The Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday gaveled out the 2018 legislative session — a session that was “among the most successful in recent years,” according to Speaker Mac McCutcheon (R-Monrovia).
Aided by rising tax revenue from an improving economy, lawmakers passed budgets for education and the rest of government without the knock-down, drag-out fights that have characterized other sessions. They cut taxes modestly for lower and middle-class residents. They delivered pay raises to public employees. And they adopted uniform regulations for ride-sharing companies like Uber.
Legislators also passed a bill allowing education officials to use money from a technology fund to improve school security, expanded the state’s pre-kindergarten program, addressed the opioid addiction epidemic and extended regulations to unlicensed church-run day care centers.
Alabama legislators on Tuesday continued a contentious debate over a bill to change the state’s ethics law, advanced the education budget and delayed action on a racial profiling bill.
Lawmakers have just just one more day left before wrapping up the 2018 session.
Here are the highlights from Tuesday:
The big story: The Senate called it a day Tuesday evening without voting on controversial legislation to exempt lobbyists engaged in economic development from regulations mandated under the ethics law, according to the Montgomery Advertiser. (more…)
With the end in sight for the 2018 legislative session, the Alabama House of Representatives wrapped up a long day Thursday that included debates over school security, racial profiling and the Ten Commandments.
The session is scheduled to conclude next week.
Here is a roundup of Thursday’s action in the Legislature:
The big story: After a proposal to allow teachers in certain cases to carry guns in schools failed, a school safety bill sailed through the state House of Representatives.
The bill, which would let schools draw from the Advancement and Technology Fund to pay for school security upgrades, passed 96-4. According to AL.com, about $41 million will be available for schools, based on their enrollment.
(more…)
The Alabama Legislature on Wednesday killed gun legislation, passed a budget and contemplated the pay disparity between men and women.
In addition, a controversial proposal to exempt economic development officials from lobbying laws advanced. The passage of the general fund budget is a sign the 2018 session is gliding toward a close.
Here is a look at the major events in the state capital on Wednesday: (more…)
The Alabama Legislature on Thursday completed a monumental day of legislating that including debates over the education budget, raising teacher pay, adding new protections for children at unlicensed day care centers and reforming juvenile justice.
As significant as those developments were, however, it is likely that the legislative action that will generate the most discussion at barstools and kitchen tables across the state was the Senate’s passage of a resolution urging Alabama to stay on daylight saving time year-round.
Here is a closer look at the day’s biggest action in Montgomery.
(more…)
Guns — and school safety — took center stage in Montgomery Wednesday on a day when a shooting coincidentally took place at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital Highlands.
A legislative committee also voted in favor of a bill aimed at chipping away at racial profiling by police.
Here is a summary of the big developments in the state capital:
(more…)
Editor’s note: This is a round-up of the day’s major events in Montgomery.
Sometimes, what does not happen in the Legislature is more important than what does.
Such was the case Thursday when lawmakers reconvened in Montgomery after a snow day. An Alabama Senate committee considered a bill to change the way the state taxes online sales but took no vote.
Here is a summary of a light day in the capital:
The big story: As mentioned, senators debated the online tax bill, sponsored by Sen. Trip Pittman (R-Montrose), according to AL.com. The Legislature created the Simplified Sellers Use Tax in 2015 allowing online retailers to voluntarily collect an 8 percent use tax imposed on out-of-state purchases. That provided $56 million to the state in fiscal year 2017, with money split evenly between the state and local governments.
AL.com noted that Amazon, the largest contributor to the voluntary tax fund, recently acquired Whole Foods. That changed the company’s tax status. Under a 1992 Supreme Court ruling, states cannot force out-of-state companies to pay sales taxes unless they have a physical presence in the state.
Since there are Whole Foods locations in Alabama, Amazon would pay regular sales taxes, which would cost the state government revenue. Hence, Pittman’s bill, which would allow Amazon to continue paying the voluntary use tax instead.
But officials in Mobile and other cities have complained that the bill could prompt other large retailers, like Wal-Mart, to switch over to the use tax for their online sales. That could cost local governments money if they receive less from the fund than they get from their local sales taxes.
The bill faced opposition. AL.com quoted Sen. Paul Sanford (R-Huntsville), as saying that Amazon cannot be eligible for the program. “I’m OK with us sitting where we’re at and letting the chips fall where they may,” he said.
But Sonny Brasfield, executive director of the Alabama Association of County Commissions, backs the bill. He tweeted that opposition by cities was “very confusing!”
