The presiding officer of the State Senate, Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom, Jr., headlined the final meeting of the BCA Governmental Affairs Committee for the 2010 regular legislative session and shared his perspective from the body’s highest chair.

Folsom said the session has moved rather smoothly with none of the protracted filibusters, intra-caucus fighting or high-profile disputes that have been typical in past years’ meetings.

“When I ran for office four years ago, I ran on making things run a little more smoothly and getting everyone to work together a little bit more, and I think we’ve accomplished that,” Folsom said. “I found that the governing majority wasn’t communicating with the minority as often as they should be, and once that communication started, some of the barriers fell down and folks started working together better.”

Folsom said reports from two conference committees - one working on a bill to salvage the Prepaid Affordable College Tuition Program (PACT) and another to reach compromise on a $1 billion road and bridge construction measure – were at the top of the Legislature’s work agenda, and both bills were, in fact, presented and approved on the floor in arbitrated fashion just hours later.

Successful passage of legislation to deal with the influx of families and personnel brought by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) was one legislative accomplishment important to citizens in North Alabama, according to Folsom.

“We are expecting roughly 9,000 new public school students as a result of BRAC coming to Huntsville, and the bill allows up to $175 million in bond proceeds from the PSCA (Public School and College Authority) to be matched by the local school districts and governments so that we can build new schools, new classrooms and renovate old facilities,” Folsom said. “The pure economic impact of BRAC is bigger than just about anything we’ve done since we started the automobile industry in Alabama 15 years ago.”

He said that addressing the infrastructure needs and other stresses brought to Madison County by the increased population will serve Alabama well when another round of BRAC recommendations is submitted at the federal level.

“If we don’t live up to our commitments in Madison County with regards to BRAC, it’s going to hurt us when the government and the military begin round two of BRAC and gauge how well we are doing in supplying and meeting infrastructure needs,” Folsom said. “If we are not living up to our part of the deal, we could suffer the consequences for it.”

He suggested that a full-time state office, similar to one operating in Maryland, should be created to coordinate with Madison County officials, the Governor’s Office and the Legislature to ensure that BRAC-related needs are being met.

Touching upon an issue most important to the business community, the lieutenant governor said he was glad to see the demise of illegal immigration bills that put the impetus for enforcing laws on the backs of business owners rather than law enforcement officials.

“All of us agree that if a policeman arrests someone and finds they’re here illegally, they need to be deported back to where they came from,” he said. “But placing the burden to police illegal immigration on small and large business owners in the state is not the way to go. Things like e-verify place a burden on business that should be rightfully placed on law enforcement and the federal government.”

Folsom predicted that Republicans stand a good chance to pick up at least two seats currently being held by Democrats, and Democrats have similar opportunities to flip current GOP-held districts with “two or three on the borderline that could go either way.”

The meeting concluded with BCA President and CEO William J. Canary taking a moment to recognize Fred Blackwell, who chairs the Governmental Affairs Committee, for the leadership and dedication he demonstrated at each meeting throughout the session.

Supporters of public education’s status quo clearly prevailed during meetings of the House Education Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance & Taxation -Education Committee when members rejected a bill that would have allowed charter schools in Alabama as another tool for improving teaching and learning. The committees voted against HB189, by Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin, R-Indian Springs, and SB202, by Sen. Steve French, R-Birmingham, and in so doing, rejected a concept that has produced many examples of academic success nationwide. This action put Alabama at a distinct disadvantage in its first-round application that was not selected for up to $200 million of federal “Race to the Top” funds spread over three years that would have helped fund innovative educational programs statewide.

BCA has actively supported the concept of charter schools in op-ed articles in the state’s newspapers, and in public hearings before legislative committees. The 2010 BCA Legislative Agenda states that the Business Council of Alabama will actively work to enact legislation allowing for charter schools in Alabama, provided the legislation ensures that: 1) best practices are employed; 2) the schools are fully accountable and statewide standards are met; 3) the entire student population may apply for admission; 4) administrators and classroom instructors are qualified; and 5) progress is measurable using the same criteria as other public schools.

Once again, legislation by Rep. Greg Canfield, R-Vestavia Hills, which was designed to stabilize funding for public education and end the threat of budget cuts under all but the most extreme circumstances, failed to make it out of committee. HB 99, the “Rolling Reserve Act,” would have helped to ensure sustainable funding for public education by setting the annual education budget cap at the level predicated on the Education Trust Fund’s 15-year average annual growth rate. In years when actual revenue exceeds the cap, the excess would flow into a budget stabilization fund, which would be drawn-down in years when the actual revenue falls short. The House Education Appropriations Committee held a public hearing on the bill, but took no action on it.

