Alabama Voters Approve $437 Million General Fund Amendment

September 19, 2012

Alabama voters approved an amendment to transfer over $437 million from a state trust fund by a 2-to-1 margin Tuesday.

The constitutional amendment will make $145.8 million transfers yearly for three fiscal years from the Alabama Trust Fund to the General Fund  where it can be used to fund the state’s prisons, courts, Medicaid and other programs.

A plan will be developed to repay the money, according to Gov. Robert Bentley.

Bill Armistead, chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, said in a written statement Tuesday night that his party is ready to introduce legislation mandating the repayment.

“I am also confident that they will continue to right-size our state government, so that necessary services can continue to be met in the most cost effective way possible,” Armistead wrote. “Under the continued Republican leadership, we must make sure that we never find ourselves in a similar situation again. Republicans were sent to Montgomery to bring spending under control. I applaud them in their efforts to do so far, and encourage them to continue to remain faithful to the mandate set before them.”

Meanwhile, Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Mark Kennedy released a statement praising the amendment passage and blaming state Republican’s for the amendment’s necessity.

“The people of Alabama have not only saved countless friends and neighbors from losing jobs and the most basic services but have also saved the Republican legislative supermajority from a catastrophic mess,” Kennedy said.  After over a hundred years of Democrats getting the job done and making tough decisions on behalf of all Alabamians, it took only two years for the Republican supermajority in the legislature to bring the state to the brink of a financial catastrophe — threatening countless seniors and vulnerable Alabamians with losing the most basic of care, literally putting lives in jeopardy.

Comments

2 Responses to “Alabama Voters Approve $437 Million General Fund Amendment”

  1. taxpayer on September 20th, 2012 9:26 am

    boy, good thing they don’t have a lottery or excuse me they let all those dollars go to florida for the lotto. alabama will always be one of the poorest states because they are also one of the most stubborn states to “change”

  2. TAXPAYER on September 20th, 2012 9:03 am

    huge mistake. Now you won’t be making interest on that 148 million. What are you going to do when it is all gone too?

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News