Wall Street Journal Wrecks Mississippi

[eckie1]

The state has a surplus now... Meaning they in effect collected too much tax. So Tate (and others) want to eliminate the income tax so that MS can compete with other surrounding states that don't have one (Texas and I think Tennessee?) for job-producing projects.

So the idea is:
1. Eliminate the income tax (we have had a surplus recently anyway, so it should be a no-brainer)
2. Recruit and heavily incentivize new industrial and tech companies here (made easier by cost of living and theoretically no income tax) to create good-paying jobs. These companies will create ad valorem and maybe sales tax revenue for the state too, which is huge. Golden Triangle, Madison County, the Hattiesburg ADP, and others are already being successful at this - learn what they do and do more of it.
3. Train the current working-age citizenry in trades for the incoming jobs (like Amazon, Nissan, etc. have done) to bring up our workforce. This not only gives more income to Mississippians, but gives the state a good base to show other new companies they can build and hire good people in this state. The state is trying to do this with the Accelerate Mississippi program.
4. Build new schools AND improve the ones we have. High quality education is absolutely essential if we ever want new people to move to the state.
5. Keep building new retail/entertainment/sports/quality of life type amenities so that people enjoy life here and want to stay, and so that people from other states want to move here.
6. The more all this happens, and the more there is light somewhere at the end of a very long tunnel, the less brain drain we will have, which is great. The more success we'll have in moving new people in. And the more opportunities we will have for those young adults to feel it's okay to "move back home" after they spent their 20's living it up in NYC or Nashville. We need all those things to happen.

It's a long long long term plan, but it can work.

Here in TX, we don't have income tax and I WISH we did, if it meant lower property taxes. Counties are overvaluing property by MASSIVE margins year to year, and you are defenseless against that. There are many people whose mortgages are killing them because the payments go up hundreds of dollars a month per year. The offset, though, is no state income tax and vehicle registration is only about $100 a year. You have much more control over your salary (if you stay employed) and your vehicle (uber everywhere), but you are completely defenseless against property values.

It's criminal here in my little blip on the map in Tarrant County. We are in the top 5 for most property taxes in the whole county, which is massive.

 

[WilCoDawg]

Nashville’s growth isnt sustainable. There's been too much growth and soon no one will be able to afford to live here (thanks California). Kids that go off to college can’t afford to live on their own when they come back.
So I wonder if that growth and expensive home prices won’t soon benefit MS with its lower COL. I’ve heard nothing but compliments from people who experience MS and it’s old school Southern hospitality as well which may benefit it when people here are tired of the carpetbaggers and high prices.

 

[Podgy]

One of the benefits of having Trent Lott and Thad Cochrane who served decades in D.C. is that they brought home a lot of money. They said the required phrases to get applause and votes (big gubment bad, we need to cut taxes) while making sure lots of tax dollars from other Americans, and borrowed money, poured into the state. Imagine what MS would be like without all those federal dollars.

 

[eckie1]

Jackson Jambalaya

Mississippi faces a shrinking workforce problem—with people of working age on the sidelines and younger people moving away—as it also struggles to attract new residents. Economic and population growth is transforming other Southern states such as neighboring Tennessee.


State and local leaders worry Mississippi’s civilian labor-force participation rate—the nation’s lowest, at 53.9% in October, compared with 62.7% overall in the U.S.—as well as a substantial brain drain of young people moving away and a shrinking workforce are hurting the state’s chances of joining in the region’s bonanza.

Mississippi's population only added 750 residents during the last year while the South grew by 1.4 million residents.

I posted a story about a trip to Wisconsin the other day... The entire area we saw looked like so much of the MS Delta, but they have manufacturing jobs EVERYWHERE. Mississippi still hasn't even tried to recover from when cotton was King. And, they have plenty of sh1tty government in Wisconsin, too.

