Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann talked education, healthcare and tax cuts Monday as he provided local elected officials and community leaders with a recap of the 2024 legislative session.

This year was an “education year,” Hosemann said, with the House and Senate making several big changes to the way public school systems in Mississippi operate. The first big change, he said, is the passage of a new school funding formula.

The Mississippi Adequate Education Program, the previous school funding formula passed in 1997, was fully funded by the Legislature just twice in its 27-year run.

Hosemann said the new formula also came along with about $217 million in additional funding for public schools. About $8 million of that will be invested in Meridian and Lauderdale County schools to educate and raise future leaders.

“So what do we expect from that,” he said. “We expect them to produce young men and women who have an economic future. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

Legislators have also worked to tackle teacher pay over the past few sessions, Hosemann said, with approximately $100 million invested in teacher salaries over the past four years. Mississippi was ranked near the bottom in teacher pay, and recent increases have helped make the state more competitive with its neighbors.

Mississippi has made improvements to its education system, Hosemann said, with improvements showing in standardized testing, graduation rates and numerous other metrics. However, he said, there is still a way to go, especially in reading.

“Our kids need to read better,” he said.

On the healthcare standpoint, Hosemann said bills to expand Medicaid eligibility did not make it through the legislative process during this year’s session. Mississippi is one of 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act to cover people who work but do not earn enough to pay for private insurance.

Hosemann said the Legislature was able to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage, but House and Senate negotiators were unable to reach an agreement for full Medicaid expansion.

“The Senate’s position was that we wanted to cover working people, and the House’s position was that they wanted to cover everyone under Medicaid expansion,” he said. “That’ll probably come back this year.”

Also on the docket for the upcoming legislative session, which will begin in January 2025, will be potential cuts to the state’s grocery tax, Hosemann said. Mississippi charges a 7% tax on groceries, one of the highest in the country.

The state has several cuts to income taxes that are in the process of being phased in, and both Hosemann and House Speaker Jason White have said they support cuts to the grocery tax as well.

“I’ll tell you right now, I think we need to reduce the grocery tax. I’ve been trying to do that for two years,” Hosemann said. “I haven’t been able to get much traction, but everybody’s been going to the grocery store just like I do with Lynn (Hosemann), and I will tell you that this is the year I think we’ll get the grocery tax reduction, and it has long been time.”

For Meridian and Lauderdale County, Hosemann said he sees the cultural revival, educational opportunities and community in the area and believes the region is ripe for new businesses and new industries to come to the Queen City. There have been several opportunities over the past few years that Meridian has just missed out on, he said, but this year feels like the year.

“We’ve got the facility, we’ve got the location, we’ve got the things we need here. I think the community is ready for that,” he said. “We’ve got the ability to educate anybody that comes here that needs their workforce, so I think this would be the year in which we’d go forward.”

Meridian City Councilman George Thomas said the city and county are fortunate to have the legislative delegation working to bring opportunities and funding back home. In the past, he said, that has not always been the case.

“I’ve been in elected office for 39 years, and this has been the best local delegation, and lieutenant governor, as far as working with this part of the state, we’ve ever had,” he said.