Mississippi Speaker of the House Jason White, R-West, announced this week the formation of a committee to study the possibility of cutting the state’s grocery tax and eliminating the income tax ahead of the 2025 legislative session, according to a report by Mississippi Today, and it’s a good thing he’s starting early.

Income tax makes up roughly a third of the state’s general income, and while the Legislature has passed several cuts to the tax that are in the process of being implemented, balancing the books with just 66% of previous income will be a challenging task, to say the least.

White also wants to explore cutting the state’s 7% grocery tax in half, a measure that would provide relief to all Mississippians regardless of their employment status. It’s no secret the state’s grocery tax is one of the highest in the nation, and that burden falls hardest on those in our communities who can least afford it.

Cutting the grocery tax, however, is not without its own perils. Although reducing the tax will help residents at the checkout counter, small municipalities throughout the state depend on those taxes to fund critical government services. Grocery stores are the primary generators of tax revenue in many small Mississippi towns, and reducing or eliminating that funding will be catastrophic.

One potential solution being considered, Mississippi Today reported, is an increase in the general sales tax, also at 7%, to help offset some of the revenue loss. Increasing the sales tax would help, but care needs to be taken to not go too high.

Any increase in sales tax will be felt by Mississippi’s small businesses, which will bear the brunt of customers’ wrath when costs for goods and services go up. Too sharp an increase in sales tax will make residents more protective of their hard-earned dollars and reduce sales.

Larger companies and national corporations can afford to absorb the blowback from residents, but the small businesses that make up the life-blood of our communities cannot.

Reducing the tax burden on Mississippi residents sounds like a great idea, and White’s action to form a committee to study the situation far ahead of the next legislative session shows he is both serious and sensible about the challenges legislators will need to overcome to make that happen.

Let’s hope the committee has good news to report.