Pittman indicated that he would bring the measure back to the committee at a later date after further discussions with his colleagues, according to Al.com.
California dreaming? A bill to copy California’s primary election system got a first reading in the Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday.
Sponsored by Rep. Mike Ball (R-Madison), the bill would require all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, to run on the same ballot. The top two candidates would face off in the general election.
In California, the so-called “jungle primary” has resulted in some elections in which the top two finishers are of the same party. In the 2016 U.S. Senate election, for instance, Democrat Kamala Harris defeated Democratic U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez. No Republican made the general election.
“You get in areas that are predominantly Republican or predominantly Democrat, the people on the other side really don’t have a say,” Ball told Brian Lyman of the Montgomery Advertiser. “For special elections, there’s a really low turnout. This might increase participation.”
Ball’s bill, if passed, would take effect after this year’s elections.
Give me a Lyft: Lawmakers took the first step toward passing a bill that would provide uniform rules and regulations statewide for ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft. Alabama is one of only a few states that have not statewide regulations.
On Thursday, the Alabama Senate Tourism and Marketing Committee approved the bill.
Cason tweeted that a substitute bill would include changes requested by cities.
Tweet of the day:
Weather has thrown off legislative meeting schedule. Senate convened at 10am with quick series of committee meetings to have bills in position to vote on next week. #alpolitics
— Cam Ward (@DirectorCamWard) January 18, 2018
Brendan Kirby is senior political reporter at LifeZette.com and a Yellowhammer contributor. He also is the author of “Wicked Mobile.” Follow him on Twitter.
On a day when lawmakers kept weary watch over deteriorating weather conditions in much of Alabama, the Legislature passed its first bills of the session Tuesday and began work on the state’s General Fund budget.
The Legislature will shut down Wednesday because of weather and plans to return to work on Thursday.
Here is a look at Tuesday’s major developments:
The big story: State Sen. Trip Pittman (R-Montrose) introduced Gov. Kay Ivey’s proposed $2.01 billion General Fund budget, which includes a 3 percent pay raise for state workers and seeks to impose a work requirement on able-bodied Medicaid recipients.
“I am pleased to learn that my budget was introduced today by Senator Pittman,” Ivey said in a statement. “My proposed budget is a strong, manageable budget, and is highlighted by the bright spot of a lower than expected Medicaid appropriation. Improving Medicaid delivery and controlling costs is central to my budget; that is why I instructed Commissioner Stephanie Azar in October 2017, to begin working on implementing work requirements and increased copays for Medicaid recipients.”
President Donald Trump’s administration recently signaled that it would allow states to experiment with work requirements as long as such rules did not apply to children, the disabled or elderly beneficiaries.
Azar said in a statement released by the governor’s office that a work requirement and co-pays would make the health program more efficient.
“Thanks to the improved economy and continued efforts to seek efficiency and decrease cost in the program, Medicaid is requesting less money than expected,” she stated. “We are certainly moving in the right direction to take care of the Alabamians that depend on our services.”
It is unclear how many Alabama Medicaid recipients the work requirement would affect. The vast majority of recipients in Alabama are elderly, disabled or children. Only able-bodied adults with extremely low incomes qualify for assistance.
The budget assumes nearly $221.7 million in federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, although Congress has yet to actually reauthorize the national CHIP program. Many observers expect federal lawmakers ultimately to do so, but if they don’t, it would wreak havoc on the state budget.
Racial profiling: The Alabama Senate passed a bill to prohibit racial profiling and to require law enforcement officials to keep records of traffic stops. AL.com’s Mike Cason tweeted that the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Rodger Smitherman (D-Birmingham), said he had been stopped near his home because he is black. “It happens on a daily basis,” Cason quoted Smitherman as saying.
The vote was 27-0. It now goes to the House of Representatives.
Tax incentives: The Senate passed a bill related to the auto plant that Toyota and Mazda announced they will build in Huntsville. The bill, which now goes to the House, would allow local governments to charge lower property taxes under certain circumstances.
Fresh air for Vets: The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill to give veterans and current members of the Armed Services free admission to state parks.
Alabama washing its hands of marriage? The Senate voted 19-1 to do away with marriage licenses and instead empower probate judges to accept affidavits from couples as official marriage records, according to Al.com. Sen. Greg Albritton (R-Bay Minette) has tried in the past couple of years to pass the bill, first proposing it after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. Under Albritton’s proposal, the state would not be required to solemnize a marriage.
