Senate Approves Education Trust Fund Budget | |
|
The Senate approved an $8.8 billion Education Trust Fund (ETF) budget and related bills Thursday. The spending measures seek to strike a balance among saving, investing and returning a portion of an estimated $2.7 billion surplus to taxpayers.
The ETF would preserve funding for agriculture and forestry programs. Related bills would give education employees a 2% pay raise; provide income tax rebates of about $100 per filer; and create a new savings account for education called the Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund (EORF). The Senate also approved a $2.7 billion supplemental spending package based on the projected surplus. It includes one-time investments in education as well as funds to cover the tax rebates and paying down of debt.
Senate Finance and Taxation Education (FTE) Committee Chair Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, acknowledged proposed income tax rebates are smaller than the $400 per filer suggested by Gov. Kay Ivey, but noted the Legislature is considering other tax cuts including elimination of income tax for overtime pay, lowering of state sales tax on food and other income tax adjustments. Creation of the EORF and adjustments to the rolling reserve would eliminate the need for supplemental spending bills in future surplus years by allowing excess money to flow into savings.
Alabama Farmers Federation External Affairs Department Director Brian Hardin praised Orr and the Senate FTE Committee for their work in crafting spending bills that prioritize savings and one-time investment rather than obligating the state to recurring costs.
"We appreciate the conservative approach Sen. Orr and the Committee took in writing the budget and related bills," Hardin said. "This package of bills provides additional budget stability for the future while leaving room for investment and taxpayer savings."
ETF budget allocations include:
- Alabama Ag in the Classroom, $100,000, unchanged
- Alabama TREASURE Forest Association, $60,000, unchanged
- FFA Affiliate Membership, $275,000, unchanged
- Agriscience Education Program Improvement Specialist, $233,900, unchanged
- North Alabama Agriplex, $58,000, unchanged
- National Livestock Competition Coordinator, $250,000, unchanged
- 4-H Youth Development and Animal Science Extension Specialist, $125,000, unchanged
- Rural Medical Scholars programs, $1.9 million, unchanged
- Alabama Agricultural Land Grant Alliance (AALGA), $6.49 million, up $100,000
- Soil & Water Conservation Committee Program, $2.82 million, up $200,000
- Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D), $5.98 million, up $700,000
- Liberty Learning Foundation, $700,000, up $100,000
- Jones Valley Teaching Farm, $450,000, up $50,000
- Career Tech Initiative, $36.17 million, up $11 million
- Agriscience Extended Contract Grants, $1 million, unchanged
- Farm to School Program, $400,000, up $100,000 (moved from GF)
The ETF includes $800,000 each for new primary care residency programs at the University of Alabama Birmingham and University of South Alabama. Funding for rural broadband expansion was shifted to the American Rescue Plan Act spending bill approved in the earlier special session.
The supplemental spending bill includes Federation-supported $10 million for college and career readiness grants. The package also includes Alabama Innovation Fund appropriations for agricultural research being done by HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. The Agricultural Center of Innovation in Dothan would receive $20 million, contingent upon 10% of project costs being raised from other sources. An additional $8 million would go toward campus expansion at HudsonAlpha's Huntsville location, including greenhouses and learning labs for the Center for Plant Science and Sustainable Agriculture and the Global Headquarters of Discovery Life Sciences.
| |
Public Hearing on Economic Boycotting Bill Canceled | |
|
A proposed public hearing on a bill aimed at preventing the use of economic boycotting criteria in regulations was canceled Wednesday.
SB 261 by Sen. Dan Roberts, R-Mountain Brook, would prohibit any company in the state from being required to engage in economic boycotts or other actions that further social, political or ideological interests. It would further prohibit businesses from being penalized for declining to engage in such activities. The bill also would prohibit government entities from entering into public contracts with businesses that engage in economic boycotts.
A public hearing was scheduled for the Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee. Ultimately, the committee meeting, which included two other public hearings, was abbreviated due to a lengthy Senate Finance Taxation and Education Committee meeting on budget bills earlier in the day.
Alabama Farmers Federation and Alfa Insurance support SB 261.
| |
Tallapoosa County Farmers Federation Visits State House | |
Tallapoosa County Farmers Federation (TCFF) members visited the State House Thursday to meet with their elected officials, including Rep. Ed Oliver, R-Dadeville, center. From left are TCFF President Jacob Hodnett; TCFF Women's Leadership Committee Chair Lucy Lawrence; Vickie Watkins; Oliver; Nancy and John Farrow; and Area Organization Director Steven Blackmon. | |
Sen. Billy Beasley, left, brings SB 266 before the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee. | |
Senate Committee Approves Driver's License Bill | |
|
The Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee gave a favorable report Wednesday to legislation to help farmers who utilize legal guest workers, and a companion bill was introduced in the House of Representatives.
