What would Dr. King say about Mississippi legislative priorities? – Priorities of white Republican lawmakers always from tired ole soil – not for all, just some

By Christopher Young,
Contributing Writer,

Representative Fabian Nelson (D-66, Hinds)
per https://www.legislature.ms.gov

On the January 5th edition of Mississippi Insights, WJTV’s Byron Brown aired parts of his interview with Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hoseman a month earlier, asking about legislative priorities. Hosemann began with education – “We have a horrific absentee rate in Mississippi, about 24%, and we are below the national average in reading.” He mentioned decreasing the tax on groceries, then moved on to eliminating the state income tax – “We’re already cutting it every year, I assume we’ll continue that.” Then he went on to boast about infrastructure improvements on his watch – “We’ve gone from one billion dollars when I was hired five years ago, and we are doing $2.2 billion now in infrastructure improvements.”
Next it was on to economic development projects – “Our economy and our ability to generate good paying jobs is outstanding…Mississippi is just such a great place to do business…it’s not all negative things in Mississippi, there’s a lot of positive things…we have money in the bank, we’re cutting taxes…the state is just in really good shape right now. Speaking about tuition-free community college he said it would be a long-term investment and how we can get more people pulling on the wagon instead of sitting in the wagon.”
Last on his list was Medicaid expansion. “We’re very hopeful…it’s about working people staying healthy…and our rural hospitals staying alive and being able to get some compensation for the care they provide.” This is the man who many claim is the smartest person in the room at the Capitol.
Meditating on the words of the Lieutenant Governor left me wondering if anything that he speaks about is destined to bring about change in our state, and if so, for who? What are the odds that Mississippi will still be the poorest state in the nation when or if he retires in 2028?
Wouldn’t it have been something to hear him say, “Well, Byron, thank you for asking about priorities. As the second most powerful elected official in Mississippi, I think we need to get to work on addressing the poverty in our state. We’ve got children going hungry – that’s downright sinful, and I want to change that. We need to treat all Mississippians fairly and equitably, not just some. We’ve been discriminating against people that don’t look like me, and that’s not right – my priest was just saying last Sunday that we are supposed to love our neighbors – so I want to focus on that by setting a real example in the legislature. For gosh sakes Byron, last year we awarded $4.3 billion in state contracts, giving over 99% of the funding to people that look like me. I’m gonna try to be a better leader, Byron, a leader who is committed to making a level playing field for all Mississippians. Those are my priorities.” Wouldn’t that have been something to hear him say?
Peter Keith, the president and general manager at WAPT, wrapped up a brief Op Ed on the 2025 Legislative Session with these words, “As the ballot initiative still has not been restored, everything rests on the shoulders of our lawmakers during these short months. We encourage them to focus on what actually matters this session, not building a political career, not defeating a rival party or making headlines, but providing all Mississippians with an improved quality of life and equal opportunities to pursue the American Dream.” Keith should run for governor.
Representative Fabian Nelson (D-Hinds) is thirty-nine years old, one of the hardest working legislators at the Capitol, and now in his second legislative session. In a telephone call with The Mississippi Link newspaper, he shared his thoughts on legislative priorities. In summary, he says yes to Medicaid expansion, no to decreasing income taxes unless there is a plan to recontribute revenues in other ways, no to decreasing grocery taxes unless municipalities receive their current level or increased contribution, no to school vouchers because we have many failing public school systems now and removing any funding before these schools are stabilized would be wrong. “Those with means would transport their children elsewhere and take those critical dollars with them.”
On the first Friday of the new session, we saw whose version of Mississippi priorities are being pushed. House Bill 1 was rolled out – an effort to completely overhaul the state’s tax system – written by four white Republicans – Speaker White, Trey Lamar who we’ll never forget gave us HB1020, Jody Steverson, and Scott Bounds, per WLBT reporting.
On Friday, House Speaker Jason White posted on social media: “House Bill 1 is priority #1. We will build up Mississippi by eliminating the income tax to further our state’s competitive advantage and award our workforce. We will build up Mississippi by cutting the grocery tax in half to boost the pocketbook of Mississippians. We will build up Mississippi by developing a dedicated source of revenue for our critical infrastructure with maintenance and capacity projects. We will build up Mississippi by securing and stabilizing our state employee retirement plan, PERS. House Bill 1 Builds Up Mississippi with a $1 billion net tax cut – the largest tax cut in Mississippi history!” Of course, more will be revealed about HB1, but until these Christian lawmakers take ownership of the real reasons Mississippi is last, they will continue to fail us.
In his book Strength to Love, published in 1963, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminds those who are open to listening – which obviously doesn’t include Mississippi’s white Republican leaders, “On the parable of the Good Samaritan: I imagine that the first question the priest and Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But by the very nature of his concern, the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’”

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