MS News Now: New non-profit looking for solutions to lift Mississippi out of last place
JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) –
Some states say “Thank God for Mississippi”. But it’s because they’re glad to see the state in last place for another national ranking. There’s a new non-profit forming that wants to help Mississippi close the income gap, one of the categories where the state is last.
“Mississippi’s been in last place in per capita income since 1929 when record keeping began,” said Representative Joel Bomgar. “Here’s the gap. We need Mississippians to make $1,600 more for every man woman and child.”
But that’s just to close the gap with West Virginia. Representative Joel Bomgar is looking for a way to get the state climbing up the ladder with the non-profit Out of Last Place.
Bomgar said if people are making more, it can drive up a bunch of other rankings where we’re falling short. But thinks they have to offer solutions that connect all the dots.
“We need to do things that don’t have costs that cancel out the benefits,” added Bomgar.
Mississippi would need to create more than 82,000 new jobs and increase personal income by 4.8 billion dollars to get to 49th. But other factors like changing teen pregnancy rates could even contribute to narrowing the gap.
Read more at MS News Now here.