When state treasurer Lynn Fitch visited Columbus Tuesday to speak at the monthly meeting of the Lowndes County Republican Women, she had some good news to report but also shared concerns.
“We certainly have some challenges and still have a long way to go in some areas,” Fitch told her audience, “but I have some good things to report. We are moving in the right direction in a lot of areas.”
Fitch noted that unemployment dropped again in February and is now at 7.2 percent, a slight decrease from January, but a .8 percent decrease when compared to February 2013.
“We added 8,800 jobs in 2014 and the biggest increases were in the leisure/hospitality and education/healthcare sectors,” Fitch said. “What that means is that there has been an increase both in income tax collections and corporate tax collections.”
Fitch said that the economic outlook suggests that the state can expect a revenue surplus for the second year in a row.
“We’re $92 million over the projections, so that’s encouraging,” she said.
To date, the state’s revenue is estimated at slightly more than $470 million.
While tending to the state’s bank account is her primary job, Fitch has made improving financial literacy among the state’s students as one of her top priorities through a program she calls T.E.A.M., an acronym for “Treasurer’s Education About Money.”
“Right now, the average Mississippian has $15,000 in credit card debt,” Fitch said. “One-quarter of Mississippians spend more than they make. Sixty-four percent of Mississippians have no savings.
“This simply has to change. And if it’s going to change we have to take action. If we’re going to change the financial culture of our state, we have to make sure the next generation of Mississippians are more prepared, financially.”
Fitch said that she has encountered some roadblocks along the way.
“I’ve taken this education program to the state legislature twice and it’s failed twice,” she said. “There are four states that have added this kind of financial literacy to the curriculum. I would like for Mississippi to have been the fifth, but that hasn’t happened yet. But I’m still committed and I am happy to report that we are still moving forward. Through private partnerships, we’ve been able to develop a web-based program that teaches our young people about finances through modules that deal with a wide variety of issues.
“We’ve had 18,000 students go through the program so far, so that’s encouraging,” she said.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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