Gov. Barbour's Final Speech To State Lawmakers

By: Ross Adams | WJTV
Published: January 04, 2012

With just days left in office, outgoing Mississippi Governor Barbour made his final speech before a joint session of the state legislature.

In remarks that ran close to ten minutes, Barbour had sober words for lawmakers, exhorting the 52 senators and 122 representatives to be wise about how they spend scarce tax dollars, in an economy that continues to slowly improve.

Barbour urged them to keep taxes as low as possible, and to make sure that everyone pays something. He told legislators to consider eliminating some tax exemptions as one way to generate additional revenue.

And in a move that surprised many in the state House of Representatives chamber, the conservative Republican Barbour sounded more like a liberal Democrat when he expressed his desire to see the ban lifted on taxing products sold over the Internet.

According to Barbour, Mississippi is losing $300 million annually in uncollected taxes from online sales.

Barbour also said the state’s 152 public school district collectively have more $165 million in reserves. He suggested those dollars be spent before school leaders ask for more funds for the legislature.

With so many tough decisions ahead of then this year, the governor urged lawmakers to “brace yourself.”

After eight years in the governor’s mansion, the former Washington lobbyist Barbour will return to private life after his second term ends next week.