House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, has called for a hold on the spending of federal American Rescue Plan money until the Mississippi Legislature passes a bill abolishing the income tax, a shot across the bow of the Senate and its more modest reform plan only two weeks before a key deadline for many spending bills.
The Mississippi Senate approved legislation to reduce the state income tax by hundreds of millions of dollars, despite caution from opponents who questioned the wisdom of doing so while education, roads and other public infrastructure remain critically underfunded.
Wage disparities could widen for women and women of color in particular if either of two “Equal Pay” bills in the Mississippi Legislature become law, the Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable and leading equal pay activist Lilly Ledbetter warn.
The 2022 Legislative Session has been remarkably rapid, compared to some of the gridlock seen in the Mississippi Capitol during the pandemic era. With the deadline for general bills to pass out of their original chamber approaching this Thursday, some of the session’s most significant goals are already checked off.
Lilly Ledbetter was the catalyst in creation of The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to make clear that workers can challenge every discriminatory paycheck. Ledbetter along with Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable strongly encourages Mississippi lawmakers to not blindly pass equal-pay bills HB 770 and SB 2451 without amendments specifically catering to working women.
Thousands of Mississippians with specific medical conditions will soon be able to receive medical-marijuana treatment with a physician’s approval after Gov. Tate Reeves signed the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act into law late Wednesday.
The Mississippi Senate has unveiled its income-tax plan, challenging the House’s charge toward full elimination of the State’s income tax. As Senate Finance Committee leadership previously hinted, the Senate bill’s aim is to eliminate the 4% income-tax bracket, while leaving the top income-tax bracket of 5% intact.
Kyra Roby, a policy analyst at One Voice Mississippi, believes state lawmakers should properly use the extra funds from President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act to foster a better future for all Mississippians by fully funding public education, creating affordable health care, and providing affordable housing and solid infrastructure.
Every Black member of the Mississippi Senate walked out today as their white colleagues voted to approve a bill that Republicans have described as legislation to prevent so-called “critical race theory” from being taught in schools.
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