State of the State: Reeves focuses on education, cutting taxes, critical race theory

A cool wind blew Tuesday as Gov. Tate Reeves, standing on the Capitol steps, spoke to half-empty rows of chairs about the importance of education, workforce development, police and the dangers of critical race theory.

Giving his third State of the State address since taking office, Reeves spoke for 46 minutes, his 5,420-word speech serving as a refined version of his usual conservative talking points and policy goals.

“I can still stand before you tonight and declare, without reservation and without qualification, that the state of our state is not only strong, but stronger than it has ever been,” Reeves said.

He praised teachers and students across the state for excelling during learning disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mississippi recorded a record graduation rate of 87.7% during the 2020-21 school year, according to the Mississippi Department of Education.

“These education reforms, and the gains they have wrought, is what happens when Republicans and Democrats come together,” he said. “When we set aside our differences and focus on what matters most, there is no limit to what Mississippians can achieve.”

Lawmakers have passed competing bills to give a substantial pay raise to teachers across the state, something Reeves said is a priority of his administration.

For subscribers: Mississippi is on the cusp of a historic pay raise for teachers. Will it be enough?

Reeves followed his praise by suggesting rogue ideologues have hijacked history classes and are teaching critical race theory to Mississippi children.

“It doesn’t really matter what you call it,” Reeves said. “And I’m not interested in semantics. I’m interested in the integrity of our civic education. In too many schools in other states, they teach the lie that America is inherently racist.”

More: Schools keep talking about critical race theory and DEI. What do those terms really mean?

Speaking in front of a Capitol building full of confederate iconography and facing toward a statue honoring confederate women, Reeves called on the state Department of Education to ban critical race theory implementation in public classrooms. State Department of education officials confirmed months ago it isn’t being taught in any public K-12 classroom.

Income tax elimination remains big focus in 2022

Reeves pledged to continue workforce development and again called on lawmakers to eliminate the state’s income tax.

Part of the governor’s plan involves investing in the state’s infrastructure to create new jobs, but Reeves said elimination of the state’s income tax would be vital to creating several projects around the state that would create new business opportunities.

"I am begging Mississippi legislators to be bold," Reeves said.

State Economist Corey Miller told state lawmakers in September there would be effectively no change to the state’s economy if the income tax is repealed.

Reeves backs the blue, calls for more cops in Jackson

Reeves gave the State of the State address after a downtown shooting happened hours earlier, five blocks away.

He used the shooting, which left one person in critical condition, to call out Jackson leadership for what he called a failure to combat rising crime.

Reeves proposed doubling the size of the Capitol Police Department to expand the agency’s reach and help prevent crime in the downtown area.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we have a lot of brave men and women in blue. There’s just not enough of them,” he said.

Jackson recorded 155 murders in 2021, the most ever in the city's history.

Little mention of pandemic

Reeves hardly mentioned the toll COVID-19 has had on Mississippi. When he did, he used it to illustrate other policy points. At one point, Reeves pivoted from lives lost to COVID-19 to the need to outlaw abortion.

In another instance, he said the state's response to the virus left the economy in a better place.

"We kept our businesses open and helped ensure Mississippians could continue putting food on their table," Reeves said.

At least 10,734 Mississippians have died after contracting COVID-19. Reeves' Chief of Staff Parker Briden said the speech was delivered outside as a precaution against the coronavirus.

Democrats, in their official response, criticized Reeves' handling of COVID-19 and called on Republicans to expand Medicaid.

"As omicron continues to push case counts to sky-high levels, hundreds of thousands of working Mississippians are left without healthcare coverage," Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons said. "It is no better time than now to afford those Mississippians the access they need, and Democrats don’t care what you call it."

Lee O. Sanderlin is an investigative and political reporter covering the state of Mississippi. Got a story tip? You can call him at 601-559-3857, send it to LSanderlin@gannett.com or message him on Twitter @LeeOSanderlin.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Gov. Tate Reeves talks about tax cuts, crime in State of the State