Rep. Canfield talks about his bill to BCA in this video on the BCA YouTube Channel.

Supporters emphasized the need to avoid future budget cuts, brought on by revenue forecasts that cannot be made with any degree of certainty and the legislature spending all revenue estimated to be available. Rep. Canfield says the bill will be introduced again in the next session.

In its 2010 Legislative Agenda, the BCA supports adopting policies and processes that ensure sound sustainable funding for public education.

For more information, contact Victor Vernon at victorv@bcatoday.org or call 334-240-8722.

The 2010 Legislative Session saw a rush of immigration reform bills. Unfortunately, much of the legislation seeking to address Alabama’s immigration issues also had the potential to create serious negative, unintended consequences for the state’s business community, i.e., the same bills seeking to “fix” immigration issues in the state would inadvertently “break” business in Alabama.

While the majority of introduced immigration legislation was well-intentioned, issues of enforcement and cost efficiency prevented BCA from wholly embracing reform efforts.

Proposed legislation ranged from the seemingly innocuous mandate requiring employers to verify the legal residency status of employees, to the blatantly dangerous threat that Alabama corporations could be completely dissolved by the Alabama Secretary of State if found to be violating federal immigration law.

BCA worked closely with leaders in both legislative houses to ensure that Alabama businesses remained protected in the face of reform.

For more information, contact Brandon Colvin, brandonc@bcatoday.org or call 334-240-8768.

The Business Council of Alabama made a strong stand early in the legislative session in support of efforts by Rep. Greg Canfield, R-Vestavia, to guarantee Alabama workers the right to vote via secret ballot. Canfield’s HB3 provides for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing individuals the right to vote by a secret ballot, effectively serving as Alabama’s “NO” answer to the federal Employee Free Choice Act.

From the outset of the 2010 Legislative Session, BCA firmly stated its position on the federal “card check” legislation. In the first few weeks of the session, BCA President and CEO William J. Canary testified at a public hearing in support of HB3. "By passing HB3, you will be sending a clear signal that the state's lawmakers respect and want to protect Alabamians' right to vote a secret ballot in all elections, including union elections," Canary said. "Alabama is a right-to-work state and should remain so in order to continue the economic success we have seen over the past 10 years."

Although the House Committee on Constitution and Elections ultimately voted to indefinitely postpone HB3, BCA continues to monitor the “card check” bill on the federal level. Although no action is expected on the bill in the current session of Congress, it could see action in 2011. Should it be approved by Congress and become federal law, employees working in Alabama could effectively lose their ability to vote anonymously in workplace elections. Alabama’s economic successes have come to pass in large part because the balance between pro-business forces and pro-union forces has been preserved. BCA’s position on HB3 is predicated on our long-standing policy, at both the state and federal levels, to protect Alabama’s status as a right-to-work state.

BCA will continue to strongly support the secret ballot and all efforts to maintain employee rights and protections, as proven by our long-standing and steadfast support of right-to-work statutes.

For more information, contact Brandon Colvin at brandonc@bcatoday.org or call 334-240-8768.

It will now be up to Alabama’s voters to decide whether a $1 billion, 10-year road & bridge construction, maintenance and repair program will be undertaken. SB 120, by Sen. Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe, a proposed constitutional amendment that authorizes the withdrawal of $100 million annually for 10 years from the Alabama Trust Fund to make improvements in the state’s transportation infrastructure, will be placed on the ballot in substantially the same form as it passed the Senate.

Upon voter approval, the state will annually distribute $25 million of the $100 million to cities and counties based on the state’s gasoline tax distribution formula, $74 million to the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) and $1 million to the Alabama Shortline Railroad Infrastructure Fund. The bill further provides that of the $74 million to ALDOT, $5 million will be used in each congressional district (for a total of $35 million) and $39 million will be expended in the counties by formula. The bill also includes a provision that suspends the withdrawal of monies from the Alabama Trust Fund in any year that the Fund’s balance falls below $2 billion and language that gives preference for hiring Alabama workers, “to the extent permissible under Alabama law.”

However, the final version of the bill includes funding earmarks within several congressional districts’ shares for key projects favored by legislators representing various regions of the state, including mass transit for Jefferson County, The Alabama Port Authority for Mobile and Baldwin Counties, and infrastructure expansion related to Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) in Russell County.

For more information, contact Victor Vernon at victorv@bcatoday.org or call (334) 240-8722.

