Thread by @ashtonpittman

NEW: As Mississippi passed a bill ending the state income tax today. Rep. Trey Lamar compared it to ending slavery.

“President Lincoln said the right to have a reward for your work was the birthright of every American. That was the main issue of the war.” mississippifreepress.org/9573/as-state-…

The "Mississippi Tax Freedom Act of 2021" would phase out the income tax over a 10-year period starting in 2022.

To make up for the loss about about one-third of the state's revenue, the bill raise the general sales tax from 7% to 9.5%. #MSLeg
mississippifreepress.org/9573/as-state-…

This morning, Democratic House Leader Robert Johnson said he hadn't found a "trick" or "trojan horse" in the bill, citing provisions he likes.

It cuts the grocery tax in half, from 7% to 3.5%.

But he voted against the bill this afternoon. mississippifreepress.org/9573/as-state-…

The @ParentsCampaign is warning against the bill, though, saying it threatens funding for public education and other vital public services.

The group pointed to the failed "Kansas Experiment" of repealing the income tax, which caused a budget crisis.mississippifreepress.org/9573/as-state-…

"(Kansas) state suffered nine rounds of budget cuts, three credit downgrades, and what The Atlantic called ‘an ongoing atmosphere of fiscal crisis.’ School budgets and other state services were decimated." —@ParentsCampaign

Kansas reversed course in 2017.mississippifreepress.org/9573/as-state-…

In Oklahoma, incomes tax cuts have led to “a deepening budget crisis” had “forced schools across the Sooner State to make painful decisions” with ballooning class sizes, cuts to art and foreign-language programs and children going without textbooks.mississippifreepress.org/9573/as-state-…

About one-fifth of Oklahoma’s public-school districts have now cut the school week from five days to four in order to keep classrooms open under severe budget strains.

The @ParentsCampaign worries Mississippi children could suffer the same fate. #MSLeg mississippifreepress.org/9573/as-state-…

“Gov. Reeves claims that stripping away a full third of the state’s General Fund—and all the services those funds provide us—would somehow make our state more livable. He might want to take a lesson from Kansas."
—@ParentsCampaign
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House Speaker Philip Gunn says the state will make up for the $1.9-billion loss in revenue by increasing consumption and use taxes.

“Under this plan, we intend to replace that, so our goal is to keep the budget stable." mississippifreepress.org/9573/as-state-…

Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn is a member of the ALEC Board of Directors. In 2012, ALEC, a corporate-funded non-profit, helped craft the "Kansas experiment" bill and has long pushed legislation to eliminate income taxes in states nationwide. mississippifreepress.org/9573/as-state-…

Lt. Gov. @DelbertHosemann, the Republican Mississippi Senate president, previously told @NickJudin he was skeptical about ending the income tax.

"It’s not Field of Dreams. I don’t print money." #msleg mississippifreepress.org/9573/as-state-…

CORRECTION: Democratic House Minority Leader Rep. Robert Johnson voted FOR the bill.

https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/status/1364378563684802561?s=20

Rep. Trey Lamar compared his fight to end the income tax to President Abraham Lincoln's effort to end slavery.

President Lincoln, of course, created the nation's first federal income tax when he signed the Revenue Act in 1861.

More: mississippifreepress.org/9573/as-state-…