Mississippi has done this to itself. For well over a century. And it's not just the state government literally stabbing Jackson with a billion papercuts over the decades, like not even paying property tax on their government buildings and refusing the city any kind of state aid. We have way too many people living in shambles and fully on the government that just don't want to work and couldn't care less about the impact it has on Mississippi. And, people that flat out don't want people that don't look or think like them being within 15 miles of them.

 

[Podgy]

Nashville’s growth isnt sustainable. There's been too much growth and soon no one will be able to afford to live here (thanks California). Kids that go off to college can’t afford to live on their own when they come back.
So I wonder if that growth and expensive home prices won’t soon benefit MS with its lower COL. I’ve heard nothing but compliments from people who experience MS and it’s old school Southern hospitality as well which may benefit it when people here are tired of the carpetbaggers and high prices.

So build more houses in and around Nashville.

 

[Darryl Steight]

Here in TX, we don't have income tax and I WISH we did, if it meant lower property taxes. Counties are overvaluing property by MASSIVE margins year to year, and you are defenseless against that. There are many people whose mortgages are killing them because the payments go up hundreds of dollars a month per year. The offset, though, is no state income tax and vehicle registration is only about $100 a year. You have much more control over your salary (if you stay employed) and your vehicle (uber everywhere), but you are completely defenseless against property values.

It's criminal here in my little blip on the map in Tarrant County. We are in the top 5 for most property taxes in the whole county, which is massive.

I hate to sound too pragmatic or callous about it, because I know it hurts when it's your money, but that's basically "rich people problems". It's an issue of living in a desirable place with a lot of growth (talking about Texas, not your county particularly.)

I'm guessing you wouldn't trade where you are now and move to Mississippi just so you could pay lower taxes on your house. But if so, let me know and maybe we can arrange a swap.** I'd move to Fort Worth right now in a heartbeat, property tax be damned.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Nashville’s growth isnt sustainable. There's been too much growth and soon no one will be able to afford to live here (thanks California). Kids that go off to college can’t afford to live on their own when they come back.
So I wonder if that growth and expensive home prices won’t soon benefit MS with its lower COL. I’ve heard nothing but compliments from people who experience MS and it’s old school Southern hospitality as well which may benefit it when people here are tired of the carpetbaggers and high prices.

I don't see why not. They'll just keep going farther out. People aren't commuting as much, you have electric cars now, maybe driverless coming soon (who really knows). Outer ring towns will keep growing.

 

[HRMSU]

How are you gonna replace the revenue lost by eliminating the income tax? Increase sales or property taxes? Other states around us with income taxes seem to be doing ok.

Increase property taxes drop state income tax. My TX property taxes are insane but no State income tax and it's my choice to pay a high property tax based on the property I choose to own. People with higher value properties pay more taxes than people with lower property values shouldn't that make the Equity justice crowd happy?

And while property values tend to trail market values I still feel like the state could bring in more income than an income tax that is based on income that can be "massaged."

 

[Darryl Steight]

I don't see why not. They'll just keep going farther out. People aren't commuting as much, you have electric cars now, maybe driverless coming soon (who really knows). Outer ring towns will keep growing.

Murfreesboro is booming for exactly this reason.

 

[eckie1]

The state of MS can turn this around but it really needs a targeted strategy and everyone pulling in the same direction, which can never happen in this state given the politics in Jackson. But this is what I think could turn it around:

1. Get aggressive with cleaning up Jackson. Empower the police and start locking people up. Yeah, I know.
2. Eliminate the state income tax. This should have been done a long time ago, and it certainly contributes to people getting the hell out of dodge after college.
3. Start getting aggressive with attracting big business to the state. I mean, get radical. Sweetheart deals on land. Tax breaks. Incentivize companies to do business here. If we can't get Jackson to clean up its act, start investing in population centers in the NE (Tupelo), the NW (Desoto county) and around Hattiesburg. Give companies a reason to do business in MS, which gives people a reason to stay in MS, and ultimately to move to MS.

The state income tax would have to be absorbed somewhere, and maybe property tax... Might give more people incentive to work or GTFO, actually.

