HATTIESBURG AMERICAN
By Reuben Mees
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
BARBOUR TALKS TAXES, JOBS
(HATTIESBURG, Mississippi) – Gov. Haley Barbour expounded on his taxation philosophy during a campaign stop in Hattiesburg Monday and continued to promise a tax cut if re-elected to office this year.
He first stopped by the Hattiesburg American editorial board where he discussed his tax plan and then went to McMullan Motors where job creation and education were the thrust of a speech to auto mechanics, car sales associates, a farmer and a mix of local Republican supporters.
In his discussion on taxation, Barbour, 59, who is running for re-election against trial attorney John Arthur Eaves, said he will request an in-depth tax study and use that as the basis of proposed tax cuts.
"When our revenue situation is stable enough for us to make an honest estimate of where we will be, then I will propose a large tax cut, but it will be done in the form of comprehensive tax reform," the governor said. But he did not rule out an increase to the state's tobacco tax or other taxes that would be offset by deeper cuts elsewhere in the system.
"Everything's on the table," Barbour said.
But at the same time, Barbour said he generally opposes increasing the income tax and does not believe a reduction of the grocery tax is necessarily the best solution to easing citizens' overall tax burden.
"When we look at Mississippi's tax system, we need to look at it in the total context of the taxes our people pay," Barbour said, noting that about half of Mississippi households do not pay federal income taxes. "It's very unfair to have a system where the majority of people pay no tax."
But taxation was not a major issue when Barbour asked for the support of employees at McMullan Motors.
Instead conversation turned to economics and preparing the workforce for jobs.
Barbour told the audience he has already increased public education funding and plans to support a $125 million, five-year proposal by State Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds that would help reduce drop-out rates and prepare students for the workforce.
Barbour said in his comments to the editorial board that he would retain quality teachers by offering step increases in pay and growing retirement benefits to teachers beyond their 25th year.
"We have a real problem in Mississippi that we don't retain our best teachers, in fact our retirement system gives the financial incentive to retire between 25 and 28 years," he said. "We incent our (teachers) to quit when they are at the top of their game, when they're about 50 years old."
In addition to continuing to fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, Barbour said he would focus on programs to tackle dyslexia, early childhood education and teacher mentors.
Mike Bufkin, a Greene County farmer and construction worker who attended the event at McMullan, said he would like both candidates to look at alternative energy source production as a way to create jobs.
Barbour, in his comments to the newspaper, cited a long list of energy projects including Gulf Coast oil industry improvements, the Richton Salt Dome, which will become a federal strategic petroleum reserve, a $46 billion nuclear power plant at Grand Gulf and a $100 million ethanol plant in Vicksburg.
For the full story, visit the Hattiesburg American website: http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070911/NEWS01/709110301/1002