The 2015 legislative session starts tomorrow. All eyes are on Governor Robert Bentley and what’s expected to be a politically unpopular tax increase proposal.
The big issue is likely a half billion dollar tax hike. Bentley announced his plan on Friday and his annual speech is likely his first big opportunity to sell it to what may be a skeptical Republican majority in the state house and senate.
Four hundred million dollars of the proposed tax hike would come from raising taxes on cigarettes and new car purchases. A pack of cigarettes would go up by eighty two cents. Buying a new car would be taxed by two to four percent.
Bentley is also proposing to end corporate tax loopholes, some tax credits for insurance companies and banks.
The Republican leaders of the House and Senate say legislators will look at Bentley's proposals, but there is no guarantee they will go along with them.
Forecasters say another round of wintry weather is possible in Alabama by mid-week.
The National Weather Service says there is a potential for freezing rain in the Tuscaloosa, Birmingham and Gadsden areas Wednesday night through Thursday.
Forecasters say the line separating rain and freezing rain could set up just south of those areas, with rain in the Montgomery area and south of there.
The latest forecast for the Birmingham area calls for rain showers and freezing rain, possibly mixed with sleet, starting Wednesday night.
In Huntsville, forecasters say that some freezing rain is possible during the day on Wednesday, followed by a mixture of snow, freezing rain, and sleet by Wednesday night.
Five cities in Alabama rank low in a new study of income diversity. The financial advice internet site Wallet-Hub analyzed three hundred and fifty U.S. cities for the gap between rich and poor. Tuscaloosa, Huntsville, Mobile, Birmingham, and Montgomery ranked in the lower forty percent.
Wallet-Hub spokeswoman Jill Gonzalez says Birmingham was near the bottom and that most residents are middle class or lower.
“55 percent of the population the households are bringing in less than 35,000 dollars a year, 3 percent of the households are earning more than 150,000 a year, in the middle its very low figures 7 percent making from 50,000 to 75,000, so even middle class there there’s not much to it the majority is making 35,000 and below.”
Other Alabama cities making their way onto the list included Huntsville at
145. Montgomery was at 194, Tuscaloosa at 251, and Mobile at 311.