The Alabama House of Representatives has approved a General Fund budget that slashes $200 million from state agencies, after GOP lawmakers were unable to reach an agreement on tax increases.
Representatives voted 66-36 for the spending plan yesterday. Most Democrats voted against the budget after criticizing the cuts.
The budget bill now heads to the Alabama Senate. House Speaker Mike Hubbard says his plan is to work with Senators for the rest of the legislative session to avoid some of the state agency cuts.
Ways and Means Chairman Steve Clouse says he doubts anyone in the House is actually happy with the budget they passed. He says talks will be continuing with state senators about possible new revenue sources.
Gov. Robert Bentley says the budget cuts are irresponsible. The governor has unsuccessfully sought $541 million in new taxes.
Officials with Blue Bell Creameries say they had no choice but to let go more than one-third of their work force after shutting down plants due to a listeria outbreak. This will impact workers in Alabama.
Forty people were laid off and well over 150 temporarily furloughed at its Sylacauga plant. There will be another five layoffs and 70 furloughs at other facilities in the state.
Jenny Van Dorf is a spokesperson for the ice cream producer. She says this decision did not come lightly, and they did everything they could to keep those affected on payroll.
“We reduced costs by operating more efficiently, conserving energy, anything we could do to keep our people on board. But unfortunately, when we do return to the market, we’ll have limited distribution and production. Because of that, we had to reduce our workforce.”
The Sylacauga facility remains closed as cleanup continues despite no trace of listeria linked to its products that were produced there. All products were recalled nationwide after the listeria outbreak.
Auction lovers are expected to converge on Montgomery this morning.
The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs will auction off items from over 160 state agencies. The bidding began at 8 AM and will continue until every item is gone.
Shane Bailey is ADECA’s Surplus Property Division Chief.
“We have a lot of different types of items. We have desks, chairs, computers, vehicles. We’ve got a passenger bus that is in very good condition. It’s unusual for us to get a bus like that. We have over 50 vehicles available. Some are good, some are bad. We encourage everyone to come out and look.”
Those bidding must have a valid, government-issued ID and Social Security Number. The auction is being held at the Surplus Property warehouse on Mobile Highway. The majority of the proceeds from the auction will go back into the state’s general fund.
The Alabama Senate passed a bill yesterday that aims to take the state’s probate judges out of the marriage business entirely.
Instead of a marriage license, the new bill would have couples that wanted to be married to enter into a contract witnessed and recorded in the county probate office. The couple wouldn’t even be required to have a wedding.
Bill sponsor Senator Greg Allbritten of Bay Minette says the bill should address some of the uncertainty that emerged when same-sex marriage was briefly legal in Alabama. The measure also raises the cost of recording that contract to $75. Marriage licenses were previously $50. Allbritten says that money will go to help the ailing General Fund Budget.
Opponents are concerned that this bill would just cause even more confusion regarding marriage in Alabama. ?