YP Daily Roundup 12/10/18

Gov. Bryant says 240,000 have visited new museums in first year

The Museum of MS History and the MS Civil Rights Museum have welcomed more than 240,000 people since opening one year ago on Dec. 9, 2017.

If you haven’t visited Two MS Museums in Jackson over the last year I encourage you to go see the nationally recognized exhibits soon. pic.twitter.com/Zs7JWrVyzj

— Phil Bryant (@PhilBryantMS) December 9, 2018

CLARION LEDGER – Jon Pritchett: What Mississippi can learn from Oklahoma, Montana about economic growth, poverty reduction

If we go back to the Fraser Institute Economic Freedom Index and plot how each of the three states performed in the same years (1994 to 2016), we see the strong correlation between economic freedom and prosperity. It is stark visual evidence of the power of choosing economic freedom. In 1994, Mississippi was ranked slightly more economically free than Oklahoma and considerably more so than Montana. Over the ensuing 22 years, Mississippi moved steadily away from economic freedom, and the results are evident.

There is another valuable set of data that helps demonstrate the policy point as we compare Mississippi, Oklahoma and Montana. The Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Center and the Brookings Institute, publishes a report on state and local tax revenue as a percentage of personal income in each state. From 1997 to 2015, the tax burden in Oklahoma fell from 10.11 percent to 8.42 percent. In Montana, the burden was reduced from 10.83 percent to 9.52 percent. In Mississippi, the tax burden increased from 10.23 percent to 10.57 percent. No other state in the Southeast had a burden at or above 10 percent. At 10.57 percent, Mississippi finds itself once again in the company of states like California, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota and Illinois.

What is the data and evidence telling us? It is informing us to choose capitalism and free markets. It’s telling us to move away from a “command and control” economic system and start relying more on individual freedom, consumer choice and private competition. It’s telling us to allocate more resources towards free enterprise and fewer resources towards the political process. If we can start to get Mississippi’s economy growing by adopting policies that prioritize economic liberty, we can experience prosperity.

Dellinger named AFP-MS State Director

SUNHERALD – Mississippi has a new tax on hybrid and electric cars. Here’s why.

The argument behind the tax — a measure many states around the country are taking — is straightforward: drivers not consuming gas, or at least as much gas, should still have to pay for the roads they drive on.

“The roads in Mississippi benefit everybody, and therefore everyone that uses them, as best as we can, needs to pay something towards their maintenance,” said Rep. Trey Lamar (R-Senatobia), who co-authored the Infrastructure Modernization Act. “Obviously electric vehicles don’t pay any portion of the state gas tax which is used to maintain and build roads in Mississippi.”

There are around 900 electric cars and 14,000 hybrids in the state, according to Kathy Waterbury, a spokesperson with the Department of Revenue, so the tax will only affect about 0.5 percent of Mississippi’s drivers.

But with an infrastructure crisis around the state, lawmakers wanted to capitalize on the growing fleet of cars not contributing funding through the gas tax.

State Sen. McDaniel on Canton voter fraud: We tried to tell y’all

And this is a surprise? We tried to tell y’all. https://t.co/QZR93kiBSI

— Sen. Chris McDaniel (@senatormcdaniel) December 8, 2018