House Speaker Jason White and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann on Thursday both pitched plans to cut state taxes and expand Medicaid coverage to the working poor but differed on their specific approach, offering a preview of crucial legislation that will headline the 2025 legislative session in January.
White, a Republican from West, told business leaders at the Mississippi Economic Council’s annual Hobnob event, that he will propose legislation to eventually eliminate Mississippi’s 4% tax on all earned income over $10,000 and reduce the state’s sales tax on groceries from 7% to 3.5% over time.
“We are hoping to construct a tax system that, yes, prioritizes certain needs in our state but it also protects and rewards taxpayers,” White said.
Hosemann, the two-term Republican leader of the Senate, did not mention the income tax in his speech but said he is encouraging the Senate next year to introduce legislation that will cut the grocery tax. He did not say how much the tax should be reduced or how long it would take to phase in the tax cut.
“When we get through doing this, in the eight years you’ve hired me to work, we will have decreased taxes in Mississippi by over $1 billion a year,” Hosemann said.
The two legislative leaders also renewed calls to expand Medicaid, a policy that sputtered in the final days of the 2024 session after negotiations broke down between the House and the Senate.
White and the House last year passed Medicaid expansion — a plan to expand health care coverage to 138% of the federal poverty level, covering upwards of 200,000 Mississippians and accepting $1 billion a year in federal money to cover it, as most other states have done.
The Senate pitched a more restrictive — some said unfeasible — program. It would have the state turn down the federal money and expand Medicaid coverage to around 40,000 more people. It would have required stringent proof that recipients are working 30 hours a week, a requirement the federal government likely would not approve.
Although he has said for years he’s open to the idea, Hosemann last year said he couldn’t muster enough votes to pass standard Medicaid expansion in the Senate.
At Thursday’s annual Hobnob, Mississippi politicians, including some running for office this year, spoke to hundreds of members of MEC, the state’s chamber of commerce.
Incumbent U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, who is running for reelection, and Ty Pinkins, his Democratic challenger, both spoke.
Wicker, a Tupelo resident, encouraged business leaders to vote for Republican candidates on Election Day so that political leaders in Washington can pass new laws to reduce federal taxes, strengthen the nation’s military and reduce the number of undocumented immigrants entering the country.
Pinkins, a Rolling Fork resident, said voters should elect him as the next U.S senator because he would apply lessons he learned from his military and combat service to the job. He also criticized several of Wicker’s votes during his tenure in Washington.
Six of the state’s eight statewide officials, all Republicans, spoke at the annual event. Gov. Tate Reeves and Secretary of State Michael Watson did not attend.
This was also the first Hobnob since the Mississippi Economic Council, the Mississippi Manufacturers Association and the Business and Industry Political Education Committee announced plans to consolidate their organizations into a new entity.
Mississippi Economic Council CEO Scott Waller told Mississippi Today that the three organizations are in the early planning stages of potentially joining the organizations and are visiting other states to study how their manufacturing and business advocacy groups are structured.
If the organizations band together, it would likely increase their lobbying strength at the Mississippi Capitol and create a more unified voice for business interests in the state.
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