Lt. governor: Mississippi needs to plan for lean budget as President Trump 'rights the ship'

USA Today

17-04-2025

Lt. governor: Mississippi needs to plan for lean budget as President Trump 'rights the ship'
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MS Senate announces tax plan with cuts to grocery, income taxes
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann announces the Senate's tax plan at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Miss., on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
Mississippians will have to tighten their belts for a while as President Donald Trump tries to "right the ship" and get government spending under control, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said in a recent interview with the Hattiesburg American.
"Our president is doing what we asked him to do," Hosemann said. "We needed to clean house and I'm proud of him doing that."
"We collect about $7 billion to run the state," Hosemann said. "The federal government gives us about $14 billion."
While Hosemann said he supports the progress made on reducing government spending, the cuts will affect Mississippi. Already, the state has seen roughly $400 million in federal dollars cut or soon to be cut.
The funds are frozen, Hosemann said, so the money isn't exactly gone, but there is no telling when — or even if — the state will ever see that money.
"We need to plan like this money won't be there," Hoseman said.
Budget challenges
The Mississippi Department of Education lost roughly $137 million in federal funds that it had been allocated for the year.
Another $120 million was cut from the state's mental health system, with $7 million more in cuts coming.
The state Department of Health also is expecting to see roughly $100 million in cuts, Hosemann said.
"I'm hopeful we will get some of that money back, but we can't depend on it," Hosemann said.
He said he doesn't think the federal government is done making cuts, so the state could lose even more funding when all is said and done. So far, agencies like Child Protective Services and the Department of Marine Resources haven't yet had to contend with cuts.
"We need to budget as if that money is not coming back," Hosemann said.
Hosemann said he is confident Mississippi can adjust to a leaner budget and will have extra money to appropriate if any or all of the federally withheld funds are restored.
"I'm planning on being very close on our budget this to make sure that we plan for this contingency," he said. "I hope it doesn't happen, but realistically for them to right the ship in Washington, they are going to have to cut back."
Hosemann said with two-thirds of the state's budget coming from the federal government, it is "inevitable" that the state will have to work with less money than it has grown accustomed to.
"There's no way we'll get the same amount of money that we've been getting," Hosemann said.
Impact on Mississippi education
Hosemann said he has met with University of Southern Mississippi President Joe Paul to talk about how the Legislature can help the university meet its financial needs.
"That's a priority for me," Hosemann said. "The university is the mainstay of the town. It's done really, really well and it's brought young people to town."
Hosemann said by providing opportunities for more people to come to Hattiesburg also means more people will be spending money in the Hub City, including the downtown area with its many restaurants and shops.
The lieutenant governor said the state's K-12 schools also are getting support from the Legislature, including teacher pay raises and building needs.
"Our emphasis is on education," he said. "We think that's a long-term solution for workforce development and everything else."
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Economic development, infrastructure
Work on an industrial site on U.S. 11 south of Hattiesburg is still moving forward, Hosemann added, and the Legislature it doing what it can to bring it to completion so more businesses can move in.
He also praised Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker's efforts to prepare the city for more growth opportunities that legislators can get behind, including the infrastructure needs that will allow Jones Co. to move to Hattiesburg, and bringing a $50 million investment from the company, and the Hall Avenue overpasses that will create better traffic flow in the downtown area and allow motorists to avoid being trapped by stopped trains.
"He's doing a really good job," Hosemann said. "Every year he has an ask, and every year we try to answer it."
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Tax cuts and other legislative wins and losses
One of the biggest changes for Mississippi is the tax on food. The rate was lowered to 5% from 7%, to enable Mississippians to stretch their food budgets a little farther.
Motorists, on the other hand, will be paying more at the pumps with an additional 3 cents per gallon of gasoline to help pay for road maintenance. The additional gasoline tax is expected to last for three years.
The state also lowered the income tax to 3% over the next four years, making it one of the lowest in the country.
"Probably the biggest thing we did this year was to try to have an alternative for PERS (the state employee retirement system)," Hosemann said.
The program is $25 billion short, so an alternative was needed. New employees will still be offered a retirement plan, but it will be a 401K program like many companies offer. The PERS program also was discontinued for state lawmakers and highly-compensated state employees.
The changes will give the state a little breathing room to get the current retirement plan back on track and fully funded over time.
"We are in a big hole and we need to stop digging," Hosemann said.
Redistricting challenge
Hosemann said he believes Mississippi's special election for the latest redistricting plan will go ahead as planned in the fall, even with a challenge pending in federal court.
"First of all, I don't think the court ought to be ordering the Legislature how to do their work," he said. "I opposed the clearing. I think that is out of bounds."
A hearing was held April 8 in federal court to discuss the challenges to two of the three new districts on the plan, with both sides arguing whether the districts would give Black voters a fair opportunity to elect someone they believed would represent them.
The Pine Belt Senate district was not challenged in the lawsuit, but a Senate district in DeSoto County and a House district in Chickasaw County were.
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In a hearing on April 16, the federal judges ordered the DeSoto County districting plan to be revised again, within seven days. The Chickasaw County district lines will stand, the judges said.
"The Senate proposed a plan for the Pine Belt, which includes Sen. (Joey) Fillingane in a new district and Sen. (Chris) Johnson in a new district. Sen. (John) Polk is not going to seek reelection, so we made the new district run from out in Lamar County back to downtown Hattiesburg," he said.
Hosemann said the new districts needed to be a majority-minority, meaning more than 50% of the districts' residents need to be people of color, which is what the Legislature did, so there should be no reason for the challenge.
"I believe that the court will decide that the redistricting, as proposed by the Senate, will stand," he said.
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Lici Beveridge is a reporter for the Hattiesburg American and Clarion Ledger. Contact her at [e-mail]. Follow her on X @licibev or Facebook at facebook.com/licibeveridge.
Clarion Ledger reporter Grant McLaughlin contributed to this report.