Delbert Hosemann promised a policy-packed four years focusing on issues ranging from healthcare to education to infrastructure during his swearing-in ceremony on Thursday, Jan. 4.
Hosemann won the general election in fall 2023 to secure a second term with more than 60 percent of the vote. One of Hosemann’s top priorities for the next four years is raising Mississippi’s labor force participation rate, which is currently the lowest in the country at 53.8 percent.
“Economic development will wilt without an educated workforce to retain it,” said Hosemann, addressing the full Legislature during a Joint Session. “Further declines in the number of people who are actually working are not sustainable — and encouraging personal initiative to be gainfully employed is paramount.”
Continuing to raise Mississippi’s educational attainment levels and increasing accessibility and affordability of healthcare for working people are critical to this goal, Hosemann said.
“We are focused on the long-term solutions which will make Mississippi an even better place for our children and grandchildren,” he said.
In his first term, Hosemann led the Senate in enacting the largest teacher pay raise and largest tax cut in Mississippi history. He also fought to consolidate workforce development efforts, invest more than $2 billion in infrastructure, pay down 20 percent of the state’s debt, and dedicate new resources to our state parks and public spaces.
Hosemann served as Secretary of State before he became Lt. Governor in 2020. He spent most of his career in the private sector as a businessman and tax lawyer.
Raised in Warren County, Hosemann holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Notre Dame, a law degree from Ole Miss, and a Master of Laws in Taxation from New York University.
Hosemann and his wife, Lynn, have three children and eight grandchildren.
