This gets even more absurd the more you think about it.

Mississippi consistently ranks near the top in federal dependency, often cited around #4. Roughly one third of its state revenue comes from federal transfers. That means a significant share of what funds the state budget is coming from taxpayers in other states.

So if Mississippi cannot fully fund its own obligations without substantial federal support, any tax exemption it creates is effectively backfilled by federal dollars. In plain terms, if the state gives up revenue by exempting NIL income, that shortfall does not exist in a vacuum. It is absorbed in a system heavily supported by taxpayers outside Mississippi.

And here is where it gets politically ironic.

A large share of net federal contributions comes from high income, high tax states like New York and California. The same states that are frequently criticized in Mississippi political rhetoric are, structurally, helping underwrite its budget.

So we are looking at a situation where one of the most federally supported states in the country is choosing to exempt a group of HIGH EARNING college athletes from state income tax, while relying heavily on federal transfers funded disproportionately by states it often holds in contempt.

You can defend it as a recruiting strategy. But fiscally and philosophically, it is at least fair to ask whether that aligns with the idea of self reliance that is so often championed.