He was an economic developer in Tuscaloosa, Pickens, Greene and Jefferson Counties. He led the bringing of industries to West Alabama.

Former State Rep. Alan Harper died Thursday at age 68 in Northport.

Harper had served in the Alabama House of Representatives from 2006 to 2018 from District 61 in Tuscaloosa, Pickens and Greene Counties.

Serving with him was State Rep. John Merrill, a later Alabama Secretary of State. Merrill, also from Tuscaloosa County, made this statement upon the death of Harper:

“Alan Harper was a great friend and teammate! He was a thoughtful, intelligent, articulate, humorous, and dedicated leader! I had the privilege to work with him in the field of economic development at the Tuscaloosa County Industrial Development Authority, and later we were honored to serve together as members of the Alabama legislature! Alan‘s desire and interest was always to put Tuscaloosa County, West Alabama, and the state of Alabama first in all of his decision-making process! He was less concerned about who got the credit for the success of an activity or project than he was about actually accomplishing the goal! We need more elected officials and public servants to have that attitude! I will miss his leadership, his candor, his humor, and most of all his friendship to me and my family!”

Harper chaired the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee and sponsored bills on local alcohol sales and statewide economic policy.

He fought to preserve the historic Bryce Hospital campus in Tuscaloosa. He succeeded in getting The University of Alabama to lead a full-scale renovation, turning the main hospital building into the university’s welcome center.

Harper served the Tenn-Tom Waterway Development Council, the DCH Regional Medical Center Institutional Review Commission, the Alabama Economic Development Association and chambers of commerce in House District 61.

A celebration of life was announced by the funeral home and will be held December 30, 2025.

Jim Zig Zeigler is a contributing writer for Yellowhammer News. His beat includes the positive and colorful about Alabama – her people, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former State Auditor and Public Service Commissioner. You can reach him at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com

(Video above: Rick Burgess explains his opposition to Alabama lottery proposals)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — On the same day the Alabama House and Senate are both holding public hearings on lottery proposals, one of the state’s most influential conservatives made the case against expanding gaming in the state.

Rick Burgess, co-host of the Alabama-based, nationally syndicated “Rick & Bubba Show” slammed lottery proposals by Sen. Jim McClendon (R-Springville) and Rep. Alan Harper (R-Northport) for being “lazy plans” put together by politicians who refuse to make the tough decisions needed to balance the state’s budget.

“Any politician that is telling you or me, ‘Look, if we want to solve our budget problems, we’ve got to have more revenue; the answer is gambling’ — that’s lazy,” Burgess said in a video produced by the Alabama Policy Institute (API). “You know what they’re telling me? ‘I won’t take the time, nor do I have the expertise to buckle down, look at the tax revenues that are coming in and balance a budget.’ It’s a lazy plan.”

The video above is the first in a six-part series produced by API, which has been one of the state’s most ardent gambling opponents for decades.

In 1999, Alabamians voted down Gov. Don Siegelman’s proposed “education lottery” 54% to 46%. Since then, numerous statewide candidates — most of them Democrats — have run on a platform of letting the people vote again. In 2016, with Alabama’s budgeting woes continuing and a $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot sending lottery advocates into a craze, another push is beginning to emerge.

“I am sponsoring this because of constituent requests,” Senator McClendon told ABC 33/40’s Lauren Walsh. “Throughout my district, people have said why don’t we have a lottery in Alabama? We’re driving to Georgia and Tennessee. We’re driving out of state and spending our money and we’d like to spend our money right here at home.”

McClendon says he believes the lottery would raise $300 million in additional revenue for the state on an annual basis, but his bill does not stipulate what the funds would be used for.

Gambling advocates in recent years have pushed an “education lottery,” which would earmark the revenue to go toward the state’s education budget. But Alabama’s systemic budgeting issues are mostly centered in the General Fund, where the largest line items are Medicaid and prisons.

Polling indicates a sharp decline in support for a lottery that is not earmarked for education, but a Washington Post report published in 2012 called into question whether so called education lotteries actually benefit public schools anyway. According to the report, legislators in many states have concocted ways to keep the additional funds from ever making it into classrooms. In Texas, for instance, lottery funds paid for about two weeks of schooling for public school students in 1996. By 2010 it was down to three days.

“The states that do a lottery, you would think their streets would be paved with gold,” said Burgess. “You would think the teachers make all the money they’d ever want to make. You would think the children have the latest technology. You would think the children want for nothing. That’s not reality. Look at Mississippi. They were last in education… After they brought the casinos into the Gulf, they’re still last.”

A gambling expansion of any kind will face fierce opposition from Alabama’s large swath of evangelical voters.

Dr. Joe Godfrey, executive director of the Alabama Citizens Action Program (ALCAP), an almost 80-year-old organization that describes itself as “Alabama’s moral compass,” last month expressed concerns that “illegal gambling is taking over this state” and reiterated his group’s opposition to an expansion of any kind.

But there are signs that some longtime gambling opponents are considering softening their stance.

“Historically, I’ve opposed them,” powerful state senator Jabo Waggoner (R- Vestavia Hills) told ABC 33/40. But he says he is now considering throwing his support behind a bill that would bring the issue up for a vote again.

With little appetite among Republican lawmakers for additional tax increases, particularly after last year’s tense budget battles, gambling could continue to gain momentum as an alternative revenue stream that would prevent legislators from having to make additional cuts and reforms to state government.

A full transcript of Rick Burgess’s lottery remarks can be found below.

The lottery — here we go again.

