Arkansas, Mississippi respond to new book

Public officials in Arkansas and Mississippi are responding to ideas in the Center for a Better South's new book, Doing Better: Progressive Tax Reform for the American South.

Today in Mississippi, Better South President Andy Brack addressed more than 50 leaders at a policy luncheon sponsored by the Stennis Institute. Former Gov. William Winter, who introduced Brack, noted:

[S]tate officials often "are fixing things that need to be fixed right away without having the benefit of really an objective, long-term analysis of the problem. That's how we have levied taxes for the most part. We need some additional revenues so we put it where it is easiest to get. That's not a very good way to maintain a fair, equitable tax structure."

In the same story by the Associated Press:

One of the most influential Mississippi budget writers, Rep. Cecil Brown, D-Jackson, said lawmakers need to embark on detailed discussion of the state's tax structure, but doing so won't be quick or easy.

"What they're saying is we need to find the most equitable way to distribute the tax burden. Equity is in the eye of the beholder," Brown said. "It's just very difficult to eliminate any of the exemptions and raise anybody else's taxes. That was the debate you heard ... on the cigarette tax and the grocery tax."

A key Arkansas legislator noted in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that one of the Center's ideas -- studying the way the state provides millions of dollars of tax exemptions -- had merit:

Rep. Phil Jackson, R-Berryville, the chairman of the House Committee on Revenue and Taxation, said those exemptions are often inconsistently applied. He said lawmakers are now studying a proposal to require regular reviews of sales-tax exemptions.

"Right now we put an exemption in, and we don'’t keep track of it to make sure it'’s doing what it'’s supposed to be doing,"” Jackson said.

Other recent media coverage on the book:

• Study recommends tax reform, WLBT TV, Mississippi
• Group recommends tax reform for Arkansas, WTHV TV, Arkansas
• Tax reform proposal gets mixed reviews, Madison County (MS) Journal
• Think tank recommends tax reform for Southern states, WLOX TV, Biloxi, Mississippi
• Tax reform recommended for Southern states, The State, Columbia, SC