Mississippi could gradually eliminate the state income tax and reduce taxes on groceries over the next decade while adding a gas tax under a bill the Mississippi House passed on Thursday.
House Bill 1, the “Build Up Mississippi Act,” would lower taxes by $2.2 billion and add another $1.1 billion in taxes to make up for lost revenue at the city and county levels.
The bill’s author, Rep. Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, said the state would not see any revenue losses under the plan, pointing to the $700 million surplus the state currently has. He said the additional gas tax would bring an estimated $300 to $400 million annually for the Department of Transportation and a new city sales tax would add $600 million to city budgets. Mississippi also has a “$250 million stabilization fund that can only be accessed during the course of this plan, if needed,” he added
“Revenue … does not generally go backwards,” Lamar said on the House floor on Thursday.
@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-1{min-height: 99px;}}@media ( min-width: 320px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-1{min-height: 99px;}}@media ( min-width: 728px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-1{min-height: 90px;}}
Rep. Omeria Scott, D-Laurel, told the Mississippi Free Press that the Legislature should not assume its funding and budget will look the same by 2036, when the income tax would be fully phased out. She noted that the federal government has given billions to Mississippi since 2020 through COVID-19 stimulus checks, the American Rescue Plan Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that likely would not be available again in the future.
“We’ve had a lot of federal help that has changed what our budget looks like historically,” she said on Thursday.
![]()
Mississippi House Rep. Omeria Scott, D-Laurel, (pictured) expressed concerns over lost revenue when asking Rep. Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, questions about House Bill 1 on the House floor on Jan. 16, 2025. Photo by Imani Khayyam ” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Omeria_Scott_cred_Imani_Khayyam-copy.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Omeria_Scott_cred_Imani_Khayyam-copy.jpg?fit=780%2C519&ssl=1″ src=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Omeria_Scott_cred_Imani_Khayyam-copy.jpg?resize=780%2C519&ssl=1″ alt=”A man and woman stand near the back of a room, listening” class=”wp-image-211707″ srcset=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Omeria_Scott_cred_Imani_Khayyam-copy.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Omeria_Scott_cred_Imani_Khayyam-copy.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Omeria_Scott_cred_Imani_Khayyam-copy.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Omeria_Scott_cred_Imani_Khayyam-copy.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Omeria_Scott_cred_Imani_Khayyam-copy.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Omeria_Scott_cred_Imani_Khayyam-copy.jpg?resize=1568%2C1045&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Omeria_Scott_cred_Imani_Khayyam-copy.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Omeria_Scott_cred_Imani_Khayyam-copy.jpg?w=2000&ssl=1
Read original article by clicking here.