Special elections: State Rep. Jim McClendon (R-Springville) said he plans this week to introduce legislation to change the way vacancies in the Legislature are filled, according to the Alabama Political Reporter. In the event of a death or resignation, an election would be held eight weeks later, with all candidates from all parties and independents sharing the same ballot.
“If a vacancy occurs in a legislative seat it can be months and months before it is filled,” he told the publication. “One of our districts in Montgomery. They are just without a senator.”
Trooper shortage? The Alabama State Trooper Association on Tuesday demanded that legislators address what it regards as a critical shortage. The Associated Press reported that David Steward, president of the association, said the state has about 250 troopers patrolling state highways but that studies indicate that it should have more than 1,000.
“Seconds count in an accident and troopers are having to cover hundreds of miles,” he said in a statement. “Often one trooper is handling multiple counties.”
Robyn Bradley Bryan, a spokeswoman for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, told the AP that the state has 268 troopers on the road and will add another 10 after they graduate from the training academy in May.
Paying condolences: Tuesday brought news of the death of state Rep. George Bandy, a Democrat from Opelika who had represented Lee and Russell counties since 1994.
“Rep. Bandy dedicated almost a quarter century of his life to serving his state, his district, and the citizens of Lee and Russell counties,” House Speaker Mac McCutcheon (R-Monrovia) said in a statement. “The institutional knowledge that he gathered during his long service often provided needed insight and guidance to his colleagues. We will miss his presence in the hallways, committee rooms, and chambers of the Alabama State House.”
Brendan Kirby is senior political reporter at LifeZette.com and a Yellowhammer contributor. He also is the author of “Wicked Mobile.” Follow him on Twitter.
Dog owners would face stiffer penalties for attacks by their pets under legislation supported by a top Alabama House Republican.
Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainesville) announced Monday he would introduce a bill to crack down on irresponsible dog owners.
“Ultimately, dog owners are responsible for any damage, injuries, or even deaths that their animals inflict, and I believe increasing the criminal penalties for such incidents will lessen their frequency and occurrence,” he said in a statement. “By bringing together the legislators and district attorneys from the areas in which recent attacks have taken place, I am confident we can craft a bill that protects the public and encourages owners to prevent their animals from doing harm.”
The bill comes after a series of recent violent dog attacks that have resulted in deaths and serious injuries in northern Alabama. Ledbetter participated in a study group that included state Sen. Steve Livingston (R-Scottsboro), state Rep. Tommy Hanes (R-Scottsboro), DeKalb County District Attorney Mike O’Dell and Jackson County District Attorney Jason Pierce.
Recent dog attacks include:
- An attack in early December in which a Jackson County woman died and another suffered serious injuries when five pit bulls attacked. A sheriff’s deputy shot one of the dogs, and authorities took the other four into custody.
- An attack in November in which four dogs in Marshall County killed a Guntersville woman and seriously injured another.
Ledbetter indicated that 57 people in the United States and Canada died during dog attacks last year, up from the previous record of 46 set in 2015. Another 645 people suffered disfigurement in dog attacks last year.
Ledbetter did not specify the specific penalties he will propose when he introduces the bill. Current law mentions “dangerous and vicious animals” but does not define the terms. Anyone keeping dangerous or vicious animals through negligent management is liable to anyone whose suffers injure or sustained property damage, according to the code.
According to a 2015 report by Michigan State University’s Animal Legal and Historical Center, 39 states and several municipalities have dangerous dog codes. Some allow for the euthanasia of the dog. Dog owners face criminal penalties in some states, as well. Euthanasia is mandatory in 18 states, while 27 states give discretion to the body responsible for adjudicating violations.
Alabama law does not specifically provide for euthanasia.
Penalties for owners range from fines to bans on dog ownership to imprisonment. Owning dangerous dogs is a felony in 13 states.
The report estimated that some 5 million Americans suffer dog bites each year and that 800,000 are serious enough to require medical attention. It is one of the most common reasons for emergency room visits by children, the report states.
Brendan Kirby is senior political reporter at LifeZette.com and a Yellowhammer contributor. He also is the author of “Wicked Mobile.” Follow him on Twitter.
Editor’s note: This is a round-up of the day’s major events in Montgomery.
Alabama Senate leaders on Thursday talked up a modest tax cut plan, and the House passed a resolution supporting term limits on a relatively quiet day in Montgomery.
The Senate met for just a half-hour before adjourning until Tuesday. No votes were taken.
