On a cold and windy day in Jackson, Reeves stood before a crowd of hundreds at the Capitol building and recounted some of his greatest challenges during the last four years in the state's highest office, such as a number of natural disasters and the COVID-19 Pandemic.
He also reminded those in attendance of promises he made during his last inauguration speech in 2020, especially those surrounding efforts to increase workforce training and gains made in education and diversifying the state economy.
“Four years ago I called for a pay raise for our teachers – we secured the largest pay raise in state history. Four years ago I said we would travel the world to bring more great companies to Mississippi. Together we’ve secured record breaking economic investment, which included the single largest economic deal in state history.”
All of those factors combined into what Reeves laid out as his goal for his second term: keeping Mississippians in Mississippi.
‘We are not pursuing test scores to beat Alabama, and we are not pursuing capital investment to have bragging rights over Arkansas,” said Reeves. “We are pursuing excellence to secure permanence. For too many decades our most valuable export has not been our cotton, or even our culture, but our children.”
“Mississippi minds dominate some of the top positions in government, in business and in entertainment across the country. They carry with them the pride and the grit that is ingrained in every Mississippian. They made other places better, and we missed out on all they could have done here at home.”
Reeves did not offer any specific policy proposals during his address, but those are expected to come during his State of the State address later this legislative session. Reeves has previously indicated that eliminating Mississippi’s income tax will continue to be a top priority for his administration.
Rodney Hall, a freshman Republican House member from DeSoto County, says he's optimistic about the future of Mississippi, and he supports the governor's message about making a state people will want to stay in.
“While we still have some challenges, we have to take a step back and pause and see the momentum that we have, but then move forward,” Hall said. “Keep being bold, keep pushing the needle, talking about the future. Where we're going to be not just the next half a decade or decade, but the next two decades. We have that option now.”
On the Democratic side, Senator David Blount of Hinds County, who was part of the governor's legislative escort, says his party is focused on its priorities, like expanding Medicaid to the state's working poor and increasing funding for public education.
“Those of us in the Democratic Party have put forward our ideas and we'll have those debates as the session gets moving,” Blount said.