SB 266 by Sen. Billy Beasley, D-Clayton, would reduce the minimum time period an Alabama driver's license can be issued from 160 to 30 days. The change is needed because delays within the H-2A guest worker program have resulted in some farm employees being in the state for shorter periods of time.
Rep. Van Smith, R-Billingsley, introduced HB 432, which was assigned to the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee.
| |
Income Tax Relief for Overtime Pay Passes House | |
|
The House of Representatives voted unanimously Tuesday to exempt overtime pay from state income tax. The measure now goes to Senate committee for consideration.
HB 217 by Rep. Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, would exclude work performed in excess of 40 hours in any week from being included in the calculation of gross income for tax years 2024-2026. The bill was amended in the House Ways and Means Education Committee to sunset, requiring reconsideration by the Legislature after three years.
Daniels told Alabama Daily News the change would allow hourly workers to keep more of their overtime pay, instead of paying the 5% state income tax on the time-and-a-half pay. He said it also would help companies retain and reward employees.
"All the prices are going up whether it’s the grocery store or retail or whatever it is,” said Daniels. "Everybody’s got 'now hiring' signs from Mobile to Huntsville."
House Ways and Means Education Committee Chair Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, praised the bipartisan effort.
"It’s the first one we’ve seen like it in the country. It’s an incentive to get our labor force participation up, an incentive for people who are already working to work more,” Garrett said.
| |
Rep. Reed Ingram, second from right, with students from Trinity Presbyterian School. | |
School Project Aims to Recognize Yellowhammer Cookie | |
|
A fourth-grade class project at Trinity Presbyterian School (TPS) in Montgomery led to introduction of legislation Tuesday aimed at making a peanut- and pecan-infused cookie a state symbol.
HB 421 by Rep. Reed Ingram, R-Pike Road, would designate The Yellowhammer Cookie as the official state cookie. The bill notes "peanuts and pecans are crops of historical and agricultural significance to the State of Alabama....The Yellowhammer Cookie, which originated in Montgomery, Alabama, and prominently features peanuts and pecans."
Students spoke to House Republicans Wednesday about the bill.
"From the pecan farmers in Baldwin County, to the peanut festival in Dothan, and the oats grown in central Alabama, this cookie highlights the agricultural preeminence and cultural heritage of Alabama," they said.
Students involved in the project, shown with Ingram above, include seniors Hudson Cornett, Russell Powell, Julia Bennett, Margaret Roby and Luke Harrison, in addition to fourth-grader Mary Claire Cook.
Alabama Farmers Federation assisted Ingram with language highlighting the impact of peanuts and pecans to agriculture and the economy. HB 421 has been referred to the House State Government Committee.
| |
Majority Leader Scott Stadthagen, right, discusses HB 379 in committee Wednesday. | |
Chinese Property Ownership Bill Clears Committee | |
|
Legislation to prohibit Chinese ownership of property in Alabama received a favorable report Wednesday in the House Urban and Rural Development Committee.
HB 379 by House Majority Leader Rep. Scott Stadthagen, R-Hartselle, would prohibit Chinese citizens, the Chinese government or Chinese entities from acquiring title to real property in the state.
| |
Gov. Kay Ivey cut the ribbon at Vertex April 28 with leaders from the company and local community. | |
Rural Economic Impact Spotlight | |
|
Last Friday, Vertex Energy, an oil company based in Texas, unveiled a new facility at its Saraland refinery that will produce renewable diesel fuel from soybean oil.
"As we like to say, we’re not just cutting ribbons today, we’re cutting emissions," Benjamin Cowart, founder and CEO of Vertex, said at the dedication. "We’re not just blazing a trail for the industry, we’re doing it for our city, we’re doing it for Alabama."
The fuel will serve as a drop-in replacement for any standard diesel fuel, said Wes Mock, site general manager for the Vertex facility in Saraland which produces transportation diesel fuel. Though the site will still produce standard diesel fuel, as well as gasoline and jet fuel, over 8,000 barrels per day of renewable diesel fuel will be produced at the facility, Mock said. A planned second phase of the diesel facility will bring the capacity to 14,000 barrels a day of renewable diesel.
The refinery in Saraland was previously owned by Shell and purchased by Vertex last year. In doing so, Vertex saved 200 jobs, said Mobile Chamber CEO Bradley Byrne, noting the economic impact far exceeds 200 families.
Gov. Kay Ivey said the new facility contributes to "the economic sector Alabama was built on, our agricultural industry.
"Alabama’s economy depends on our agricultural products, and Vertex introducing this renewable diesel, it’s the fuel of the future," she said. Read more.
| | | | |
