MDOT presents The Extra Mile Podcast Legislative Session.

Paul - Welcome in to another addition of The Extra Mile Podcast: Legislative Session. I’m Paul Katool MDOT Digital Media Manager. I’m joined as always by my co-host Will Craft. He handles Government and Constituent Affairs here at the Mississippi Department of Transportation. And we’ve got another great guest for you today. We’ve got State Representative Trey Lamar. And a little bit of information about Representative Lamar. He assumed office in two 2012 and he represents District 8 which is Tate and Lafayette counties. And most interesting to me as a graduate of the University of Mississippi he’s a former Ole Miss Football player running back during the Eli Manning years. That’s right?

Representative Lamar - That is correct. Yeah.

Paul - That is amazing.

Representative Lamar - That was a lot of years ago. But yes a lot of water under the bridge since then but that’s technically correct.

Paul - There you go. Well, Representative Lamar, we really appreciate you joining us today.

Representative Lamar - Glad to be here. Thank y ‘all for having me.

(Will) I certainly hope there was no nefarious hazing of the great Quarterback during your time there.

Representative Lamar - Well it was a fun time to be at Ole Miss. Not only were we on the team together back then in those years but we were also in the same fraternity. And so I hadn’t seen Eli in a while. I actually got to see him back this fall for the first time in a while and saw some of his kids when he came and his jersey was retired at the LSU game. So that was pretty cool. My boys, my kids I’ve got two boys that are 12 and nine and a baby girl that’s actually seven today. It’s her birthday so “Happy Birthday, Annie.” But they got to meet Eli and get his autograph and all that and that was really cool so it kinda brought back memories from twenty plus years ago.

Paul - There you go.

Will - Well and you already mentioned a little bit about your time at Ole Miss but just getting to know you tell us a little bit about yourself where you’re from and what got you involved in politics.

Representative Lamar - Sure. Well I ran in 2011 and was elected in 2012 was my first year that I served and so this is my 11th legislative session. My grandfather who was a former chancery judge he passed away in 1993 but he actually held the seat from 1956 to 64. So I grew up during that. He represented Tate County in the House back in those days which were some very interesting times to be serving. And he was former chairman of the education committee which back then was all of K-12 and all universities and colleges and that was the time that Meredith integrated Ole Miss. So it was an interesting time to be in the legislature. He always had some colorful stories.

And so growing up I knew that as part of a background. And just knew in the back of my mind that was something I was interested in. And so when I moved back home in 2007 after law school it was something that was in the back of my mind. And I knew when the opportunity came up we had our representative at the time retired and there was a n opening that it was something that I would be interested in and just really at that point in time just wanted to provide some representation for our community, our hometown of Senatobia and Tate County which is what I call home. And to get some positive things done for my hometown. And so that’s what motivated me at first and I’ve been serving ever since and it’s been a great journey.

Will - How long have you been chairman of Ways and Means now?

Representative Lamar - This is my third session to meet you.

Will - Yeah. I got it figured out.

Representative Lamar - I started in the infamous session of twenty twenty was my first year. Was a heck of a year to learn to chair ways and means on the fly in your first year the session that sometimes I feel like I’m in session from twenty twenty.

Paul - No doubt 202 was certainly an interesting time. We wanted to let you take this back home a little bit. I want to ask you about some projects going on in Lafayette and Tate Counties. So what are you keeping your eye on back home?

Representative Lamar - Well I tell you I can’t get on the interstate on Interstate 55 headed north without being reminded of MDOT. So y’all got cranes all over the place. Y’all are currently replacing the bridges along the Hickah Creek which is a tributary of the Coldwater River and Arcebotla Arka Butler Lake and so those are that’s a massive project. You know if either of y ‘all have been north lately to either DeSoto County or Memphis you would have it’s just a half mile or so north of the Senatobia the north Senatobia exit. It’s a big project and a lot of people are talking about it. I know one side is finished so when the other side gets I think the northbound lanes are finished when the southbound lane gets done because if it looks like the northbound it’s going to be really nice. So it’s a good project.

