Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves addresses a crowd during his annual State of the State, held Wednesday evening on the south steps of the Capitol. (Photo by Jeremy Pittari | Magnolia Tribune)
- State Senator David Blount called additional tax cuts irresponsible and pushed for Medicaid expansion in the Democratic Response. Gov. Reeves cautioned against expansion in his address.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves (R) delivered the annual State of the State address on the steps of the Capitol on Wednesday, touting the state’s economic development achievements and laying out a vision for the future.
In terms of investments, Governor Reeves noted that during his time in office, since 2020, $32 billion in private sector investments have flowed into the state, all of which have created tens of thousands of jobs for Mississippi’s workforce.
“The results have been felt all across our state – from North Mississippi all the way to our Gulf Coast and everywhere in between. Make no mistake, something special is happening here and it’s something we should all celebrate,” Reeves said, adding, “If you want something built and built right – and quickly – I say to every company in America: come build your products in Mississippi.”
Key investments that were announced last year alone include a $10 billion investment by Amazon Web Services for data centers in central Mississippi, $540 million investment by PCC GulfChecm in Harrison County, $145 million investment by Koch Foods in Scott County, and a $41 million investment by Gulf State Canners in Hinds County, to name a few.
So far this year, another $10 billion investment was announced by Compass Datacenters for a new hyperscale data center in Meridian.
“And also yesterday, we announced Yancey Engineered Solutions is investing over $20 million and hiring 250 workers in Batesville, Mississippi,” Reeves noted.
But to keep the momentum going, Governor Reeves stressed the importance of continuing to grow the state’s energy production, saying, “In today’s world, power is the key to prosperity.”
To meet that demand, ground was recently broken on a $1.2 billion power station set for construction in Greenville. The Entergy facility, when complete, is expected to be able to generate enough electricity to power about 385,000 homes.
To that end policies enacted by President Donald Trump (R) to reverse barriers in the nation’s energy production will go a long way, Governor Reeves said. Removing barriers leaves nothing off the table in energy production, from natural gas, solar, wind and even nuclear.
“We must invest in energy to enrich our population. When we make power here, we create high-paying, stable jobs. This is how Mississippi rises,” Reeves described.
In addition to the billion investment he recently announced in a new power plant in the Delta, the Governor promised to unveil more energy investments in the coming months.
Another goal Reeves wants to see accomplished by the Legislature is a reduction on tax on work by eliminating the income tax. He said neighboring states are already in the process of lowering their top bracket income tax rates to become competitive., citing Arkansas now at 3.9 percent rate and Louisiana at 3.5 percent rate. Georgia is also considering reducing their current rate of5.49 percent.
Governor Reeves commended the House of Representatives for passing HB 1, which aims to phase out Mississippi income tax.
“The single best thing we can do for our state and her people is to eliminate our state’s income tax. This money does not belong to the government. It belongs to the hard-working Mississippians who earn it,” Reeves declared.
He urged any lawmaker who may have issues with HB 1 to work with him to overcome those obstacles and send the bill to him to sign.
“Let’s get this done. Send House Bill 1 to my desk for the hardworking men and women who sent us here to do big things and make their lives better. Our fellow Mississippians are counting on us, and I know we have what it takes to get this legislation passed. Let’s eliminate our tax on work once and for all,” Reeves said.
READ MORE: House plan to eliminate income tax paints big vision, leaves big questions for Senate
Governor Reeves went on to caution lawmakers against changes that he deemed detrimental to the state, including expanding welfare programs through Medicaid expansion, an issue he’s long opposed.
“We must continue our focus on expanding our workforce, not on expanding welfare. We need more people working, and less people dependent on government programs,” Reeves told legislators, “My friends, America is over $36 trillion in debt. We now have an administration in Washington that is dead set on reducing spending and getting us closer to a balanced budget. Medicaid changes, for example, are coming. What they will be, we do not yet know. But there is a large possibility that those changes will result in a greater spend by states who have enacted this type of welfare expansion.”
In terms of education, the Governor promised to work toward giving more options for parents while raising standards.
