JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) — Mississippi lawmakers are exploring ways to fully fund the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS), aiming for a long-term solution to a growing funding gap. Over the past decade, major tax cuts have raised concerns about the state’s ability to meet its retirement obligations.
State Sen. David Blunt (D-District 29) emphasized the legal responsibility to pay retirement benefits, saying, “We have a legal obligation to pay these retirement benefits to people who are retired or people who are going to be retired.”
House Speaker Jason White (R-Miss.) has formed a special committee to address the more than $26 billion funding gap. “PERS ain’t going broke next year. I’m worried about 10, 20, and 30 years from now,” White said. He noted that the House is exploring new revenue sources, including mobile sports betting.
White questioned the Senate’s opposition to mobile sports betting, which was quietly killed in committee, asking, “If that’s not the thing, what is the thing?”
Blunt, who chairs the Senate Gaming Committee, countered that mobile betting would have minimal impact on the state’s retirement debt. “Whether we pass mobile sports betting or not, that would take 1,350 years to pay down that liability. What these people ought to be doing is remembering that they just eliminated the income tax, which wasn’t $20 million a year, it was more than $2 billion a year,” he said.
He pointed out that the Legislature has passed three major tax cuts in the last 10 years, arguing that without these cuts, the state could have addressed much of PERS’ shortfall. The tax cuts approved in 2025 alone are expected to reduce revenue by about $2 billion once fully phased in.
Blunt suggested pausing future tax cuts until the retirement system is stabilized. “We should not phase it in. We should stop it. And if we do that, it’s not going to raise anybody’s taxes. It’s just going to pause future tax cuts,” he said.
He criticized legislative leaders for ignoring PERS’ funding needs for years, despite knowing the system required additional support.
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