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Gas tax faces court challenge

Alabama’s new gas tax has its first legal challenge — at least to a portion of it. Tom Fredricks, a Morgan County business owner who ran unsuccessfully for an Alabama House seat last year, has filed a challenge to the portion of the gas tax that allows for the revenue to be spent dredging the … Continued
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April 4, 2019
Opinion

Opinion

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State budgets: Priority number one

After their successful special five-day Special Session, the Legislature has been in their Regular Session for a few weeks now. The session will end in June so it is about one-fourth over. Almost one-third of the members are new — freshmen if you will. Even though they are, for the most part, a bright and … Continued
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April 3, 2019
Opinion

Opinion

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The Poarch Creeks want fairness. Let’s give it to them.

It’s nice to see that the Poarch Band of Creek Indians is suddenly interested in competition. That’s been the go-to talking point of late — “(The tribe) just wants the opportunity to compete for the right to offer similar gaming,” a talk radio show host proclaimed last week. Moments after the PCI CEO was on … Continued
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March 26, 2019

Lottery constitutional amendment, enabling legislation filed

A constitutional amendment filed Tuesday morning by State Sen. Jim McClendon, if approved by the Legislature, will allow for the people to vote on a statewide lottery by this time next year. Polling data from multiple reputable sources finds that an overwhelming majority of voters wants an opportunity to vote yes or no on the … Continued
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March 19, 2019
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A time for lions, not sheep

Every four years, Alabama lawmakers have an opportunity to do bold things that are usually politically impossible in other years of the legislative quadrennium. A few big ideas on the table for 2019 are passing a fuel tax to revamp and expand the state’s infrastructure and offering citizens an opportunity to vote on a gaming … Continued
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March 4, 2019
Opinion

Opinion

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Gas tax is first test of our new Legislature

When I was in the Legislature, I opposed tax increases unless we had tried everything else and the money to be raised from the tax was earmarked for very specific purposes. In my personal opinion, we shouldn’t even be talking about raising the gas tax until we pass a lottery and see what kind of … Continued
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January 30, 2019

Shelby, Jones: Gulf States should get larger share of offshore oil, gas money

Both U.S. Senators from Alabama, Richard Shelby (R) and Doug Jones (D) joined Senators Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi) to ask the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to ensure that coastal states receive their fair share of … Continued
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October 5, 2018

House passes Byrne amendment protecting funding for Gulf States

Thursday, July 19, 2018 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a government funding bill for the Department of Interior and related agencies, which includes an amendment from Congressman Bradley Byrne, R-Montrose, to protect a critical funding source for Gulf Coast states, including Alabama. “For those that don’t know, GOMESA calls for a revenue sharing agreement … Continued
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July 23, 2018