Despite this, the legislative session is entering its final weeks. The House wants to abolish the state personal income tax. The Senate wants rebates and cuts. The Senate leaders claim that the House plan is foolish during uncertain economic times. The Senate cuts are only a half-measure, according to House leaders. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann is the Senate’s President. He presented Monday a proposal for suspending the 18.4-cent-a-gallon gasoline taxes in Mississippi for six months. This was to assist Mississippians who are facing rising fuel prices and other inflation. The Senate also proposes to increase its income tax cuts but spread them over eight years. Hosemann stated Monday that he began questioning the inflation rate in November and found it at 2.5%. Hosemann said that on March 8, it was 6.7%. “It cost me $106 for my truck to fill up…. Due to huge increases in inflation hitting everyone hard, today we are asking for an immediate suspension of the state’s gasoline tax for six month.” Senator leaders and Hosemann propose that the state, which has a surplus of $215 million largely due to federal stimulus spending, reimburse the Mississippi Department of Transportation by using $215 million. This would result in a decrease of 18.4 cents per gallon in gas prices. The Senate also modified its income tax reduction plan. It had previously proposed eliminating the state’s 4% income-tax bracket over four years. Senate leaders have now proposed to reduce the state’s top income tax bracket of 5% to 4.6% in four years. Then, they will phase out the 4% bracket in the four years following that. Leaders in the House revised their plan to eliminate the state’s personal income tax. They proposed phasing it in more slowly and eliminating an associated increase in sales taxes. House leaders claimed they have addressed all concerns Hosemann and Senate leaders raised. The Senate plan would include a one time tax rebate of upto 5% for taxpayers — $100 to $1,000 — and would reduce taxes on groceries from 7.5% to 5% in the first year. Monday’s House vote omitted a sales tax hike of 7% to 8.5% and slowed down its rollout for the phase-out of personal income tax. The House also voted to eliminate its proposal to reduce car tag fees by half. This would have the state subsidizing local governments that levy the majority of the tags. It would still reduce grocery taxes by.25% per year to 4%, but it would do so more slowly. Trey Lamar (R-Senatobia), House Ways and Means Chairman, said that “every objection the Senate made to our plan is now being addressed.” “The only objection that you can have now is that you don’t want the Mississippi tax on work to be removed,” Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, House Ways and Means Chairman. The House previously proposed exempting incomes of $40,000 for individuals and $80,000 to couples from income taxes for year one. After that, the tax would be phased out. To start, the new proposal proposes to exempt income of $25,000 and $50,000. The House plan included a 1.5% growth trigger, which meant that any revenue growth above that would reduce the income tax each year until it disappeared. The trigger was increased to 1.6% and a cap of $150million per year was set. Anything above that amount would go towards eliminating the income tax. The House leaders had predicted that the income tax would be eliminated in 10 years. Monday’s Lamar stated that the changes would make it take approximately 15 years depending on how much growth. Monday’s House vote on Speaker Philip Gunn’s latest income tax elimination proposal was 83 to 33. Many Democrats who voted for the previous version of Speaker Philip Gunn’s income tax elimination proposal Monday afternoon said that they couldn’t vote for the new version because it didn’t reduce the local car tag tax. John Hines (D-Greenville) stated that he supported the proposal primarily because of the car tags being cut. “Now you have everything I cannot support.” Lamar stated that the Senate leadership was steadfast in opposing a decrease in car tag prices. Lamar stated from the House well, “My father is mad at you about that.” “But the Senate refused it.” Other Democrats voiced concern about cutting revenue when the state still has vital needs. Rep. Omeria, D-Laurel pointed out the needs local governments have in education, health care, and other areas. Scott stated that the bill was premature unless Mississippi addresses all of its serious needs. Democrat Senator Hob Bryan of Amory, a Democratic senator, also presented this argument in Senate committee debate. He made an emotional plea for his colleagues. Bryan stated that the Senate plan would cause “untold harm” to his state. “$439 Million per year, in perpetuity, from the general fund forever. Forever! Forever! Mississippi doesn’t have safe drinking water. There are no working sewer systems in Mississippi. However, if our water and sewer systems are not working properly, they will be unable to access them. What about roads? Do you ever drive on them? “Don’t you see all of the cracks?” Hosemann and Gunn did not comment on Monday’s respective latest proposals. READ MORE: Five things you need to know about the Great Mississippi Tax Cut Battle of 202022. This is Gunn’s second major overhaul of his income tax plan. It died in the Senate. It would have raised the state sales tax on most retail items by 7% to 9.5% in the last version. Other sales taxes would have gone up by 2.5 cents per dollar. For example, automobiles that were originally subject to a tax of 5% would have seen their tax increase to 7.5%. However, many business lobbyists and the Gov. faced opposition. Tate Reeves opposed Gunn’s reduction of the general sales tax and the elimination of increases in other sectors, such as agriculture and automobiles. The state will subsidise local governments that levy the majority of car tag fees. He also proposed a way to reduce car tag fees by half. In this year’s second proposal, the income tax exemptions from the original plan were also reduced. READ MORE: Gov. Reeves slams the income tax cut plan after it passes House. The recent changes to the tax proposals were made following a critique from the conservative Tax Foundation, whose policies Gunn claimed were an impetus for Gunn’s plan. This article was critical of both Gunn’s and the Senate’s income tax proposals. The Tax Foundation article asked whether the original House plan with its 1.5% “growth triggers”, on income tax elimination would allow the state to keep up inflation. The Tax Foundation article stated that “general fund growth limits are not fundamentally harmful, but HB531 includes a mechanism to limit growth to no more then 1.5 percent per annum.” To put this in perspective, at January’s end, the 12-month change of inflation was 7.5%, which is the highest rate since 1982. There is a lot of uncertainty about the time it will take for inflation return to the Federal Reserve target rate at 2 percent. However, it is reasonable to expect rates to remain above that target rate for many years. A 1.5 percent cap on revenue growth would significantly reduce Mississippi’s purchasing power. The Tax Foundation article stated that the Senate plan is simpler and less risky. However, it notes that Mississippi is nearing meaningful reforms. 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