Mississippi AG shares downfalls of tax cuts
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood spoke at the Rotary Club on Monday, May 22, and shared why he believes Mississippi should stop cutting back on funds and where the funds should go.
Hood began by telling Rotary members that Starkville is not in the same economic condition as most of Mississippi's towns.
"It is amazing to see how well this area has done compared to other parts of the state," Hood said. "It's
tremendous … seeing this area come out of the recession even faster than Tupelo."
In his speech, Hood discussed different problems he is trying to help fix. The first problem he discussed was trying to reduce the abuse of opioids through treatment and rehabilitation by expanding the mental health care in Mississippi.
Hood said mental health care is something the state needs to get a handle on, and that providing mental health treatment would be less expensive than arresting and housing people who self-medicate with opioids or other drugs.
Hood also spoke about how tax cuts affect Mississippi, and how an $11 million expansion in Medicaid would have helped the economy by $91 million a year, which would have paid for the expansion of Medicaid for 20 years.
Hood said he believes the state could use a portion of fuel taxes and apply it to improving roads.
"Highways and education are the two fundamental building blocks for economic development," Hood said.
Hood said by not taking the opportunity of taking internet sales tax, Mississippi passed up on $100 million, and if there was a Mississippi lottery, it could bring an anywhere from $8 million — which Hood said is the amount Arkansas gets from its lottery — to $160 million.
Hood said taking up on opportunities like these taxes and these potential incomes for the state could expand not only mental health care, but also education for ages 3 to 5 years old.
Hood said the Mississippi Legislature has not shown how tax cuts from the past few years have impacted the state.
"Those are cuts that are sinking our economy, and are hurting our chances for economic development," Hood said.
Hood also said he believes two years free tuition for community college students to teach them skills in technical areas for companies or for more specialized skills, such as welding, would also be beneficial, and would decrease the amount of debt people accumulate during college.
This year, funding toward universities was cut by 25 percent, which Hood said is the cause for rising tuition rates.
Hood also said he believes the state should devote more funds for Victims Compensation Division, Law Enforcement and Firefighter Disability Compensation and Motorcycle Officers Training Fund.
"There is a lot we need to be doing that we are not doing, and that is what is capturing us and keeping us from preparing for issues to come at us in the future," Hood said.