A recent Mississippi Today article raised the question of how Democrat Attorney General Jim Hood would pay for the numerous proposals he has been making in his bid to be Mississippi’s next Governor. It is an excellent question, so we here at the Business and Industry Political Education Committee (BIPEC) thought it would be a good idea to try and find out exactly how much these proposals would cost and how it would affect taxpayers.
BIPEC seeks to serve its members by providing relevant information during elections, including analyses of proposals made by statewide and legislative candidates. These analyses are not intended to opine on the validity of a proposal but rather provide members with an overview of anticipated new state spending, which may require a reduction in government services, increased taxes, or growth in revenues to be revenue neutral.
Below you will find an analysis of Jim Hood’s major proposals, along with cost estimates. These estimates are based on information from the MS Department of Education, Department of Revenue, Legislative Budget Office, Community College Board, Division of Medicaid, and public statements by the Jim Hood campaign.
| JIM HOOD PROPOSALS | Additional Costs |
| Statewide pre-k | $35,000,000 |
| Increase funding for MS Adequate Education Program | $261,000,000 |
| Increasing teacher pay raise & recalibrating salary schedule | $270,000,000 |
| Expand Medicaid | $220,000,000 |
| Free community college | $95,200,000 |
| Hold harmless provision for grocery tax reduction (cities & educational entities) | $60,500,000 |
| TOTAL: | $941,700,000 |
| What Does this Mean? | |
| Total general fund appropriations & re-appropriations for FY 2020 (from LBO) | $5,746,185,920 |
| Cost of Hood proposals | $941,700,000 |
| Increases total budget by | 16.4% |
| Amount per taxpayer (1,215,412 income taxpayers according to DOR) |
$774.80 |