Former Gov. Haley Barbour finally said the quiet part out loud.

During a recent speech to the Mississippi State University Stennis Institute of Government and Capitol Press Corps, the former two-term governor and master communicator said taxing groceries was a good thing because everybody has to eat.

Barbour reasoned that it is important for all people to have skin in the game — to pay taxes — because “otherwise, they will vote to pave the streets with gold if they don’t have to pay anything.”

Various conservative politicians and other policymakers espouse the Barbour philosophy that a tax on food is fair and necessary. To ensure that poor people pay taxes, too, they advocate for a grocery tax that absorbs a much greater percentage of the income of low income families.

The quiet part out loud is a reference to the fact that as governor from 2004 until 2012, Barbour blocked legislative efforts to eliminate the grocery tax and offset that lost revenue, at least in part by increasing the tax on cigarettes. Barbour vetoed two bills in 2006: one to eliminate the highest in the nation 7% tax on food and the other to cut in half the levy on groceries.

Veto messages are where governors articulate their reasoning for opposing legislation. In neither veto of the grocery tax cut bills did the governor talk about “fairness.”

Instead, he talked about the fact that the combination of cutting or eliminating the grocery tax and increasing the cigarette tax was not revenue neutral. The legislation, Barbour argued at the time, would produce less revenue for the state.

He maintained that it sent the wrong message to cut taxes at a time when he was going to Congress to try to secure federal funds to help with the recovery from the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. And in fairness to the governor, Hurricane Katrina was the seminal event of Barbour’s tenure as governor and one of the seminal events in the state’s history, and his ability to obtain those funds was paramount for the success of the Gulf Coast and south Mississippi.

So it is fair to say Katrina was heavy on Barbour’s mind in 2006 when the Legislature sent him the bills to cut the grocery tax.

It is clear, though, that Mississippi’s political leadership still has similar views as Barbour on the grocery tax. Since Barbour has left office, there have been two major reductions in the income tax: one in 2016 when Phil Bryant was governor and another in 2022 when Tate Reeves was governor.

There has been no cut in the grocery tax during that time.

This year the Senate proposes another major cut in the income tax and a reduction in the grocery tax from 7 cents to 5 cents on every dollar purchase of groceries.

There are efforts by the House leadership and Reeves to completely eliminate the income tax. In addition, the House tax cut plan essentially would trim the grocery tax to 5.5%. The House plan in most instances also would raise the sales tax on most other retail items from 7% to 8.5%.

And there are retail items other than groceries that most all people need. After all, most everyone, including poor people who might not pay an income tax, must buy clothes, household utensils and numerous other retail items that under the House plan would cost more because of the increase in the sales tax.

In short, there are many opportunities other than the grocery tax to collect taxes from poor people.

But just to recap:

• Only 12 states tax food like Mississippi does.

• Mississippi not only has the highest state-imposed tax on food, but also has one of the country’s highest sales taxes on other retail items.

• Mississippi has one of the lowest income taxes in the country and it is getting even lower thanks to the 2022 tax cut that is still being phased in.

The aforementioned tax structure results in Mississippi’s low-wage earners paying a greater percentage of their income in state and local taxes than do the state’s more affluent residents, a 2024 study found.

The report by the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy found that Mississippi has the nation’s 19th-most regressive tax system where low-income residents are forced to pay a larger percentage of their income in taxes than the state’s wealthier citizens.

The study shows the income tax is the only component of the Mississippi tax system that requires the wealthy to pay more than the poor.

And even though Mississippi has the nation’s highest percentage of poor people, the quiet part that needs to be told louder is that our leaders are working to make the tax structure even more regressive.

• Southern Living highlights Biloxi, Mississippi for having some of the state’s best beaches.
• Biloxi’s white sand beaches stretch for 26 miles and are considered the largest manmade beaches in the world.
• Mississippi has six barrier islands, some of which are accessible by ferry.

Southern Living has highlighted one Mississippi beach town as having the whitest sand in the state.

Biloxi, on the coast, is a top tourism spot.

“Considered one of the state’s best beach towns, Biloxi is known for its picturesque sand and calm waters that are protected by barrier islands just south of the beach in the Gulf of Mexico. With warm temperatures in the summer that remain temperate through the winter, there’s never a bad time to visit Biloxi,” Southern Living wrote.

The white sand beaches in Harrison County include a 26-mile stretch that World Record Academy identifies as the largest manmade beach in the world. Parts of it were designed to protect the seawall and the area from Biloxi to Pass Christian is maintained to prevent erosion.

Check out islands on Mississippi coast

There are six barrier islands for outdoors adventures and family fun in Mississippi, and parts are in the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

Cat Island requires a private boat to access. There are some homes, and the beaches are popular for fishing. The name reportedly comes from French explorers confusing the resident racoons with felines.

If you’re looking for a beach with the clearest water, Getmyboat recommends checking out Ship Island for “powdery white sand and turquoise waters that rival those of the Caribbean.” You an also check out Fort Massachusetts, which dates back to the Civil War. The island has a swimming area, bathrooms, pavilions and a concession store. A public ferry runs from March to October out of Gulfport.

Deer Island is a coastal preserve. It’s currently uninhabited, but people lived there until Hurricane Camille hit in August 1969, destroying all the homes.

More: Which Mississippi town does HGTV call one of the ‘most charming small towns in America’?

Horn Island and Petit Bois Island were designated as wilderness areas by Congress in 1978. They can only be accessed via private boat, according to the National Park Service.

Round Island is also home to migratory birds.

Contributing: Brian Broom

Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with Gannett/USA Today. Email her at bbolden@gannett.com.

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – The threat for severe weather is ramping up and many officials want you to have a plan for when severe weather hits to protect you and your family.

Eric Bullard, who is a spokesperson for MEMA said, “Know where you’re going to go. Know your safe place. You know, for some people that could be a closet. Could be your bathroom. But make sure you’re in a sturdy structure on the lowest floor.”

Some people in the community that are in need may not have a safe place to go to ride out the storm.

One local homeless shelter helps get them off the streets during bad weather.

Gerald Snell, who manages Gateway Rescue Missions shelter, said, “Anytime we have inclement weather where there’s extreme heat, extreme cold or thunderstorms, we’ll see an increase in the number of people who are coming and seeking shelter and at that point what we’ll do is we’ll fill up our beds in our shelter.”

Some of you may not have a sturdy building to hunker down in. One of the worst spots to be during a tornado is in a mobile home.

“If you live in a mobile home or somewhere that you don’t really know exactly if it’s safe spot at night, identify somewhere where you can go today before that weather comes through tomorrow or it comes through tonight so you know that could be a community safe room, could be a friend ‘s house, could be a family member’s house. Just make sure you identify some place you can go to stay safe when these tornadoes come through,” said Bullard.

When storms move through, they often leave behind damage.

With damage often comes power outages. Entergy Mississippi has advice for their customers when they experience an outage.

Candace Coleman, who is a spokesperson for Entergy Mississippi, said, “Just stay safe. Stay away from any power lines, avoid any hazards, you know, if you do see a downed line and you’re not sure if we know about the outage, you know, make sure you’re calling in that downed line at 1-800-Entergy.”

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