I've got an idea that I would love to see it happen: career "incubation" campuses where new grads could work for big time companies, who could save substantial money on salary while also helping the grads build their careers. Imagine any FAANG company having a spot in Starkville or Oxford, where they are getting young talent for a fraction of the price they'd have to pay in California. There would have to be agreements, like how proctored the environment needs to be... And we'd have to offer incentives on letting the employees stay on these campuses (or remote) while they're employed... It would be instant income tax revenue, and would be a boost to the participating towns, for sure.

 

[mstateglfr]

The state has a surplus now... Meaning they in effect collected too much tax. So Tate (and others) want to eliminate the income tax so that MS can compete with other surrounding states that don't have one (Texas and I think Tennessee?) for job-producing projects.

So the idea is:
1. Eliminate the income tax (we have had a surplus recently anyway, so it should be a no-brainer)
2. Recruit and heavily incentivize new industrial and tech companies here (made easier by cost of living and theoretically no income tax) to create good-paying jobs. These companies will create ad valorem and maybe sales tax revenue for the state too, which is huge. Golden Triangle, Madison County, the Hattiesburg ADP, and others are already being successful at this - learn what they do and do more of it.
3. Train the current working-age citizenry in trades for the incoming jobs (like Amazon, Nissan, etc. have done) to bring up our workforce. This not only gives more income to Mississippians, but gives the state a good base to show other new companies they can build and hire good people in this state. The state is trying to do this with the Accelerate Mississippi program.
4. Build new schools AND improve the ones we have. High quality education is absolutely essential if we ever want new people to move to the state.
5. Keep building new retail/entertainment/sports/quality of life type amenities so that people enjoy life here and want to stay, and so that people from other states want to move here.
6. The more all this happens, and the more there is light somewhere at the end of a very long tunnel, the less brain drain we will have, which is great. The more success we'll have in moving new people in. And the more opportunities we will have for those young adults to feel it's okay to "move back home" after they spent their 20's living it up in NYC or Nashville. We need all those things to happen.

It's a long long long term plan, but it can work.

So instead of taking the 'too much tax' that exists and using it to fund improvements to the state that directly and indirectly benefit the good people of Mississippi, you want to eliminate income tax, slash property tax for corporations(but not the people that actually work and produce?), spend money to build new retail/entertainment/sports amenities, spend money to build new schools, spend money to improve existing schools, and spend money to train workers.

How much is this surplus exactly? Unless this surplus is staggeringly large, I dont see how income tax can be eliminated, corporate property tax for new companies can be slashed, and all that infrastructure can be paid for.

 

[Mr. Cook]

Secondly, between property tax and ad valorem tax, we are already overtaxed in this state.

 

[BrunswickDawg]

Here in TX, we don't have income tax and I WISH we did, if it meant lower property taxes. Counties are overvaluing property by MASSIVE margins year to year, and you are defenseless against that. There are many people whose mortgages are killing them because the payments go up hundreds of dollars a month per year. The offset, though, is no state income tax and vehicle registration is only about $100 a year. You have much more control over your salary (if you stay employed) and your vehicle (uber everywhere), but you are completely defenseless against property values.

It's criminal here in my little blip on the map in Tarrant County. We are in the top 5 for most property taxes in the whole county, which is massive.

That's why a large part of the GA Legislature has resisted eliminating the Income Tax. They know the endgame will be communities jacking property taxes. GA is lowering it's income tax cap to 5.94% this year, and I think dropping it to 5.75% in steps over the next two years. The State has maxed out it's statutory rainy day fund; and is generating about $18 billion in excess revenue. They have invested some in raising state employee and teacher pay, but have used the rest for expanded income tax rebates and property tax rebates. the past 2 years I've gotten a check back for the income tax rebate, and the property tax rebate goes to local government and is reflected on your annual property tax bill - saved about $500 this year in property taxes. We also eliminated the annual vehicle tax for an increased tax at time of purchase. Oh, and the Governor suspended the fuel tax for 12 of the past 18 months and we STILL ran surpluses of $18 billion.

