http://www.annistonstar.com/op...87-3796103bd652.html
Time sure is short. The time allowed for leaders of Alabama’s state government to finish their annual business is quickly coming to a close. The 2015 session of the Alabama Legislature will wrap up in a matter of weeks.
The big question facing the legislators when they gathered in March remains unanswered. That question: Where will the state find the hundreds of millions of dollars it needs to fund operations like public safety, prisons, Medicaid, state parks and practically everything except public schools?
The options thus far include raising taxes on automobiles and cigarettes, or legalizing gambling and creating a lottery, or slashing an already bare-bones budget. These options aren’t perfect. Not one addresses the root causes of our problem – an upside-down tax code that (a.) doesn’t raise enough revenue and (b.) what revenue it does raise takes a huge toll on those least able to pay.
Nope, the politicians in charge aren’t looking at a big picture. They are meekly looking for quick fixes that leave the bigger problems for the next guy down the line.
In other words, the Republicans in charge in Alabama have wasted the past three years. Allow us to explain. In 2012, state government’s General Fund faced a problem similar to the one it’s in today. Budget-writers were looking at a budget shortfall unless new money could be raised.
The governor and lawmakers decided to fund General Fund budgets in 2013, 2014 and 2015 through deficit financing. With the voters’ approval, state government borrowed $437 million from an Alabama trust fund. The money was at least enough to keep primary functions of state government above water.
So, for the past three budget years Alabama has partially funded prisons, Medicaid and other non-education agencies using borrowed money.
Now comes the 2016 state budget, which begins on Oct. 1. By rule, the Legislature and governor are expected to agree on a budget by the middle of next month.
There’s no more money to borrow, and the three years of time to come up with a big solution was wasted by Montgomery’s lawmakers. This is what happens when a state is run by politicians who (a.) measure time in election cycles and (b.) campaign on empty rhetoric and hollow cliches.