PHILADELPHIA, Miss.–Mississippi’s roads need to be maintained and new roads need to be built. Central District Transportation Commissioner Willie Simmons says to that effect the Mississippi Dept. of Transportation needs a source of recurring revenue.
“Businesses save money because we don’t have to have their products on a truck waiting in line long hours to get where they’re going,” said Simmons at Wednesday edition of the Neshoba County Fair.
“You save money because your wheels, your tires, your front end-it’s not costing you money to repair it because we have a good system in place.”
Simmons, a Democrat, is one of three commissioners and also serves as board chair. He and his colleagues asked the legislature for that recurring money during this year’s legislative session. He repeatedly supplicated the crowd to tell lawmakers and the governor that the money is needed, to the tune of $400 million per year for maintenance and “capacity”, or new projects, perhaps in the form of a “divergent use tax”.
Jobs and Your County’s Industrial Park
Meanwhile counties across Mississippi are being urged to invest in their industrial parks, with the examples of the Amazon plant in the Jackson metro area and the electric vehicle battery plant in Marshall County, being held up as examples.
“If we don’t get our industrial parks marketable, jobs aren’t coming, industry is not coming to every county in the Central District,” said Central District Public Service Commissioner DeKeither Stamps, in his speech.
“So we want to make sure each one of the 22 counties that we serve, every industrial park in every county, is marketable to big business.”
Stamps said 10,000 jobs are being created in the economic development projects announced in the first few months of 2024.
Thursday’s speakers include House Speaker Jason White, Gov. Tate Reeves and state Sen. Jenifer Branning, who is a candidate for Mississippi Supreme Court, District 1.