So that’s one I know we’ve got some other projects going on in the western part of the county. And Highway 3 we replaced some bridges out there recently repaved Highway 51 through the middle of Senatobia which was sorely needed. And so the residents certainly appreciate that. I’ve heard a lot of good feedback on that. And just recently in the last few weeks they’ve started MDOT has started construction with started with demo work on the Highway 51 roundabout that’s going to be right in the middle of Senatobia right next to Northwest Community College.

And so we’ve got three schools Magnate High School, Senatobia Elementary School and high school and then Northwest Community College all within about a mile of each other right there on Highway 51 in the middle of the city.

And we had a really old I would say old designed series of three-way stops that were right there in the middle of Highway 51 that are going to be the two intersections are going to be brought together into one big roundabout which will really help traffic in our hometown. And the school traffic when it gets congested and people are excited about that. As long as they can learn how to navigate a roundabout.

Will - That’s right.

Representative Lamar - So the jury’s still out on that.

Will - It takes a little getting used to you know. I heard somebody said you’re supposed to hit that thing about s65. That’s what gets you through. I don’t know if that’s accurate but please nobody test that out.

Representative Lamar - So that’s a little bit of what’s going on in Tate County. I know in Lafayette County there’s been a roundabout added on Highway 7 at the Highway 7/Highway 8 split in Lafayette County. And that was a dangerous intersection so I’ve heard a lot of people really excited about trying to get some help and relief at that intersection so that was much appreciated in Lafayette County. And obviously there’s other issues and things that are going on and a lot of talk about other projects that are needed and so we’ll continue to address those.

Will - Absolutely.

Paul - Excellent.

Will - Getting back to a little more legislation talk I know there’s some bills that you’re anxious to discuss but just generally speaking you know can you explain to us just your thoughts on how important it is for us to have a robust efficient transportation system for economic development and other things you know?

Representative Lamar - Oh it’s critical. I mean it really is crucial. If you look at Mississippi a lot of times Mississippi is considered a rural state you know a poor state but our highway system is very good and you know we’ve got to take care of it. Obviously we’ve got to have sufficient funding to do that. But we’ve got help me guys if I’m wrong we had Interstate 55, I-69, 70. It says 78 now what’s it called? I’ve got a new name.

Will - It’s 72 up there I-22.

Representative Lamar – I-22. That’s what I was trying to think of. That’s a fairly new designation in the last few years. And you’ve got I-20 you know here in the central part of the state and then of course I-10. We’ve got some major interstates that run through the state. And so from a transportation standpoint you take the major interstates with the ‘87 highway plan where we had so many roads that were in highways that were four-laned.

We’ve got a good system but there are improvements that need to be made. We’ve got to take care of it. Obviously you can’t just build a highway and expect not to maintain it over the years. So that’s you know I’m excited about transportation in Mississippi. I’m always excited about doing more making it better. I think that’s a big part of what we need to be looking out for as legislators.

You know one of the state’s biggest assets is our roads you know. I use this example sometimes that most people’s one of their biggest assets is their home and you don’t just let there it wouldn’t be wise to just let your home sit and fall apart or crumble or not take care of it. The state highways are the same thing for the state. We’ve got to take care of them. We own them. They’re literally probably the state’s largest asset. And so that been a big it’s something I’ve pushed and been proud to support for my time.

Will - And keeping on that note again I know you’ve got some legislation you want to mention here. One of these bills specifically will very much so help us in doing that.

Representative Lamar - Yeah. I’ll just get right to it. Yesterday the Ways and Means Committee passed House Bill 1686 which is I’ll just say it’s an MDOT bond refinance bill. I didn’t know this until the last year or so but we learned that MDOT over time had taken out some debt on its own. And so there was a law changed about 20 ago that would let MDOT do that. And currently in MDOT’s budget about 73 million dollars of the state gas tax money was going for debt service. Well that’s 73 million dollars that could be used on the roads on actual you know road improvements and projects and things of that nature currently.