 

[Darryl Steight]

How much is this surplus exactly? Unless this surplus is staggeringly large, I dont see how income tax can be eliminated, corporate property tax for new companies can be slashed, and all that infrastructure can be paid for.

The state ended the 2022 fiscal year with a $3.6B budget surplus, or nearly 1.5x the state income tax revenue.

 

[eckie1]

I hate to sound too pragmatic or callous about it, because I know it hurts when it's your money, but that's basically "rich people problems". It's an issue of living in a desirable place with a lot of growth (talking about Texas, not your county particularly.)

I'm guessing you wouldn't trade where you are now and move to Mississippi just so you could pay lower taxes on your house. But if so, let me know and maybe we can arrange a swap.** I'd move to Fort Worth right now in a heartbeat, property tax be damned.

I work remotely, so I really could do that... I'd want to wait until my son is out of college, though.

But, the problem is I'm in Technology, so these hikes don't kill me like it does the school teachers. It affects literally everyone that owns property here, and we're not all well off. We do very well for ourselves, so I'm not complaining about me. But, When more then half your mortgage is property taxes, and in effect, insurance... it's effing BS.

You could probably make more money here, but good luck finding a house that that is anywhere near what it's worth in MS... property taxes just compound the issue. Lots of things to think about....

 

[cowboydawg]

Hernando problem is the bottle necks. You have half of town on each side of 55 and only two ways to get to either side and one of those is a two lane road.

I have been in Hernando for 20 years and couldn’t agree more. I know they are trying to develop toward i69 more over by the new high school and hoping i69 provides some relief. But at the same time you have Starbucks that just opened on Commerce by the interstate, with Whataburger coming, Dunkin Brands closer to the square and of course the 12:00 train. Also, not sure if you have noticed, but a lot of people from surrounding towns/communities come to the Hernando Wal Mart and Kroger.

 

[Darryl Steight]

That's why a large part of the GA Legislature has resisted eliminating the Income Tax. They know the endgame will be communities jacking property taxes. GA is lowering it's income tax cap to 5.94% this year, and I think dropping it to 5.75% in steps over the next two years. The State has maxed out it's statutory rainy day fund; and is generating about $18 billion in excess revenue. They have invested some in raising state employee and teacher pay, but have used the rest for expanded income tax rebates and property tax rebates. the past 2 years I've gotten a check back for the income tax rebate, and the property tax rebate goes to local government and is reflected on your annual property tax bill - saved about $500 this year in property taxes. We also eliminated the annual vehicle tax for an increased tax at time of purchase. Oh, and the Governor suspended the fuel tax for 12 of the past 18 months and we STILL ran surpluses of $18 billion.

Must be nice for GA and TX. I hope MS gets to make decisions like this one day.

 

[Mr. Cook]

One of the benefits of having Trent Lott and Thad Cochrane who served decades in D.C. is that they brought home a lot of money. They said the required phrases to get applause and votes (big gubment bad, we need to cut taxes) while making sure lots of tax dollars from other Americans, and borrowed money, poured into the state. Imagine what MS would be like without all those federal dollars.

True....BUT the problem is that the MS mentality became: "we'll get Thad and Trent to go get us more money" instead of building on what was created as a result of their efforts.

 

[HRMSU]

I hate to sound too pragmatic or callous about it, because I know it hurts when it's your money, but that's basically "rich people problems". It's an issue of living in a desirable place with a lot of growth (talking about Texas, not your county particularly.)

I'm guessing you wouldn't trade where you are now and move to Mississippi just so you could pay lower taxes on your house. But if so, let me know and maybe we can arrange a swap.** I'd move to Fort Worth right now in a heartbeat, property tax be damned.

