JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves delivered the State of the State Address on Wednesday.

”My fellow Mississippians, our state is stronger than ever,” noted Reeves.

Governor Reeves spent a large portion of the speech bragging on accomplishments on various topics including economic development.

“Together, we broke record after record and our economy roared,” he said. “Billions of dollars were invested in our state, and thousands of jobs were created.”

He also touted educational gains.

“Mississippi is charging to the front of the pack with our education system and daring other states to keep up!” Reeves explained.

When it comes to what’s next, he made a repeat request to the legislature, saying the single best thing we can do for the state and its people is to eliminate the state income tax.

“Doing nothing is not an option,” Governor Reeves described. “Let’s get this done. Send House Bill 1 to my desk for the hard-working men and women who sent us here to do big things and make their lives better. Our fellow Mississippians are counting on us, and I know we have what it takes to get this legislation passed. Let’s eliminate our tax on work once and for all!”

An unexpected focus of the speech was on energy.

“A transformative effort that I’m calling Mississippi’s Power Play,” he said. “We are marshaling the forces of our government and our private sector to find bold solutions to bring more energy to our state’s grid and our economy.”

Although the Governor didn’t use the phrase Medicaid expansion, he discussed the changes that could happen with the program at the federal level and reinforced his opposition.

“Now is not the time to expand welfare in our state. It’s actually the worst possible time to do it,” said the Governor.

Alongside the celebrations of education gains, he does think we should change some things.

“To truly best prepare our students for adulthood, we must hold school districts accountable,” Reeves added. “And that’s why I proposed revising the accountability system to place a greater weight on proficiency and less weight on growth in academic achievements.”

Reeves calls 2024 the greatest year in the state’s history and says he expects more success in 2025.

An excerpt of the speech can be read here:

Together, we broke record after record and our economy roared.

Billions of dollars were invested in our state, and thousands of jobs were created. Unemployment reached an all-time low, and Mississippi was Top Three in the nation for the fastest growing economy, and Top Four for the fastest growing per-capita income in America, in the most recent data.

This is the success we all promised the people of our state. We said Mississippi had momentum and this is Mississippi’s time – and the results are clear. In fact, this is Mississippi’s time. We had win after win on behalf of the people who live here, and we did things that some thought would never be possible.

I want to thank all of you for your hard work. It would not have been possible without you. Success on this scale is a team effort.

And in 2025, we will soar to even greater heights, we will accomplish even bigger things.

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