On Tuesday, the Alabama Senate Republican Caucus gave an update on the State of the State at Northeast Alabama Community College, with Senator Steve Livingston, Representatives Mike Kirkland and Ginny Shaver. Livingston led a presentation, breaking down election results, general funds, the state’s ongoing broadband expansion and some upcoming legislation to be discussed in the 2023 Legislative Session.
When speaking of the election overview, Livingston pointed out five new people being elected to the senate, including Jay Hovey defeating Tom Whatley by one vote.
“Every vote counts and the significance of that is very important, every vote does count,” Livingston said.
Livingston also explained that a lot of the leader roles in senate and the house are by people in north Alabama, calling north Alabama the “power epicenter.”
When moving over to the budget, Livingston announced that the general fund budget could currently be around $2.7 billion or more and using these funds to pay back trust fund money that the state borrowed several years ago as well as providing funding for mental health, cost of living raises for state employees and sending money back to Alabama taxpayers. While this general fund budget is a record, Livingston, Shaver and Kirkland all spoke about being cautious with the money to ensure it’s spent properly and saved where it can.
“It’s a little harder during times of plenty to be careful with revenues than when you’re broke. When you’re broke, you pay for the meat and potatoes, the light and water bill but when you have extra you have to be really careful,” Shaver said.
The education trust fund is reported to sit at $8.26 billion, with the state trying to increase its rankings in test scores to some success. Over the past few years, Alabama’s fourth grade ranks have improved particularly in math and science, with math jumping from dead last to 40th and reading ranks rising 10 spots from 49th to 39th. Alabama’s Pre-K Education Program is continuing to lead the nation, with Alabama now being used as the model for Pre-K Education across the nation.
“We are making a difference in education and I think it’s important that we continue to work with our educators and making sure we’re taking care of items they see that we can assist with,” Livingston said.
When talking about the broadband expansion, Livingston brought up how the pandemic showed that broadband is required in order to be competitive in the future and notes the steps taken to ensure the state catches up, including three bills to ease the expansion with state, counties and municipalities now being able to grant general award funds or any other source of funding to public or private entities for the purpose of providing or expanding broadband infrastructure.
In the notable legislation, Livingston highlighted several bills passed through this year, including legislation to prohibit private companies from funding election-related activities, a package of bills to ensure Alabama remains one of the most attractive states for active-duty military, their families and veterans alike, along with supporting their defense, aerospace and intelligence communities, leading into a discussion about the U.S. Space Command potentially moving to Alabama, noting that after their recent legislature, Alabama is now down to two deficiencies, with Colorado being the closest next, with 10 deficiencies.
In upcoming legislation, Livingston highlights a possible special session for the allocation of the remaining ARPA funds, approximately $1.02 billion, legislation addressing a possible one-time tax refund, Medicaid expansion, grocery tax relief and lottery and gaming.
For Jackson County, Livingston reported that Jackson County currently sits at a “relatively low” 2.3 percent and has invested nearly $63 million towards new and expanding industry, with Livingston particularly mentioning the Jackson County Career and Innovation Center, saying that it has “the ability to change the lives of our young workforce for years to come.”
In their closing statements, each official remained adamant that things are looking up for the state and that through cooperation, they can accomplish great things.
“North Alabama has a great team, like I said but we also need to realize that yes, we have a great team in Montgomery but we’re also supported by a great team, locally. Those folks who serve on your county commissions, your city councils, your school boards, the teachers that teach your children, the guys that flag traffic for a living all the way up to the governor of Alabama, we’re all a team and if we pull together, we can accomplish great things not only for Jackson County, DeKalb County and the State of Alabama but our nation as a whole,” Kirkland said.