This topic comes up on the show all the time. And even though the show is national, people call in and say, ‘Why doesn’t Alabama get on board with the rest of the states?” There’s a reason for that, and it is that Alabamians have been asked about this topic over and over and over, and every time the majority of people say “We don’t want gambling to come into our state in any way, shape or form.”

But let’s have the real conversation. This garbage about, “It’s going to help schools and it’s going to build roads and it’s going to do this and do that,” where is the example where the state lottery solved all the problems?

Let’s say you take the moral part out of it — that’s not something you’re concerned with. Let’s just look at the effectiveness of it. The states that do a lottery, you would think their streets would be paved with gold. You would think the teachers make all the money they’d ever want to make. You would think the children have the latest technology. You would think the children want for nothing. That’s not reality. Look at Mississippi. They were last in education the last time we did a survey. After they brought the casinos into the Gulf, they’re still last.

So what happens?

Well, the lottery starts making money — and it will. And then the money is available to the same people who corrupted the other tax revenue they had coming in. So magically, because it’s lottery money, they now have become great with money and they manage it well and they do a great job. You know what? It doesn’t matter if the money comes from tax revenue or if the money comes from a lottery, if they mismanage the money they’ve got now, they’re just going to mismanage that as well.

And any politician that is telling you or me, “Look, if we want to solve our budget problems, we’ve got to have more revenue; the answer is gambling” — that’s lazy. You know what they’re telling me? “I won’t take the time, nor do I have the expertise to buckle down, look at the tax revenues that are coming in and balance a budget.”

It’s a lazy plan.

ALICEVILLE, Ala. — State Representative Alan Harper (R-Aliceville) took to Facebook on Monday to warn Alabamians against shopping at stores and shops whose owners are from another country and are not “God fearing Christians.”

Friends,

I have posted regarding this issue once before and believe it worth another read. As you travel during the holidays or any other time, please try to shop and purchase gas and other items at American owned stores. The C stores/tobacco outlets, etc. with the lights around the windows and doors are not owned by God fearing Christians.

In large part, these stores are owned by folk that send their profits back to their homeland and then in turn use these funds against our country to create turmoil, fear and in some cases death and destruction.

I realize I am “painting with a broad brush” here, but the madness has to stop. Please join me in making the extra effort to never support these stores/shops! I am trying to do my part and I know you will to.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May God Bless.

When asked how to tell the difference between foreign-owned and America-owned shops, Harper said, “Look behind the cash register. Most are owner/operators.”

The post received both support and criticism.

“So, basically, don’t shop at places with brown people. Got it. Thanks, I am now thoroughly disappointed in both my state and my party for electing you,” said Trey Edwards, a conservative activist from north Alabama. “Also, most of the ‘foreigners’ I’ve seen owning gas stations are Indian. What on earth did anyone from India do to the US recently?”

“(This is) the kind of fear based hate talk that is filling our world today,” added another commenter. “Christ taught us to love and respect each other.”

“It’s not hatred, it’s good advice,” another commenter said in defense of Harper. “His facts are proven, too.”

Harper said he was undeterred by any blowback, adding that he is “on a personal crusade to do my part to turn back those that would harm our great nation.”

“Isn’t it funny when things are taken out of context,” he said. “Please buy American every chance you get to build our local economies…where we know the revenues stay here in the good old United States of America! May God Bless!”

Harper was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives as a Democrat in 2006, but switched to the Republican Party in 2012. He now chairs the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee.

MONTGOMERY – Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, on Thursday announced a slate of new House committee vice chairmen and other key committee appointments that will take effect when the legislature returns to Montgomery in January.

“I am confident that this group of legislators will continue our successful efforts to fundamentally change how Montgomery operates,” Hubbard said in a statement. “Our work over the past three years has placed Alabama firmly on the road to reform and this year will be no different. Each of these individuals is uniquely qualified to fill these roles and I look forward to working with each of them as we continue to move Alabama forward.”

The following individuals have been named Vice Chairman of their respective committees:

· Rep. Mike Ball (R-Madison), Vice Chairman, Internal Affairs
· Rep. Dickie Drake (R-Leeds), Vice Chairman, Military and Veteran Affairs
· Rep. Jack Williams (R-Vestavia Hills), Vice Chairman, Financial Services
· Rep. Greg Wren (R-Montgomery), Vice Chairman, Ways and Means General Fund

Speaker Hubbard also announced appointments to other House Committees, including:

· Agriculture and Forestry: Rep. David Sessions (R- Grand Bay)
· County and Municipal Government: Rep. Randall Shedd (R- Cullman)
· Economic Development and Tourism: Rep. Kurt Wallace (R- Maplesville)
· Education Policy: Rep. Terri Collins (R-Decatur)
· Internal Affairs: Rep. April Weaver (R-Brierfield)
· Judiciary: Rep. David Standridge (R- Hayden)
· Transportation, Utilities and Infrastructure: Rep. Randall Shedd (R- Cullman)
· Ways and Means Education: Rep. Mac Buttram (R- Cullman) and Rep. Donnie Chesteen (R- Geneva)
· Ways and Means General Fund: Rep. Paul Lee (R-Dothan)

The appointments will take effect for the 2014 regular legislative session, which is scheduled to convene on January 14, 2014.

Earlier this year, Speaker Hubbard announced Chairman appointments to several committees, including:

· Rep. Steve Clouse (R- Ozark), Chairman, Ways and Means General Fund
· Rep. Alan Harper (R-Northport), Chairman, Economic Development and Tourism
· Rep. Bill Poole (R-Tuscaloosa), Chairman, Ways and Means Education
· Rep. Lesley Vance (R- Phenix City), Chairman, Financial Services

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