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Investing in Alabama’s future
Published January 26, 2010
Sen. Lowell Barron brought his $1 billion road and bridge bill to Jackson County Monday for discussion.
Last week, the Alabama Senate debated the bill that Barron says would create approximately 29,000 new jobs statewide and provide badly needed funds to improve roads and bridges throughout the state.
During a press conference Monday at the Greater Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, Barron said it wasn’t just a road bill but a jobs bill.
“It’s an investment by this state for its future,” said Barron. “This bill will provide the funding to make much-needed improvements to Alabama’s infrastructure.”
Barron said the bill is designed to take $100 million a year for 10 years from the state’s oil and gas trust fund (Alabama Trust Fund) to go into roads and bridges across the state.
Of that $100 million, $25 million would go to cities and counties across Alabama, while $75 million would go to the Alabama Department of Transportation (DOT).
ALDOT would then invest $5 million in each of Alabama's seven Congressional districts, a total of $35 million annually. The remaining $40 million would be invested statewide each year according to assessments by the DOT.
“Every city and county will get its fair share of this money,” said Barron.
In the first two years over $2.7 million from the $25 million allotment for the counties of the 5th Congressional district will be invested into building highway infrastructure to support BRAC jobs, Barron said.
From that point on, Jackson County would receive $334,656 annually for the remaining eight years.
“The BRAC jobs are such an important part of the Tennessee Valley,” said Barron. “We’ve got to do a better job of taking care of infrastructure needs.”
Chamber President Rick Roden, who has been involved in the last three BRACs, said 8,000 more jobs are coming in the next year.
“The next BRAC will be in 2015,” said Roden. “We’ve got to address the road and transportation problems now. If not, we could lose a huge deal.”
Barron said the program would do more than just benefit Alabama citizens for decades to come.
“Not only will it make transportation safer and more efficient, but it will help Alabama compete for new jobs that depend on a reliable transportation system,” he said.
Barron said he thinks the bill will pass the senate. Reps. John Robinson and Butch Taylor said they will do their part to get it passed through the House of Representatives.
“We’ve put roads off for a long time,” said Robinson. “We will make this a priority in the house. I don’t know how anybody could be against this.”
Opposition, however, is out there. Senate Republicans have voiced concerns over taking money from the Alabama Trust Fund.
“You’ve always got people against progress,” Barron said.
An alternative bill offered by senate Republicans would allow counties to raise gasoline taxes to help fund road construction.
“This is a terrible time to be talking about raising taxes,” said Barron. “My bill brings a real solution to the table using the money Alabama has set aside to help with economic hard times.”
Another alternative to the bill is a bond issue, according to Barron. He said it would make no sense, adding citizens would pay $800 million in interest over 20 years.
An amendment to the bill would be if the trust fund dips below a balance of $2 billion, the road and bridge program will be suspended until the balance rises above that amount again.
The trust fund’s current balance is $2.6 billion. Barron added that in a typical year it is replenished by interest plus some $150 million to $200 million from oil and gas revenue.
“If the fund holds true to the past,” Barron said, “we should never have to implement this safeguard.”
Taylor said the fund is also known as the state’s rainy day account.
“I think we’re in a rainy day,” he added.
If the bill is approved by both legislative bodies and signed by Gov. Bob Riley, it will go before voters in the Nov. 2 General Election for final approval.
“The final decision will be made by the people of Alabama,” said Barron. “And the people of Alabama are very smart. It’s an investment to make Alabama better.”
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