Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann tells people around the state to look around and ask if they are better off than they were five years ago.
Hoseman stopped in Senatobia Monday and pointed to several factors that he feels indicates Mississippi is no longer on the bottom and the future looks even brighter.
“We were 16th in the nation last year in education and are no longer 49th,” said Hosemann. “We cut your income tax, grocery tax and will soon eliminate your franchise tax in 2028.”
He also pointed out Mississippi has the second fastest growing Gross Domestic Product of any state in the nation.
“We’ve fixed our state retirement system while states like California and Illinois haven’t and will soon go broke,” said Hosemann. “We’ve also done a lot for rural healthcare in a rapidly changing environment.”
Hosemann said he can’t take credit for it all, “but my fingerprints are on a lot of it.”
Hosemann said the trend started about 20-years ago when a group of leaders got together and decided to change Mississippi, get away from the good-ole-boy system and run government like a business.
“We are paying our teachers better,” said Hosemann. “I think you will also see teachers – and that includes community college teachers - get a raise next year.”
Hoseman pointed to industrial development announcements in Northwest Mississippi just this year and said this part of the state is attractive to business and is growing.
He pointed to $50 billion in federal healthcare funds allocated this year and that Mississippi is expected to get $1 billion of that over the next five years.
“We have to realize this is one-time money and so what do we want to do with it,” said Hosemann, “Do we want to invest it in brick-and-mortar? Do we want to address issues like diabetes, heart disease and low birth-weight babies? We can’t just blow this money and this opportunity.”
Hosemann did say the days of every community having a hospital is not the trend of the future.
“You can’t specialize in something unless you are in a larger community,” he explained. “There are six major hospitals in this state that can do just about everything. Rural hospitals have their place, but they need to network with larger systems that can offer more.”
Hosemann said there is a new “feeling” in this state of growth, quality of life and a better standard of living.
And Hosemann smiled when asked if he would be running for Governor in 2027.
“My Momma told me you finish the job you were elected to do before you start looking for another one,” said Hosemann. “I’m interested and it’s no secret I am raising money. But this is not the time to make that decision. Lynn and I are talking about it but we will have to wait and see.”
Hosemann has served as Lt. Gov. since 2020 and prior to that served as Secretary of State, the first Republican to hold that post since Reconstruction.
A native of Vicksburg, he is a graduate of Notre Dame and the University of Mississippi School of Law. As an attorney he specialized in tax law and setting up retirement plans.
Hosemann was born in June 1947.