Yep, and you can always move to an area in the State with lower property taxes or downgrade to a lesser property. Those are hard life decisions for sure. My TX property taxes are insane but our public school district is awesome and while I firmly support the 2nd amendment it's virtually unnecessary where I spend 95% of my time. So, as much as I complain about my property taxes there are plenty of tangible benefits that come along with it. And if I get tired of it or kids grow up I can move further out reduce my taxes and fill up my gun safe.

 

[LordMcBuckethead]

Pretty much what many of us have been saying for years.

We'll have democratic elected governor elected in 20 years or so. When the same type politicians who have ruined Jxn, get in charge of the whole state, it'd go down even faster. Make no mistake, Rs aren't much better, but it will be slightly more of a controlled descent with them in charge. The state is doomed no matter what.

hAHAHAHAAHAAHA.
Man, just like a Republican, to ***** about some distant possible future event when Republicans have been running this State for damn 60 years and you see where we are.

There are Jackson City Democrats and then there are just everyday Democrats. There are Republicans that are willing to work across the aisle and get **** done, and then there is Tate, Hailey Barbour, and what's his face (Mr. Laundering money for Favre guy). There are Democrats that are not AOC democrats or Jackson City Mayor democrats.

Give me someone with some actual damn ideas on how to boost our economy, and I want them to win. For the past 20 years..... basically complete **** show on the State level, top to bottom.

The one party stronghold on this state..... its not a bug its a feature and a gigantic problem.
I bet 15 of us could run this state better. Give me 5 dems, 5 republicans, and 5 randos and I would fix everything from State income tax, to immigrant workers, to school district funding, etc. In about 2 weeks.

 

[LordMcBuckethead]

Or you can be a badass, live in Starkville, make more money than literally everyone else in town, and downplay it.

 

[LordMcBuckethead]

Is there not untapped industrial potential on the coast or is it the only thing really keeping MS from looking worse than it really is?

They spent a few billion on the port down in Gulfport, but they should have spent that at multiple locations on the Mississippi River as well. Just imagine if Tunica was a major river port.

 

[dudehead]

First of all, the revenue from the state tax is relatively insignificant because of the poverty levels in the state. Secondly, MS state tax is higher than virtually all states around us.

Secondly, between property tax and ad valorem tax, we are already overtaxed in this state.

The answer is being smarter with what the state is doing with the tax revenue they already collect.

Aren't most non-general revenue sources of budget revenue legislatively directed for specific expenditures, such as Medicaid?

It's not going to be solved overnight, primarily because the conditions were not created overnight. Mississippi has been careening toward this since at least the 1960s if not since the 1870s. Mississippi is an adopted place for me, and I love a lot of things about it. But, reading stuff like this makes me damn glad I live in Georgia. Setting politics aside, Georgia has always worked toward progress and typically in a conservative fashion (even when the Dems were in charge pre-2000). They focused on infrastructure, they didn't abandon Atlanta when it was at it's worst in the 1980s and they have directed resources toward other areas of the state to lift them as well - almost without hesitation. So while the secondary cities like Savannah, Macon, Columbus & August all floundered a bit in the 1980s and 1990s as their respective industries left, they are all now seeing major growth. And they have focused the past 20 years at least on jobs and what it takes to attract them. My city now has the busiest roll-on/roll-off port on the East Coast and are close to the busiest in the country; Savannah has the busiest container port on the east coast; Hyundai is about to bring 15,000 more jobs to Coastal GA with a new EV plant opening in '25; the film industry touches every corner of the state (an industry that almost didn't exist here 20 years ago). Georgia didn't give up when the textile industry left north Georgia in the 80s - they shifted to carpets and flooring. When the fishing industry collapsed on the coast we focused on building the ports. When Ford and GM shut down around Atlanta, we got Hyundai in Columbus and now on the coast, plus some VW spill over from Chattanooga - while making sure the former plants got redeveloped in a responsible manner. We have a highly diversified tax revenue stream and a highly pro-business development approach to State and Local tax incentives and that is jobs focused. The biggest thing is we didn't sit around and do nothing for a half century.

Georgia has progressive leadership. Mississippi does not. Our political and business leaders want to keep things like they use to be. And our children flee.