A proposed constitutional amendment, HB 1, to remove ONLY the state's 4 percent sales tax (not city or county taxes) from groceries and phase out the deduction for the amount of federal income taxes paid failed in the Alabama House of Representatives. By a vote of 54-42, the budget isolation resolution fell short of the 63 affirmative votes needed to come before the House. Last year, a similar version failed despite four attempts.

This year's version would have removed the state sales tax from over-the-counter medications as well as from groceries and also would have phased out the federal income tax deduction at income levels higher than last year's bill. As written, this would have meant higher taxes for many small businesses in the state.

The repeal of the federal income tax deduction would have increased taxes on business and working Alabamians by an estimated $407 million annually, making this one of the largest proposed tax increases in Alabama history.

BCA actively opposed this bill and favors a more targeted approach, such as efforts to offset the burden of state sales tax on groceries for low income households with individual tax rebates or refundable tax credits.

The Alabama Senate voted to 26-0 for a bill that provides a state income tax deduction for up to 50 percent of wages paid to new hires from the state’s unemployment rolls. HB 260,by Rep. Robert Bentley, R-Tuscaloosa, and signed into law as Act #2010-557, was dubbed the “Reemployment Act of 2010." It provides a deduction of 35 percent of wages paid for full-time jobs paying between $10 and $12 per hour, 40 percent for jobs paying between $12 and $14 per hour and 50 percent for jobs that pay more than $14 per hour. The tax deduction for job creation will become effective for tax years 2011 and 2012.

BCA supported another package of bills, termed "Jumpstarting Jobs," pushed by Gov. Bob Riley and sponsored by  Rep. DuWayne Bridges, R-Valley, and Rep. Jay Love, R-Montgomery, but this legislation was never taken up by the House Education Appropriations Committee despite repeated requests by the governor and its supporters.

The Legislature passed and the governor has signed into law HB504, now Act # 2010-568, which simplifies the individual and corporate thresholds that trigger a requirement that taxpayers make estimated state income tax payments. The bill, by Rep. Charles Newton, D-Greenville, conforms the thresholds used to trigger individual and corporate estimated payments for state income purposes to the system used for federal income taxes. Some 25,000 individuals will now be free from making estimated payments to the state and an additional 4,000 corporations that earn income in Alabama will begin to make estimated payments. The act does not affect the overall amount of tax otherwise owed by individual or corporate taxpayers.

HB700, by Rep. Demetrius Newton, D-Birmingham, would have provided that “a finding of fact, conclusion of law, judgment or final order” originating from unemployment compensation hearings conducted by the Department of Industrial Relations could only be used as evidence in later proceedings that also concern unemployment compensation, regardless of whether the later proceeding involves the same individuals or the same facts.

Although this proposed provision would have applied to both employers and workers when a subsequent proceeding arose from a labor dispute, these decisions would have been excluded from consideration during that proceeding. Whether the subsequent case concerns alleged retaliatory discharge, cases of alleged discrimination or sexual harassment, a majority of employers would be better served by being allowed to present all the available evidence that would support action taken against an employee.

When questions posed on the House floor made it clear the bill would face difficulty in passing, it was withdrawn by the sponsor. BCA opposed this legislation.

For more information, contact Victor Vernon at victorv@bcatoday.org or 334-240-8722.

In a repeat scenario from the 2009 legislative session, several bills aimed at judicial election reform were introduced as a part of a concerted and continuing effort to impact the political and ideological makeup of the state’s judicial bench. But the Business Council of Alabama remained vigilant on this issue, working to protect the integrity of Alabama’s judicial selection process.

Both the House and Senate chambers offered up bills that would change the way Alabama elects its judges. There was a particularly strong push this session to enact legislation that would have prevented voters from knowing the party affiliation of judicial candidates. At least one bill proposed the creation of a separate, special ballot specifically for state judicial candidates. Another bill would have authorized the legislature to approve the non-partisan election of state judges on a county-by-county basis.

Fortunately, the Alabama Legislature collectively shares BCA’s view that the state’s current system of judicial selection does not need to be tampered with. The bulk of the proposed judicial reform legislation failed to be voted out of committee by legislators and not a single piece of judicial reform legislation was passed into law. Knowing a judicial candidate’s party affiliation at the voting booth often gives voters the only source of distinguishing information they have for making an informed decision.

In its 2010 Legislative Agenda, BCA opposes any proposal for nonpartisan election of judges. BCA believes partisan elections are essential to maintaining openness and transparency in the election process.

For more information, contact Brandon Colvin at brandonc@bcatoday.org or 334-240-8768.