The big story: Republican leaders talked about their priorities for the 2018 legislative session, including a proposal by Senate Pro Tem Del Marsh (R-Anniston) to allow more taxpayers to claim the maximum $7,500 standard deduction on their state income taxes.
AL.com reported that Senate Majority Leader Greg Reed (R-Jasper) said that opportunity for a tax break exists because fiscal discipline in budgeting has put the state government’s finances on sound ground. Al.com also reported while there are few details, Marsh said that tax relief is aimed at the middle class.
“This is not a tax break for the rich,” he said at a news conference, according to the Montgomery Advertiser. “It’s a tax break for working class Alabamians.”
According to the Advertiser, residents earning up to $20,000 a year can claim the full deduction. It tapers off at incomes higher than that. Under Marsh’s proposal, the full deduction could be taken on incomes up to $23,000.
Other agenda items for the session include incentives to encourage broadband development in the rural parts of the state; making child sex trafficking a capital offense; and requiring able-bodied Medicaid recipients to work. President Donald Trump’s administration announced Thursday that it would allow states to impose such work requirements.
In the House: The state House of Representatives approved a resolution Thursday calling for term limits for members of Congress, according to Alabama Today.
The resolution calls for a constitutional convention of the states to amend Article V of the Constitution to allow for term limits.
Rep. Kerry Rich (R-Albertville) sponsored the resolution, which now goes to the Senate.
Tweet of the day:
Fairly light agenda outlined by Senate GOP. Key thing increase standard deduction on income tax. Marsh talked about working with Democrats. #alpolitics
— Brian Lyman (@lyman_brian) January 11, 2018
Brendan Kirby is senior political reporter at LifeZette.com and a Yellowhammer contributor. He also is the author of “Wicked Mobile.” Follow him on Twitter.
Gov. Kay Ivey and a pair of legislators today will unveil plans for statewide regulation of ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft, which currently operate under a hodgepodge of local rules.
State Sen. Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro), Rep. David Faulkner (R-Mountain Brook) and supporters plan an 11 a.m. news conference at the Alabama State House in Montgomery to discuss a soon-to-be introduced bipartisan bill that would set statewide rules to regulate ride-sharing companies. The legislation would put the Public Service Commission in charge of overseeing the industry in Alabama.
Currently, Alabama is one of just six states that do not have statewide regulations for ride-sharing companies.
Faulkner said in an interview that ride-sharing companies serve only 11 cities in the state. He said statewide rules would relieve drivers and riders, alike, of the headache of navigating differing rules or a complete prohibition on service.
“The reality is that it’s not going to expand to other parts of the state (without uniform rules), and we need it to,” he said.
Faulkner said the bill offers “two huge wins” for Alabama. Uber and Lyft have the potential to be an important source of both income and transportation in rural counties without public bus systems, he said. He added that an Uber car might be the only means of transportation in some places.
“A lot of people don’t have family that can give them rides places,” he said.
Faulkner said the bill has the support of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and an advocacy association for the blind.
The bill also has the full backing of the governor, who will attend the news conference.
“To embrace the future, Alabama must accommodate modern transportation demands. The ability to request an on-demand ride is no longer considered a perk of being in a big city, it is an expectation no matter where one lives or works,” Ivey said in a prepared statement. “Having consistent rules statewide for ride sharing is the sensible way to give Alabamians access to safe, consistent and efficient transportation options.”
TechBirmingham, which is charged with promoting technological innovation in the Birmingham region, also backs the legislation.
“We obviously have an interest in promoting technology and innovative systems,” said Deon Gordon, the group’s president. “Hopefully, passage of this will facilitate that.”
Gordon also noted the complexity of dealing with different and sometimes conflicting regulations — particularly in a place like Jefferson County, which has 37 municipalities.
“It creates a patchwork where you have to go to Hoover. You have to go to Birmingham. You have to go to Homewood,” he said.
Gordon said he believes Uber, Lyft and similar companies are in Alabama to stay. He said people in the Birmingham metro area at this point could not imagine life without them and that it also is an expectation of travelers who visit the state.
“When they get off an airplane, they are expecting to pull up their phone and order an Uber or Lyft to get to their destination,” he said.
Uber has come under fire in communities across the country by critics who accuse the company of lax hiring standards, exploiting their part-time workers and unfairly competing against traditional cab companies that have to follow regulations from which ride-sharing companies are exempt.
Faulkner said the bill he and Singleton are offering does not deal with the allegations of unfair regulation. He said it regulates a transportation network, not the vehicles, which are property of the drivers — not the companies they work for.
