Craig Ford: Robbing Peter to pay Paul

  One of the problems exposed during the gas tax debate was the fact that $63 million a year gets diverted out of the Alabama Department of Transportation’s road and bridge funding to pay for state troopers and the court system.

  The logic (if you can call it that) for this transfer of funds is that the troopers patrol the roads and the courts process the tickets and arrests the troopers make, so therefore, they should be eligible for a portion of that road and bridge funding.

  Many of those who opposed the gas tax argued that the state should keep that $63 million in the Department of Transportation’s budget and find other sources of revenue for the troopers and courts.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse – Infrastructure program should be priority one

  As the new quadrennium crests in Alabama government, everybody looks toward a new beginning. There is a new, fresh four-year period for the newly elected leaders. They are overwhelmingly Republican. The governor is a Republican and all of the accompanying constitutional officeholders are members of the GOP. More importantly, the Alabama Legislature, both the House and the Senate majorities, are Republican. In fact, over two-thirds of each chamber is Republican. It is a supermajority.