© Amber Searls/Imagn
The Ole Miss Rebels, as well as every other university in the state of Mississippi, looked as if they were set to have a major advantage in NIL coming their way. But Mississippi state lawmakers went the other direction on Tuesday, voting against what would have been a heavily advantageous law change.
Last month, the Mississippi state house passed a proposal that would have exempted income earned from Name, Image, and Likeness from all state taxes.
The proposal would have meant that Ole Miss, as well as Mississippi State, Southern Miss, and other schools within the state, would be able to present smaller NIL offers to high school and transfer prospects because net income would be the same as it would be for a higher offer in other states.
In turn, the schools would have a major competitive advantage in recruiting.
Those who proposed and passed the bill in the House argue that it would allow Mississippi schools to compete with those in Florida, Texas, and Tennessee, where there is no income tax at all.
However, others argued that the bill was wildly unfair to those, such as teachers and medical professionals, who don’t reap the same sort of benefits.
On Tuesday, the Mississippi state senate fell on the latter side of the argument.
Mississippi State Senate Strikes Down NIL Bill
According to Bea Anhuci of the Clarion Ledger, the Senate voted against the bill in resounding fashion, voting unanimously against its passage.
“I don’t know about the rest of you on this committee, but I’ve had several constituents that have called me that are not happy at all about this bill, ” Sen. Dean Kirby said of the legislation.
State representative Trey Lamar made no attempt to hide the intent of the bill when it first came up in the House.
“NIL is taking the country and coming by storm,” he said on Feb. 25. “Other states are doing it, and I believe it’s time that Mississippi starts doing this as well.”
However, the bill came under criticism almost immediately by those who argued that it would be unfair to grant student-athletes a special tax privilege that other Mississippians couldn’t benefit from.
Clearly, the state Senate agreed with those critiques. But something tells us Ole Miss coach Pete Golding and Mississippi State’s Jeff Lebby don’t feel the same way.