 

[idog]

This is true, but those areas are far from the urban areas that are needed. Entire Tupelo Metro is like 150K. And the coast will always have hurricanes, which, like or not, will limit it.

It's really Jackson or bust.

very true. every coast line in the nation has no hope. 40% of the nation's population is doomed.**

 

[Rupert Jenkins]

Jackson is a sewer that can not be fixed without massive actions. There is very little law enforcement which drives all business out. No one will invest in Jackson because no one wants to throw their money in a sewer. The whole state is over ran with unemployed bums and dopeheads that contribute nothing to the tax base. All they do is drive down property values. We need to stop handing out free money unless it's to some major employers who will provide jobs. But companies don't wanna come here because the workforce is a joke.

 

[HRMSU]

Not my industry so some of you experts might have a better take but Manufacturing is coming back to North America in a BIG way. US, Canada and Mexico is going to see a doubling of manufacturing over the next decade.....one good thing about 2020 and the geopolitical environment.

Now, Mexico, the south in general and the Texas triangle will be highly sought after for this growth. I think this is where MS should push all the chips in. You have the MS River, the Coast, centralized geographic area for distribution and the concentration of FedEx in the Memphis airport, I55, I20, I10. Sell the geography and the bones of infrastructure, low labor costs, low cost of living, etc. There are a lot of positives but everyone needs to be rowing in the right direction to make massive change and that's where it probably falls apart.

 

[Bully1972]

In all seriousness, the only desirable places to live/work in MS are Hattiesburg and Madison County. Everything else is dying.

I’m sure someone will pipe up and mention Oxford but I hate those bastards too much.

Desoto County says hi!

 

[dudehead]

Jackson is a sewer that can not be fixed without massive actions. There is very little law enforcement which drives all business out. No one will invest in Jackson because no one wants to throw their money in a sewer. The whole state is over ran with unemployed bums and dopeheads that contribute nothing to the tax base. All they do is drive down property values. We need to stop handing out free money unless it's to some major employers who will provide jobs. But companies don't wanna come here because the workforce is a joke.

We do have a serious workforce problem. In east MS, it is difficult to find and hire people that will work and can pass a drug test.

 

[Darryl Steight]

Georgia has progressive leadership. Mississippi does not. Our political and business leaders want to keep things like they use to be. And our children flee.

I have to disagree with you about this, right now. I would agree Barbour and Bryant played the good old boy game, but Tate is a generation removed from those guys age-wise and doesn't seem scared to make moves - he doesn't want to keep things the same. You may disagree with the ideas (eliminating income tax, creating the CCID, etc.) and may not like his political allies, but you can't really say he's standing still. I have to give him credit for trying to improve things. Not something I can say for many of the politicians around here - especially many city leaders.

I see people lumping him in with those old line guys because he started working in government under them, but I think that's sort of a shallow view of it.

 

[SirBarksalot]

Once I graduated college, I lived in NYC for a bit for an internship. Ever since have lived in Charlotte and Nashville.

well, Charlotte is falling in line with all the other Blue cities. Crime riddled Wild West. Felons walking the streets…even after murder convictions.

 

[HRMSU]

Desoto County says hi!

Only the county with the 2nd highest median household income but the Memphis boogeyman is too much for some to overcome when including this area.

I get it in some ways....heck I grew up in DeSoto Village and well that's it.

 

[maroonmania]

MSU graduates a large percentage of the engineers and science majors in the State but a most of them have to leave the State to find good jobs. Just have to find someway to attract more manufacturing and businesses with some higher paying technical jobs into the State or its pretty much a lost cause.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

very true. every coast line in the nation has no hope. 40% of the nation's population is doomed.**

Stop.

The MS Coast has been wrecked twice in the last 54 years. The water is shallow and susceptible to surge. The towns are built right on the water. Odds aren’t happens again.

 

[Studentdawg06]

Cross out Tennessee and just put Nashville metro.

