When it comes to the $787 billion federal stimulus package that passed Congress, there is still a lot of uncertainty. But, as the Business Council of Alabama confirmed, one thing is for certain: “Inquiring minds want to know.”

BCA has received an extraordinarily high number of questions from member companies about details of the package, what the infusion of funds is likely to mean for the state’s strapped budgets, and what it could mean for Alabama businesses. In a proactive move to ensure BCA members are as informed as possible at this critical time for our state and nation, the BCA Federal Affairs Committee hosted a conference call featuring Maynard, Cooper & Gale, P.C. attorney David Perry, one of the state’s foremost experts on the matter.

Perry, who is working under the direction of former Supreme Court Chief Justice and Finance Director Drayton Nabers, has been charged by Gov. Bob Riley to navigate the 1,100-page bill and unearth the fine details of the package as they relate to Alabama. “We are working hard to do everything we can to be sure that Alabama is getting its fair share” of the stimulus proceeds, Perry told a listening audience of nearly 100 callers.

To that end, Gov. Riley has given Perry and the stimulus implementation team three key tasks: 1) To ensure that the state agencies and other entities called upon to distribute the funds do so in full compliance with requirements for accountability and transparency; 2) To coordinate with the agencies to see that they are not only prepared to accept the money, but also have fair and efficient means for distributing it on a highest-needs basis; and 3) to reach out and inform businesses, non-profit organizations, colleges and universities and local governments about important funding sources available to them through competitively bid grants.

While Perry’s primary focus during the past week since the bill passed has been to zero in on the portion of funding that will flow through state funds, he said the stimulus package also includes some new tax incentives, favorable bond provisions, extensions on current tax exemptions and new categories of tax credits that will be of particular interest to business and industry.

The details of those provisions, along with a full outline of all elements of the package relevant to Alabama, and instructions for applying for the funds, will be available online next week at www.stimulus.alabama.gov. According to Perry, the new web site will allow those interested to “quickly identify the programs they might be eligible for and what agency to go to” for application purposes. The site will feature individual pages, by applicant categories (such as higher education, local government, business, non-profit, etc.) to simplify and streamline the public “search” process and to help ensure “there is an efficient way to get the applications in and get the applications out.”

While Perry outlined specific funding levels and distribution processes for much of the nearly $3 billion Alabama will receive as a result of the stimulus package, he said there are many provisions for which the state is awaiting further guidance from the federal government. “It’s pretty clear that a lot (of the stimulus bill) was written by folks who don’t understand state government and don’t know how it works,” Perry said. In those cases “we need the feds to provide some clarification.”

Much of the call and Perry’s comments focused on the sums of money that are committed to key areas of need, such as infrastructure, education, work force training and Medicaid; and Perry emphasized both the short and long-term benefits of the financial infusion. Some of the money, such as the $587 million that can be used to plug the shortfall in the state’s education budget and the nearly $600 million that can be put to “quick and efficient use” on road project priorities already identified by ALDOT, will have immediate impact, while other funds, like research grants available through the National Institutes of Health to state universities “well-positioned to take advantage of them,” Perry said, will have positive long-term ramifications for Alabama.

One of the ironies he has discovered while working on the stimulus project, Perry said, is that much of the funding flows by formula into the states and is “geared toward benefitting states hurting the most in this economy. In some sense, Alabama is actually hurt by having weathered the economy as well as we have.”

Still, Perry said, Alabama’s stimulus allocation will help the state meet many critical needs. “These are challenging times and we feel this is an opportunity we have to make the most efficient, effective use of this money and we are committed to doing that.”

Read about the latest information about stimulus allocations coming to Alabama.