collections.

But we're not done! Neither Bryant nor Reeves and Gunn said whether the fiscal crunch would force them to back off calls for phasing out the state’s franchise tax on business and cutting other taxes on businesses and individuals, which some projections have put the loss to the state treasury at $500 million in the first three years of the phase out.

Revenue will continue to drop in states like Mississippi as long as people are able to order items online and not pay taxes. If you have a credit card and can wait a couple of days you can buy almost anything online and save money.

The state losses tax revenue and the money goes out of state.

Not a fan of a tax increase but we better do something in this area or the only person who will hire your kid for the summer is you.

Not much call for common sense and reality now days.
People would much rather be lied to and put their grand children in debt just for something free today.
Reminds me of Wimpy, I will gladly put my grand children in debt for all of their lives for something free today.

2:20
Are you Sid Salters twit?
Let us consumers get z break where we can.

just cut higher education. Make those that want to go to college actually pay for it. send ole miss to the free market and save a bundle

Monetize cannabis.

It would not be a cure all, but you both cut corrections expenses and generate tax dollars.

(CO banked $60M in 2014, & while it wouldn't generate that amount, it would truly be sizable.)

3:44: How much money did the SEC Network make this year? Both 4 and 2 year schools can charge more. Millsaps does fine without any state money.

That would be a way to fully fund K-12 and still save money.

Too any State employees not pulling their weight. These type of employees could never make it in the private sector where performance and merit based advancement takes place over tenure and race

@ 2:10: "....reductions in the state’s business inventory tax". Are you suggesting this was bad government? Speak up! You mentioned it! Support your suggestion that this was a bad decision. Let me guess...You're a Bernie Sanders supporter.

It's sheer madness to tax a business based on inventory and equipment in a manufacturing facility. All the while they are providing jobs in the community and trying to catch a break and make a profit.

Go ahead. Admit it! You're a Bernie shill!

4:05

Millsaps is broke as a joke

Eliminate JSU, MS Valley and the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Free up the craft brewers to really grow and hire people. Raise the gas tax to fix roads without legislature anointment. Shrink the legislature to one house that meets once every two years. Eliminate SLRP. Ask the tea party how many of these they support.

It's simple. They should just cut the unneeded programs.

8:40 There is no Tea Party in Mississippi. It was a forum by Mark Mayfield and Chris McDaniels (90% of all postings) to support the campaign for Thad's pad.

Why eliminate Mississippi State? It's OUR state! Eliminate that hoochie-coochie dump up at Oxford that's on the cusp of the athletic death penalty.

8:01 Millsaps Broke? Have you seen how much they charge in tuition? It's 30K, plus 11k for room and board, then 2k in fees, and another 2k for books. 45,000 bones a year--they are making a LOT of money.

Maybe Governor Gomer should cut all the no bid service contracts to Fronteir Strategies, and force some performance based budgeting at UMMC---then the state budget woes would be magically improved!

5:52 PM, I'm not suggesting its bad government or an inherently bad decision to reduce the inventory tax. I'm just noting that decisions to reduce revenue have consequences. The Governor told us that reducing these sources of revenue would ultimately trickle down and result in more revenue. That hasn't happened. What has happened is that the State and local governments are left with less revenue than even the Governor's economist projected we would lose over the last few years. Now we're slashing agencies even more AND dipping into the rainy day fund. Our state still has among the highest unemployment in the nation and our state economy has shrank since the Governor took office. I think everyday citizens haven't seen the benefits of the Governor's tax policy.

Also, sorry to disappoint you but I'm not a Bernie supporter. FYI, everyone who disagree's with the Governor's tax policies isn't a socialist.

So, people such as 8:51 seem to be of the opinion that as long as the state's coffers are at the level of minimal mediocrity, all is well and we need not explore the idea of cutting confiscatory taxes and needless business taxes.

We have no way of knowing (but could speculate) how many industrial prospects steer sideways when they view the packet explaining business taxes,inventory taxes, equipment taxes.

It's unwise to keep a system in place simply because it's removal will cause another ripple somewhere else. And you may not realize it, but socialism is exactly where this kind of tax is defined. Take a little more here and there from the fat cats and put it in the pot used for distribution to all the rest regardless of their contribution (or lack of).

Oxford is just Grenada with out the Lake!

9:49, corporate taxation does not equal socialism. Private corporate ownership in itself is the antithesis of socialism. I don't disagree regarding the lack of wisdom of keeping systems in place because it may cause a ripple elsewhere. I do disagree with not taking a hard look at what that ripple effect is and taking action accordingly. The Governor said cutting corporate taxes and giving money to mall developers would better the economic standing of everyday Mississippians. That hasn't happened.

Just plain common sense should tell a person that building more places for people to spend their money is not going to better the economy of everyday Mississippians. They barely have enough money as it is now. The govt. has to support more than half of the people in Mississippi.