FOREST - The depths of hypocrisy seem to have no bounds among state leaders when it comes to jobs and taxes.
Consider the following three points:
1) It has well been established that Gov. Haley Barbour and Speaker of the House Billy McCoy are prepared to move forward with a budget that will shortchange state public education. And as they lead, the Legislature seems willing to follow.
2) Barbour and McCoy have promoted plans they say will spur job creation and economic development to help provide more jobs for a state that has seen industries close their doors for foreign locales.
3) Legislative leaders have stood up in opposition to the Mississippi Optional Sales Tax (MOST) plan, which would allow municipalities and counties to levy small taxes for specific projects with a 60-percent approval vote from the municipality's or county's electorate. Said tax increase would have a finite timetable and therefore would be automatically rescinded once the specific project has been financed. Legislative leaders say they are against it because they campaigned on a "No New Taxes" pledge, and passing MOST is essentially passing a tax increase. Barbour, to his credit, says he opposes it but will not veto it if it hits his desk.
Stay with me here. This takes a little connecting of the dots.
State leaders say they are against MOST because it would essentially be passing a tax increase. However, educational leaders from the smallest to the largest school districts across the state have said they will be forced to raise taxes if the Legislature shortchanges them. And while Barbour and McCoy promote plans that list economic development and job growth as top priorities, they are backing cuts in education that the state Department of Education's director of educational accountability said will cost schools as many as 4,000 jobs.
Hypocrisy. Plain and simple.
Dr. Steve Coker, superintendent of education for the Houston Municipal School District, hit the nail on the head when he told a meeting of educational and legislative leaders that Barbour shouldn't talk to him about creating new jobs when Barbour's budget plans could cut 4,000 educational jobs.
Coker's district is a tremendous example of what rural school systems in Mississippi could be. The Houston district is far from overflowing with money. In fact, if they are slighted the $1 million in state funds they expect to be short, the people there will most likely either pay more taxes or teachers there will be fired.
That said, Houston is home to the Sundancer solar car, which has won three national championship races and was one of the first high school teams to complete a grueling race across the Australian Outback. This program is a technological gold mine for the students there, so much that the students and teachers are showing other Mississippi school districts what they are doing. The students who come through these type programs - vocational technology programs - are the same students Barbour and McCoy want to target in community colleges with job-training programs. The irony is that high school programs like the one in Houston will never start in other school districts if Barbour, McCoy and others have their way.
Of course, credit is due to Sen. Jack Gordon, D-Okolona, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Rep. Randy "Bubba" Pierce, D-Leaksville, who chairs the House Education Committee. Both men have gone on the record saying they want to fund schools at current levels. However, as powerful as the two gentlemen are, their lone sentiment is not enough.
So, back to the hypocrisy. How can Barbour, McCoy and Tuck allow our state's public schools to face a nearly 10 percent cut in state funds that will most assuredly cost teachers their jobs and hard-working Mississippians to pay higher taxes? Furthermore, if lawmakers are going to pass the buck to local school districts to raise taxes, then why not allow local voters to decide if they want to pass a temporary tax to provide infrastructure improvements and other amenities?
Could it be that the Legislature is so protective of the purse strings that they refuse to let go of any kind of taxation?
To be honest, with the leadership they are exuding at this time, purse strings might be in better hands on the local level.