“Another way we will get our state to where we want to go is by giving parents more choices and by continuing to raise standards. We cannot keep doing the same old thing and expect to get new and improved results,” Reeves told the audience.
He pointed to the continued advancements seen in education over the past decade, and most recently the state earning a top score nationally for testing gains on the National Assessment for Educational Progress.
READ MORE: Mississippi’s 4th graders making huge gains in the classroom
“Listen to this: Our fourth graders are number one in the nation. Let me say that again: number one in the nation in reading and math test score growth,” Reeves said.
To continue those upward trends, Governor Reeves called for not only an increase in standards, but also to avoid eliminating the testing requirements for algebra, biology, English and U.S. history.
“The same people calling for us to be derelict in our duty now, are the same people who implied in 2013 that passing the third grade reading gate would be disastrous for students across our state. These are the same people who eventually changed their tune years later after they saw the history-making results,” Reeves said.
With 70 percent of students attending schools ranked at an A or B not being proficient in reading, Reeves believes the system by which schools and districts are ranked needs an overhaul.
“Let me say that again: there are schools in Mississippi who are hanging their hat on their rating when 70 percent of their students can’t read at an adequate level,” Reeves described. “That’s just flat out wrong.”
His proposal is to create a system that puts more weight on proficiency rather than academic growth.
As those students move on to higher education, Governor Reeves proposed that universities place more focus on offering degrees that offer earning potential, saying far too many students are stuck in tracts that will not lead to fruitful careers.
“That may be fine for a few who want to go down academic rabbit holes, but the focus of our investment and our efforts should be preparing our kids to live well. We must focus on degrees that lead to lives of prosperity and stability,” he said.
Some of those professions include engineers, mechanics and majors aimed at jobs in the tech field.
“We need a return on investment for the hundreds of millions of dollars we put into our colleges and universities, and that return should appear in the wages of our workers. I urge my friends in policymaking to consider innovative approaches to achieve this,” Reeves said.
Democratic Response
State Senator David Blount delivered the Democratic Response to Governor Reeves’ 2025 State of the State address. Blount has served in the Mississippi Senate since 2008 and represents part of Jackson and the Byram/Terry area of South Hinds County in District 29. He is also the Vice Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus.
Blount began by challenging Reeves and Republican on tax cuts, calling more cuts “irresponsible.”
“The income tax pays for one-third of the overall general fund budget: More than $2 billion a year. Republicans haven’t said how they would make up this amount or what they would cut,” Senator Blount said, adding, “In Jackson, Democrats and Republicans balance the budget. This isn’t Washington DC where they cut taxes and increase spending. Moving from income taxes to sales taxes does one simple thing: It shifts the burden of funding government from people with large incomes (who will get the biggest tax cuts) to working and middle-class families who spend all of their income each month just to get by.”
Blount pointed out that the House proposal calls for raising the state sales tax and the gas tax.
“If you’re working or middle class, retired, or live in a rural area that could mean you see a tax increase,” he said, claiming that the cuts could lead cities and counties to raise property taxes.
Blount said instead, lawmakers should be focused on infrastructure and education.
“The state should fully fund local schools and help local governments with infrastructure and paying their increasing share of the retirement system,” he contended.
Senator Blount again pushed for Medicaid expansion, a longtime Democratic talking point and policy initiative, calling it “the most important issue facing our state.” He touted the House-backed proposal from 2024 as having “strong bipartisan” support to expand Medicaid in Mississippi.
“We can’t continue to wait and delay. The simple question is this: Will Mississippi be the 41st state to expand Medicaid or the 50th?” Blount asked.
As for education, Senator Blount said Mississippi has made great progress and received national acclaim for the progress of our public schools but said, “Now some Republicans want to blow it up” through school choice.
“As Democrats we believe that any school receiving state funds should be subject to the same academic accountability standards and oversight by the state auditor – just like public schools,” he said, questioning the cost associated with the various school choice proposals floating through the Capitol.
Senator Blount went on to advocate for the restoration of the ballot initiative process and protecting the Public Employees Retirement System.
Watch the State of the State
You can watch the full 2025 State of the State address and the Democratic Response courtesy of MPB below.
Jeremy Pittari