So we started looking at could we refinance that debt. Did it make sense in the current bond market and the answer is yes it does. And so what this bill do would be to back up would be to refinance the existing MDOT debt as into general obligation bonds of the state. And then at that point and time it would immediately free up 73 million dollars that would go toward new road funding for the state for MDOT on state highways.

Will - You’re thinking you know but its round about what we get for the lottery proceeds and all the good we’ve been able to do with that. So I mean that would go a long way.

Representative Lamar - I think it’d be it would be a big deal. I mean the lottery has been great for MDOT. And so this another 70 it gets right at 73 million dollars this year so it’s new funding and we’re excited to push the bill through. It passed almost unanimously out of the House yesterday so we hope the senate will take it up soon.

Paul - Representative Lamar, we really appreciate all the hard work that you do for transportation infrastructure Mississippi. Do want to switch gears a little bit. Maybe one of the biggest topics of conversation over the state house on social media is the Tax Freedom Act income tax discussion. So can you talk about you know kind of your role doing that and why you’re thinking this is the moment.

Representative Lamar - Yeah. I’d be glad to. Well currently where we are let me just back up. This is not some sometimes people like we can’t eliminate the income tax and I want to say, “Well why not?” There’s nine states out there that run their governments perfectly fine without an individual income tax. Some of our neighbors Tennessee, Texas, Florida those are states that are generally thought to be doing very well. So we started looking at this several years ago. The collection of the use tax there was a change in federal law that allowed us to start collecting use tax which has been beneficial for road and bridge construction at the county and city level as well but that put us in a position where we could really take a hard look at whether or not we could eliminate our state income tax and do it responsibly.

And so for those who keep up with it last year the House passed a bill was just an initial basic bill to start the conversation publicly and to really get down in the weeds on some of these numbers. And that effort led to a year-long study more in depth which ultimately resulted in the House passing House Bill 531 which we passed earlier this year which is the Mississippi Tax Freedom Act. And so what that bill would do would eliminate the first $40,000 for a single person and $80,000 for a married couple from income tax in the state of Mississippi.

It would also reduce the price of car tags in half and ultimately reduce the price of groceries from seven percent down to four percent in exchange to help pay for that there’s really what we call phase one of the bill because that’s implemented in the first year. Those changes we would go up on general sales tax from seven present to eight and a half percent. And that’s things you buy like toilet paper or you know paper towels those types of things you know that just generally apply to the general sales tax.

(Will) Not just paper products right?

Representative Lamar - That’s right. Yeah. But things like cars would not be affected bigger ticket items things like that. So we started looking at the states around us every state around us Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and Alabama. All have an approximately 9.5 percent general sales tax rate. A lot of people don’t realize that. So the net effect of our bill when it was fully phased in would be that Mississippi would still be one percent lower on general sales tax than every state around us. And then once the first phase of the income tax was as I mentioned the 40 and 80 thousand will be eliminated and then there will be growth triggers to eliminate the rest of the income tax.

In other words as the economy grew as the state revenue grew than a portion of that money would be used to eliminate the individual income tax until in about 10 or 12 years we would not have an individual income tax in Mississippi. And so that would only happen through growth so we couldn’t go backwards in our state revenue and those types of things couldn’t create it would be a mathematical impossibility for it to create a budget hole with those growth triggers. And so the end result would be a tax system in the state that has no individual income tax then is still one percent lower than on general sales tax rate than every other state around us. So it would be a much more fair system much more competitive tax system. And it would be just generally a better way to fund our government.

It would support and encourage things like work which we need more people doing. And so that’s what the house is doing. The senate passed the bill actually just this week with their version of some tax cuts. It’s a much more scaled down version but I’m thankful that they’re doing something and hopefully these two measures will end up in further negotiations in conference this session and we’ll be able to reach a deal. That’s the hope.

Paul - Well thank you for the explanation on that and related to that a little bit and we want to give a little bit of a civics lesson. I know a lot of our listeners know but you know the ways and means community is a very powerful committee in the Mississippi House of Representatives. Can you kind of give an overview of the committee and your work on it?