But Faulkner said the bill does address public safety concerns, mandating criminal background checks.
“One thing we’re not going to to do is compromise safety,” he said.
Gordon said it is important that Alabama support and cultivate technological change and stay ahead of the curve.
“We haven’t seen the last change,” he said. “We’re going to see autonomous driving.”
UPDATE: Link to the ride share campaign’s website added here.
Brendan Kirby is senior political reporter at LifeZette.com and a Yellowhammer contributor. He also is the author of “Wicked Mobile.” Follow him on Twitter.
Alabama has made strides in assessing whether the state is getting the biggest bang for its buck with economic incentives designed to lure large development projects, an expert told lawmakers on Wednesday.
Josh Goodman, an economic development analyst at the Pew Charitable Trusts, co-authored a report last year examining how states evaluate their economic programs — a timely presentation given Wednesday’s announcement of a new auto plant to be constructed in Alabama.
The Pew report ranked Alabama among 18 states that are “making progress” on the issue, a cut below the 10 judged as “leading” on the matter.
Alabama’s standing was largely due to a 2016 law providing for state agencies to review economic incentives they administer to new projects every four years.
“One potential weakness of this law is that agencies are responsible for evaluating incentives they administer,” the report states. “Most states that have been successful at evaluating incentives have designated one state office to review all these programs to help ensure that the information is consistent and of high quality. Alabama’s law attempts to ensure that the evaluations will be consistent by requiring the Department of Revenue to develop a standard format for the studies.”
State and company officials on Wednesday unveiled “Project New World,” a $1.6 billion joint venture between Toyota and Mazda projected to manufacture 300,000 vehicles a year in Huntsville and employ up to 4,000 people at an average salary of $50,000.
To seal the deal, Alabama offered about $380 million in tax incentives and a promise to build a $20 million training center.
How much is too much when it comes to foregoing future tax revenue in order to chase a white whale?
“That’s a tricky question,” said Dan Sutter, acting director of Troy University’s Marietta Johnson Center for Political Economy. “I don’t think there’s any way to for sure measure that.”
In an ideal world, Sutter said, Alabama would have low and uniform taxes that applied equally to all businesses. But he said the state faces pressure to keep up with other states competing for the same multinational corporations.
Giving up some future tax revenue may be worth it if that was the sweetener that snagged a project that otherwise would not have happened. But if the company would have come anyway, it is just wasted money.
“That’s another thing that makes this so complicated,” Sutter said. “Could you have gotten the company to locate there with fewer incentives? Could you have gotten the company with no incentives?”
Sutter agreed with the Pew report that designating one agency to evaluate all of the incentives is wise.
“It definitely would be a good idea to separate out the agency that’s giving out the incentives from the agency that evaluates the incentives,” he said.
The rationale for tax incentives is that they create jobs, raise wages and attract businesses. But the Pew report notes that most states until recently made very little attempt to judge whether the expensive incentives actually achieved those goals.
“We pass these tax credits and people tell us they’re going to be great for the state; they’re going to create jobs; there’s going to be a big payback,” Senate Pro Temp Del Marsh (R-Anniston) told Pew for its report. “It’s time to look at some of these closer to see if they have a net gain for the state.”
Brendan Kirby is senior political reporter at LifeZette.com and a Yellowhammer contributor. He also is the author of “Wicked Mobile.” Follow him on Twitter.
Don’t expect the Legislature to tackle big, long-simmering problems in the legislative session that begins this month.
As is typical during years when members of the state House of Representative and Senate are up for re-election, each lawmaker will have an eye on the looming fall campaign. That means the session that begins Tuesday likely will be a keeping-the-lights-on exercise.
“Of course, this is an election year,” House Speaker Mac McCutcheon (R-Monrovia) said in an interview with Yellowhammer News. “And because of it being an election year, we want to try to get in, take care of our constitutional requirements — which the budget is priority for that — and let’s address our budgets and let’s try to make it as quick a session as possible and get out and let members go back and start campaigning for the new quadrennium.”
By law, legislators must pass a budget to fund education on the one hand and a spending plan for the rest of state government on the other.
Making the numbers balance in the general fund budget has become an annual headache for lawmakers, but the task will be easier this year because the state managed to carry over $93 million from the previous fiscal year.
McCutcheon said that “speaks volumes for the fiscal responsibility for the legislative body.”
