Tuesday, the Mississippi Legislature begins its 2017 session and there are some pretty big issues they’ll have to grapple with, matters that can no longer be addressed by kicking the can down the road, which is generally what happens when legislators are forced to face tough decisions.
The state’s budget crisis appears to be headed toward a real crisis, thanks in large part to last year’s move to implement the largest corporate tax cut in Mississippi history.
You probably haven’t heard that $415-million tax cut described in those terms, of course.
Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, whose political ambitions rely on currying the favor of big business, prefers to call it simply the “biggest tax cut,” cleverly leaving out the main beneficiary of the cut.
Of that cut, $260 million goes to businesses through the elimination of the state’s franchise tax, easily the biggest corporate tax cut in state history. By throwing in a small tax cut to regular folk, on average around $150 per year, it magically becomes simply “the largest tax cut.”
It’s a cheap trick, of course, like saying: Among myself, Eudora Welty and Tennessee Williams, we have won two Pulitzer Prizes.
The result is that our state is spending more than we are bringing in. The Governor has slashed budgets for state agencies across the board, and it is now at a point where our basic services are jeopardized. The Legislature will most likely have to come up with some new taxes. A hint: None of those taxes will hit corporations. It’s the little guy who’ll pay the freight. You can count on that.
There is also the grave and long-neglected matter of our deteriorating roads and bridges, estimated to cost $3.5 billion to put in good working order. To date, the Legislature hasn’t spent a dime toward that goal. Wait any longer and the entire state is likely to disappear into a giant sinkhole like the one that swallowed a dozen or so cars at that Meridian IHOP last year.
Yet there is another order of business that should be addressed first, because it has a direct impact on what little credibility our legislators have left – campaign finance reform.
As currently configured, there is hardly any restrictions on how legislators spend the money they collect for their campaigns. They can spend it on personal items and even take it with them when they leave office. Even those who are running unopposed often collect tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations.
During last year’s session, an effort to bring some semblance of integrity to campaign finance was voted down by the House of Representatives — through a voice-vote, of course, so no legislator would have to be on the record has having zero integrity.
Folks noticed that, so this time around the Legislature is going to have to do something. Everyone is in agreement. Even Reeves favors restrictions, as long as there is no cap on how much one donor can contribute to a campaign. He’s not about to impede the flow of corporate cash to his campaign, thank you very much.
There does appear to be a reasonable chance that some form of campaign finance reform will pass. Whether it will be a meaningful effort to end these slush funds or merely a cosmetic effort to save face remains to be seen.
Whatever it is, that legislation should come early in the session so that we will know how much respect we should afford our elected leaders.
So, pass campaign finance reform first. Then you can proceed with the usual business of sticking it to the little guy.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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