These population booms in southern states are based around a popular metropolitan area. Mississippi has Jackson…….yeah.

You have the coast/Hattiesburg and then Desoto County is next to Memphis…..yay.

The majority of Mississippi is very rural and last I checked rural America in general is shrinking at an alarming rate so it makes sense.

Chattanooga, Knoxville, and the Tri-Cities are all growing from out of state transplants. All of Middle and East Tn are hot now.

 

[Studentdawg06]

I posted a story about a trip to Wisconsin the other day... The entire area we saw looked like so much of the MS Delta, but they have manufacturing jobs EVERYWHERE. Mississippi still hasn't even tried to recover from when cotton was King. And, they have plenty of sh1tty government in Wisconsin, too.

Mississippi has done this to itself. For well over a century. And it's not just the state government literally stabbing Jackson with a billion papercuts over the decades, like not even paying property tax on their government buildings and refusing the city any kind of state aid. We have way too many people living in shambles and fully on the government that just don't want to work and couldn't care less about the impact it has on Mississippi. And, people that flat out don't want people that don't look or think like them being within 15 miles of them.

The Upper Midwest was settled by Dutch, Germans, Scandinavians, and etc. They have always built stuff. That area has been a manufacturing hub since Mississippi was a feudal ag system. There also isn’t a stigma about blue-collar work there like there is in a lot of the South. There is a lot more skilled labor. They take worth ethic seriously.

 

[Darryl Steight]

hAHAHAHAAHAAHA.
Man, just like a Republican, to ***** about some distant possible future event when Republicans have been running this State for damn 60 years and you see where we are.

Mississippi has elected 4 Republican governors since 1882. The rest were Democrats. From 1882-1992, the governors were all Democrats.

Then Fordice (R) was elected, then Musgrove (D), then Barbour and Bryant and now Reeves.

To say Republicans have run the state for 60 years is a bit of a stretch.

 

[HRMSU]

MSU graduates a large percentage of the engineers and science majors in the State but a most of them have to leave the State to find good jobs. Just have to find someway to attract more manufacturing and businesses with some higher paying technical jobs into the State or its pretty much a lost cause.

Let's go hard after manufacturing even if it's low skilled manufacturing to start. Get the employee base going and elevate from there even if you have to import the labor from other states to begin with. Incentivize the citizen in some creative way. MState needs to lead the way with a focused support of manufacturing and partnering with industry to build a center of excellence....like what Walmart or the Waltons did with the Supply Chain program at UPigg.

 

[Podgy]

Jackson is a sewer that can not be fixed without massive actions. There is very little law enforcement which drives all business out. No one will invest in Jackson because no one wants to throw their money in a sewer. The whole state is over ran with unemployed bums and dopeheads that contribute nothing to the tax base. All they do is drive down property values. We need to stop handing out free money unless it's to some major employers who will provide jobs. But companies don't wanna come here because the workforce is a joke.

Europe puts its violent poor people in the suburbs. That's what should happen in our cities. Build government housing there, move people in and give them something to live on. You're not finding an incredibly productive workforce in Jackson and there are historic reasons and other factors for that.

 

[615dawg]

We do have a serious workforce problem. In east MS, it is difficult to find and hire people that will work and can pass a drug test.

I have an idea. Get rid of sports at community colleges and let the community colleges do what they are supposed to do - fix Mississippi's workforce.

Mississippi, Kansas, Iowa, Arizona and some of Texas are the only states that have junior college football. And of course Mississippi is the hotbed.

 

[Podgy]

Mississippi has elected 4 Republican governors since 1882. The rest were Democrats. From 1882-1992, the governors were all Democrats.

Then Fordice (R) was elected, then Musgrove (D), then Barbour and Bryant and now Reeves.

To say Republicans have run the state for 60 years is a bit of a stretch.

Massachusetts has Dem leadership. It also has high taxes. It also has industry and pretty much does better on every standard of measure for life outcomes. It also gets a lot of federal dollars.