One major factor of uncertainty, however, is the fact that Congress has yet to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides health coverage to children in lower-income families. Before leaving for the Christmas break, Congress extended the program only through March.
The House passed a long-term funding plan, over the objections of Democrats, who disagreed with how Republicans chose to fund the program; the Senate has not acted.
Without last month’s temporary stop-gap, Alabama would have run out of federal funds for its CHIP program by March, which would have forced the state to spend up to $50 million. That would have eaten into the general fund cushion built up last year.
Many experts believe congressional Republicans and Democrats ultimately will strike a deal, since no lawmaker has suggested killing the popular health care program. But McCutcheon is taking nothing for granted as state lawmakers head to Montgomery.
“I’m not confident in anything the federal government’s doing right now,” he said. “I’m just in a wait-and-see mode.”
Sen. Trip Pittman, a Montrose Republican who chairs the general fund budget committee in the upper chamber, said a $90 million surplus can vanish quickly.
“So, one of the things that’s important is to have fiscal discipline,” he said.
Pittman said there will be continued pressure on the Legislature to raise taxes and expand the Medicaid program, a step Alabama repeatedly has rejected since Congress passed the Affordable Care Act and dangled additional federal funds to cover more people.
“We have to balance our appropriations and revenue. … We’ll have to make choices and hard votes,” Pittman said.
McCutcheon talked about a number of other issues, most of which likely will not be resolved this year:
Education — pay raises and pre-K
McCutcheon said he would like to expand the state’s highly regarded pre-kindergarten program.
“And then, also, as we look at the general fund budget and the education budget, we’re hoping that we may have an opportunity to have a discussion for some pay increases for state employees, to include education and state employees,” he said.
Pay for teachers and other state workers mostly has been stagnant for a decade, although lawmakers did approve a 4 percent hike in 2016. Lawmakers several years ago rebuffed then-Gov. Robert Bentley’s proposed pay hike, opting instead to hold the line on health insurance premiums.
McCutcheon said the Legislature may explore allowing state employees to choose between pay raises or avoiding increases in employee costs for benefits. A fatter paycheck likely would be preferable to employees who could get health coverage through a spouse.
“Indirectly, it’s been talked about, about ways to try to give more flexibility to the employee as to the benefit packages,” he said. “But at this point, it’s nothing that’s been put into legislation.”
The speaker also said lawmakers will discuss ways to unify the education from kindergarten through college.
“We’d like to have the right hand knowing what the left hand is doing and everybody working for the same common goal,” he said.
Prisons — litigation hovers
McCutcheon said legislators also will try to pass legislation to address issues sparked by a lawsuit alleging that the state prison system offers constitutionally inadequate mental health services to inmates.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson in June ripped Alabama’s “horrendously inadequate” staffing. The Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which brought the suit, has asked for a tripling of mental health workers in the Department of Corrections.
McCutcheon did not commit to any specific measure but added that legislators would take up the issue.
“I feel like that’s going to be part of the discussion outside of the budgets, and of course, that may have some dollars attached to that,” he said. “There’s going to be some talk of additional staffing for the Department of Corrections, and that could be very costly.”
McCutcheon said he hopes to reach a settlement with the plaintiffs in the prison suit.
“All of these things are part of the discussion,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a one size fits all in this mandate that will come from the court … I think that we can come up with some good things — which will be many things — but we can come up with some good things that will help our corrections system. We’re ready to address it.”
Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform
Alabama has come under scrutiny by interest groups that fault the state for rules that give law enforcement authorities broad power to seize money and property from suspected law-breakers, even when prosecutors do not win criminal convictions.
McCutcheon was noncommittal when asked about the issue.
“The jury’s still out, if you will, on that,” he said. “Let’s see what comes up and see what the discussions are.”
Gas tax hike? Unlikely
The Business Council of Alabama has pushed for a gas tax increase in recent years to fund transportation improvements, but McCutcheon said a change in the levy is unlikely in 2018.
The only way that would change, McCutcheon said, is if Congress were to pass a large-scale infrastructure bill that made billions of dollars available to the states.
If that happened, McCutcheon said, Alabama might need a gas tax increase or some other mechanism for attracting increased federal matching dollars for roads, bridges and other needs.
“That would cause some urgency that we would have to address,” he said.
“Last session was a difficult session. We had a lot of issues to deal with. It was a tough session.”
Brendan Kirby is senior political reporter at LifeZette.com and a Yellowhammer contributor. He also is the author of “Wicked Mobile.” Follow him on Twitter.