Ellington

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi legislative leaders are appointing groups to study tax policies and examine state spending.

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and House Speaker Philip Gunn announced Thursday that they are co-chairmen of the tax study group.

The goal is to make recommendations for the House and Senate to consider during the 2017 session.

Reeves and Gunn are Republicans, and their party holds a three-fifths supermajority in both chambers — a strong enough margin to enact tax changes without input from Democrats.

The tax study group is bipartisan, but mostly Republican.

Gunn says in a news release that leaders want fair tax policies that provide "a more solid stream of revenue."

Mississippi Democratic Trust executive director David McDowell says in his own release that Republicans are starting "another ill-fated attempt at corporate handouts."