By Paul DeMarco
So Alabama lawmakers are now taking their second Spring Break before they come back to finish up the regular 2024 legislative session. When they do come back, they must finish up the state business, which most importantly includes the education and general fund budgets.
Alabama’s Constitution gets a lot of criticism, but what you can’t question is that it rightly requires the Legislature to pass balanced budgets. If we could only get our Congressman in Washington DC to pay attention, as opposed to what gets passed in Washington DC that just dangerously continues to increase the national debt.
Thus, when state representatives and senators come back next week to debate the two budgets, they must ensure they fund state appropriations appropriately. Because of tax revenues and federal COVID grants, there has been a lot of money pouring into the state coffers. We have never seen this amount of money being available for Alabama legislators to have at their disposal to use for state budgets. In the past, the debate has been what state agencies get their funds slashed and what request get denied.
And while there have been historic amounts of money spent the past three years, this is the year to put on the brakes to pull back on the expenditures. The grants from the American Rescue Plan Act must be approved by the end of the year and spent no later than December 31, 2026. Thus, the last of the dollars which were sent to the state, must be obligated and spent soon. Alabama was provided with some $2.1 billion from Congress for the funds approved during the pandemic.
Thus, with these deadlines, inflation and more possible rocky economic numbers ahead, there is a need for state leaders to tighten how much state funds will be spent for the next fiscal year. There are a lot of lobbyist and trade groups pushing legislators to spend more money on their special interest projects, but legislators need to ensure they always put the needs of their constituents first when they put together the budgets.
Alabama citizens should watch what happens at the Statehouse to ensure their tax dollars are being spent with frugal intent and only with what is necessary to provide public services for the benefit of the people of the entire state.
Paul DeMarco is a former member of the Alabama House of Representatives and can be found on X formerly Twitter at @Paul_DeMarco