Representative Lamar - Yeah. The ways and means committee is in charge of basically for the House of Representatives any legislation dealing with taxes of any sort taxes or fees and also state borrowing. So anything dealing with the Department of Revenue any type of tax at the city, county or state level. Any type of bond which is how government borrows money. And also since the Department of Revenue runs is in charge of the liquor warehouse the ABC I call beverage control then my committee handles anything dealing with alcohol. So it’s a wide variety of things we can deal with but it’s a very committee. We end up with literally hundreds of bills every year to have to look at and address.

Will - Pretty diverse.

Representative Lamar - It’s very diverse. A lot of people don’t know that we actually deal with alcohol laws. And like well how does that have to do with taxes. Well the reason is because the Department of Revenue this heavily regulated product and Department of Revenue is over that which is any laws dealing with Department of Revenue comes before the ways and means committee. And then on the Senate side that’d be they’re call the Finance Committee. But that’s what we do.

Will - And one thing you mentioned to us as you walked in talking about the EV’s. Autonomous vehicles. You want to talk about that?

Representative Lamar - Yeah. So there was another bill we passed this week. It was 1639 House Bill 1639. And what that bill does is it recognizes that so much of our future is going to be looking toward these electric vehicles and so we need to be preparing for that now. And so what it would do is we continue to build more and I believe there’s some federal money that I’m sure y’all are aware of coming down to help with building charging stations in the next several years.

But what this does is it recognized that these people who use our highway system with electric vehicles need to be paying their portion of the road tax as well so which is the gas tax on a combustion engine motor that is currently goes towards the roads And so that said we already have something in place if you’re a Mississippi resident you pay a $150 annual fee when you buy your tag on electric vehicles. But we did not have anything in place for non-residents and so what this bill will do would implement a $3.50 per charge fee for non-residents of Mississippi that would go toward our road tax and help pay for highways in the state.

Will - I think that’d go a long way. You know again just talking about the future coming in so appreciate the foresight and addressing that. Take things a little out of the box here. I know you spend a lot of time on the roads traveling, stopping in different places. Is there any you know food spot that is just close to your heart anytime you’re going to be in the area you’ve got to stop there?

Representative Lamar - Well I’ll do it a little bit different. I’ll invite y’all to come to Senatobia. There’s a guy that runs a little hole in the wall place called the Fresh Garden Market and he smokes his own meats. It’s right there on Highway 51 in Senatobia. So next time y’ all are up my way y’all stop. The guy he does a great job and I’ll give him a shout out here but Fresh Garden Market in Senatobia. You’re missing out if you don’t stop and eat lunch there one day.

Will - I like that. Okay try that out.

Paul - Oh absolutely. We’re adding it to the list. We’ve got a lot of great answers so far. So got a food road trip coming up.

Will - That’s right.

Paul - Just one thing before we let you go, Representative Lamar. How can how’s the best way for people to contact you out there your constituents?

Representative Lamar - Yeah. Well I am the best way at home in Senatobia. Most people know where my office is. It’s right across the street from the courthouse in downtown Senatobia so I’m in the phone book well I don’t know if we have a phone book anymore but if you Google me I’m there. So we’ve got a phone number there at our office and people can call anytime. I’ve also got they can call the ways and means office at the state capitol and speak with Miss Alice and she’ll set them up with an appointment. So very accessible. Most people who know me they either have my cell phone or know how to get in touch with me anyway. So if anybody has any questions or wants to discuss more legislation or state roads or highways then just reach out. Be happy to have that conversation.

Paul - Excellent. Well, Representative Lamar we covered a lot of ground in 20 minutes and I know you’re a busy man so we appreciate you being here with us today.

We’ll go ahead and wrap things up. I want to thank all of our listeners out there for listening to The Extra Mile podcast. Remember you can download it and subscribe wherever podcasts can be found. And you can also watch episodes on YouTube. You can just search The Mississippi Department of Transportation. Remember to follow us on Facebook and Twitter at Mississippi d-o-t is the handle there. And as always remember to drive smart out there on Mississippi highways.