Recent editorials from Alabama newspapers:
___
Feb. 19
The Cullman Times on Alabama’s upcoming sales tax holiday:
This weekend’s sales tax holiday for severe weather preparedness is a great opportunity to save money on items you may need as we enter tornado season. Before you go shopping, though, we encourage you to have a disaster plan for you and your family.
Cullman residents are well-aware of the danger of spring storms, from tornadoes to flooding. The vagaries of these storms can cause uncertainty, but having a plan and a kit in place can give you some measure of control.
When you put together your emergency kit, think of the things you’ll need right away and in the near future. According to Ready.gov, items you’ll need to include are: a gallon of water for every person per day for a minimum of three days; a three-day supply of food; manual can opener; flashlight and extra batteries; first-aid kit; local maps; whistle to signal for help; cell phone charger and backup power source; hand-cranked NOAA weather radio; dust masks and plastic wrap and duct tape to filter contaminated air; and moist toilettes and garbage bags for personal sanitation.
Keep in mind your medications, important documents and contact information. If you’re on prescription medications, include them in your emergency kit, and know the names and dosages of what medicines you take. Important documents like insurance papers can be stored online, but be sure they are in a secure location that you can access later. Take photos of anything of value that you could lose in a disaster and store the photos online, in your secure account. This will help filing insurance claims much easier.
Also, don’t forget your pets. You’ll need several days of food and water for them, along with veterinary records in case they need to go to a temporary shelter. They should also have identification on their collars or be chipped in case you get separated.
Finally, have a family plan. Know where you’re going to shelter in place, meet up after an event or evacuate to if need be. If you have neighbors who may need assistance, try to incorporate them into your plans as well.
The sales tax holiday offers an opportunity to save some money on planning for disasters, but it’s just a start. Make a plan, pack a kit and pray we never need them. But if we do, we’re prepared.
Online: https://www.cullmantimes.com
___
Feb. 14
The Gadsden Times on removing the state sales tax from grocery purchases:
For years, people have been pushing to remove the state sales tax from grocery purchases in Alabama. The latest effort comes from Senate District 10, which encompasses Etowah and three surrounding counties and carries the tricky but attractive label of “revenue neutral.”
Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, has introduced a bill calling for a constitutional amendment to eliminate the 4% state sales tax on groceries. Jones called it a “regressive” and “outdated” tax that “disproportionately affects lower-income Alabamians.”
We agree with him. Flat tax advocates may claim charging the same rate across the board is fair, but in the real world 4% is a bigger hit on someone making $50,000 than it is on someone making $200,000.
Plus there’s a moral issue involved in taxing something that’s essential to people’s survival. According to Alabama Arise, which has long advocated for removing this tax, only two other states besides Alabama - Mississippi and South Dakota - charge shoppers the full sales tax on groceries. Most others don’t charge anything; others tax groceries at a lower rate.
The problem, however - the reason why the years of bipartisan pushing haven’t moved this particular boulder - is that state sales taxes are a significant revenue source (more than $2 billion in 2019) for the Education Trust Fund, the lifeblood of public education in Alabama.
Really hard-core tax cutters may bristle at the notion of “paying for” or offsetting cuts, but this is one case where it absolutely must happen. All that $2 billion last year didn’t come from groceries, but we imagine a significant enough chunk did to where losing it would be a major problem for Alabama’s schools.
So Jones’ bill - which as a constitutional amendment would have to be approved by a three-fifths margin in each legislative chamber, then by a majority of voters at the polls - turns to a previously proposed source for making up the shortfall: the state’s deduction for federal income taxes paid.
Right now Alabamians can deduct every dollar of those federal taxes on their state returns. Jones’ proposal would cap that at $6,000 for individuals and $12.000 for married couples filing jointly.
He says that will ensure that a family of four with a total income of less than $134,800, an individual filing as head of household making less than $70,700 or a single person or someone who’s married but filing separately making less than $58,300 would see no change to their federal tax deduction.
Of course, people with higher incomes would. That’s the nature of progressive (and it’s refreshing not to hear that word used as a pejorative) taxation. The folks who’ll most benefit most from no state sales tax on groceries would catch a break both ways.
Reality check: This wouldn’t remove local sales taxes on groceries, and by state law municipalities are barred from exempting specific items from those taxes. An attempt to change that failed in the 2019 legislative session. However, if municipalities were granted that right, they’d be in the identical situation as the state, looking for ways to make up the deficit, given that many local sales taxes were enacted for specific purposes.
Still, we think lifting the state’s 4% take would be useful and is doable. It’s time to push this boulder over the top.
Online: https://www.gadsdentimes.com
___
Feb. 12
The Florence TimesDaily on a bill that could limit some types of lobbying:
When you or someone with whom you agree lobbies a legislature, that’s simply petitioning the government for a redress of grievances, as explicitly protected under the First Amendment.
But when a person or group seeking to influence legislative or government policy lobbies the legislature, it’s an entirely different approach.
State Sen. Jim McClendon, R-Springville, introduced a bill this month that he says will help rein in these so-called “special interest” groups.
His proposal would prohibit gambling interests from giving money to candidates for the Alabama Legislature, as well as to the governor and lieutenant governor. And just to make sure, it also would ban candidates for those offices from accepting money from gambling interests.
“The purpose of this legislation is to get things in Alabama back in balance,” McClendon said while touting his bill. “There is a multibillion-dollar international corporation that has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Alabama Senate candidates. This corporation owns casinos in three countries, three states, and has four locations in Alabama and they want more.”
Everyone knows the “multibillion-dollar international corporation” here is the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.
The Poarch Band has a gambling proposal and has been lobbying heavily to promote it.
McClendon last year introduced a competing proposal for a state lottery.
McClendon likens his proposal to a restriction already in state law that bans public utilities from contributing to candidates for the Alabama Public Service Commission, the regulatory body that oversees them.
His proposal, however, is much broader, and it is certain to run into a legal challenge should it become law.
In the first place, the Poarch Band could make a plausible, one might say convincing case, that the bill specifically targets them, even if it doesn’t mention them by name. Courts tend not to look kindly on laws aimed at a single person or group.
In the second place, some “gambling interests” have interests that go beyond gambling, and the Poarch Band, which is the only federally recognized Native American tribe in Alabama, is an obvious example of a group that has interests that go beyond gaming.
In the third place, there are groups with an interest in gambling that are not “gambling interests” under McClendon’s bill. Groups with religious or other moral objections to all gambling leap to mind. They would still be able to support candidates that oppose all legalized gambling in Alabama.
This is not about which gambling or lottery proposal is best. It’s about avoiding a fight the state will almost certainly lose, against what McClendon admits is a well-funded opponent, that won’t be resolved before this legislative session is out, anyway.
If the Legislature does its job, a constitutional amendment for a state lottery will already be heading toward the November ballot before McClendon’s bill, if passed, could even take effect.
Online: https://www.timesdaily.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.