Mississippi House Speaker pro tem, and Kosciusko native, Jason White told Breezy News he expects surplus funds and infrastructure to dominate this year’s session of the Mississippi Legislature.
“This 2023 Legislative Session on the eve of elections this coming Fall will center around the surplus of funds in state coffers and how that money should be spent,” said White. “There will also be further discussion on infrastructure improvements with both American Rescue Plan dollars as well as State monies.
White and other Mississippi legislators returned to the Capitol Tuesday to begin the 2023 session.
Other topics of debate according to White will be healthcare and the state’s ballot initiative.
“Also, [legislators will be] addressing the healthcare situation as it relates to hospitals, specifically rural hospitals, as well as health insurance for uninsured working folks that don’t qualify for Medicaid. Another issue I expect that will produce legislation will be restoring our ballot initiative process.”
Additionally, Emily Wagster Pettus with the Associated Press reports that the session could have a large focus on tax debates as Speaker of the House Phillip Gunn wants lawmakers to follow through on eliminating the state’s income tax, while Lt. Gov. Delbert Hoseman is pushing for an income tax rebate.
