Posted on Friday, April 11, 2025
|
by Alan Jamison
|
0 Comments
|
In recent years, Mississippi has been the punching bag of state statistics, ranking near the bottom of the country in various metrics related to education, poverty, and economic opportunity. But under the leadership of Republican Governor Tate Reeves, the Magnolia State is quietly undergoing a resurgence that deserves more national attention.
Perhaps the most astonishing accomplishment since Reeves took office came late last month, when the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released its annual report on state GDP growth. While Mississippi normally ranks near the bottom of this metric, the state soared to second in the country, with its GDP increasing by 4.2 percent in 2024. Mississippi also ranked higher than any other state in net earnings.
This milestone notably comes after Reeves has signed several development packages into law while in office to boost the state’s economy. In January 2024, he signed legislation to greenlight a $1.9 billion development project in a deal with truck manufacturers PACCAR, Accelera by Cummins, and Daimler Truck. The companies are now bringing their battery cell production to the state in a move that is expected to create 2,000 jobs with an average salary of $66,000.
Later that month, he finalized the state’s largest economic development project in history that will see Amazon Web Services invest $10 billion in the state. The agreement between Mississippi and Amazon is expected to bring in at least “1,000 high-paying, high-tech jobs.” The company will also be building two new data centers in Mississippi that will include computer servers, data storage drives, and networking equipment. The two facilities will create up to 7,000 temporary construction jobs.
Reeves has also led major overhauls of the state’s tax policy, putting more money back in residents’ pockets. In 2022, he signed a tax bill that would allow taxpayers to keep an extra $525 million. Despite these cuts, Reeves announced in February that Mississippi currently had a “$750 million surplus in the 2024-25 budget year.”
Reeves doubled down on that success in March by signing legislation that will effectively eliminate the state income tax altogether, phasing it out over the course of 14 years.
Reeves has also overseen noteworthy successes on education, another area where the state has historically struggled.
Mississippi students performed exceptionally well on the 2024 National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as “The Nation’s Report Card.” The governor announced that the state’s students were “No. 1 in the nation for achieving the highest score increases in 4th grade reading and math since 2013.”
Minority students also performed remarkably well. Reeves explained in his statement that “African American 4th graders [in Mississippi] rank No. 3 among their peers nationally for reading and math scores.” Hispanic students also outperformed the rest of the country, with 4th graders ranking “No. 1 among their peers nationally for reading scores and No. 2 for math scores.”
Overall, when adjusting for student demographics, fourth-grade students in Mississippi scored the highest in the nation for reading and math. Eighth-grade students scored first in the nation in math and fourth in reading.
The state’s improvement in education has been fondly named the “Mississippi Miracle,” with one education reporter noting that “Mississippi is the only state to make gains across all performance levels in 4th grade reading” over the past ten years. Vice President JD Vance also praised the state’s improvement as “incredible.”
But “miracle” might not be giving Reeves and his Republican allies in the state legislature enough credit.
In 2022, Reeves signed into law the largest pay increase for teachers in the state since the 1980s. The bill raised average wages of teachers by approximately $5,100. Teachers will now receive substantial pay increases every five years, with a significant increase after 25 years. His goal was to retain high-performing teachers to ensure his state provides the best education for students. The plan seems to be working.
Reeves also signed an education bill into law last year that gives schools an additional $250 million in funding. With this new law, public schools now receive extra funding for students who live in poverty, have special needs, or are in gifted programs.
Mississippi has also led the way in ensuring schools focus on educating rather than indoctrinating students and removing left-wing ideology from the classroom. The state has banned Critical Race Theory (CRT) and radical gender ideology in schools, and in 2021 Reeves signed a law banning biological males from participating in female sports.
In early April, state lawmakers also passed a bill banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from public schools and universities as well. The bill will ensure that admissions and employment will now be determined on “individual merit” alone. Schools that do not comply will lose state funding. Reeves plans to sign the bill soon, cementing his legacy as a governor who prioritized education over politics.
Tate Reeves has largely remained out of the national spotlight since being sworn in as governor in 2020, but his record of success speaks for itself. While states like California and New York continue to prove the failures of unrestrained liberal governance, Mississippi is a shining example of what states can accomplish by prioritizing common-sense conservative principles.
Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.
Read full article here
