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Who’s in the Money? Alabama House Races

By TWAY Kris

I’m sorry I got distracted with some other things over the last few weeks, but I did not want to neglect the Alabama House races and the financial reports that were filed at the end of January.  So, let’s take a look:

[gdocs type='spreadsheet' st_id='0AnkbXmhwgbPIdGRLOXA2NGU1LTNfUnJPMGhGeDJmN3c' wt_id='od4' style='coffee-with-milk']

Once again I have sorted the list by cash-on-hand, as what they have left to spend in the upcoming race seems most salient.  No surprise that incumbents top the list, and Republicans hold the top six spots, led by Minority Leader Rep. Mike Hubbard.  The Democrats are led by Rep. John Knight and Rep. Richard Lindsey, each with close to $100K on hand.

Susan Pace Hamill showed extremely strong, leading challengers in cash-on-hand and with almost 4 times as much as her nearest competitor for the open 63rd District seat.  John Merrill also showed strong with over $75K on hand in another open seat race.  Friend of TWAY, Joe Hubbard also showed strong, doubling the fundraising total of the sitting Rep. David Grimes and leading him in cash-on-hand by $15K.

What was most surprising to me in these numbers was how little some sitting representatives have in their campaign coffers.  I imagine many of them don’t raise money because they don’t have to, but there certainly seem to be some vulnerable incumbents on the fundraising front, who do not currently have any declared opposition.

Your comments and thoughts are welcome below.

February 18th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Category: Politics | 9 comments

Rep. Wren Puts Forth A Counter-Proposal on State Sales Tax

By TWAY Kris

Well, my State Rep. Greg Wren stepped forward with an interesting new proposal to eleminate the four percent sales tax on food…

“As the sponsor of the 2002 and 2008 Constitutional Rainy Day Accounts for the Education Trust Fund (ETF) and the General Fund, I believe the Sales Tax Fairness Act of 2009 will allow the Legislature to pass a responsible tax reform measure which removes regressive tax on food, maintains the fundamental growth needs of the ETF, ensures the ETF will not be forced int proration and does not increase taxes on any Alabama taxpayer,” he said, in a press release.

“I believe there are House and Senate members willing to place people over politics and sound tax policy over class and political finger-pointing.”

Wren’s bill would remove 1 percent of the state sales tax on food after two consecutive years of minimum 3 percent growth in the ETF. If the state’s ETF growth exceeds 3 percent for four consecutive years, the entire 4 percent sales tax would be repealed after six fiscal years.

Hmmmm…so do we take the chance that we’ll never get the repeal passed and reject this proposal, or take it and say, well at least it may happen some time in the next decade? I will definitely need to ponder this and get some more information. I certainly prefer Rep. Knight’s proposal because of the chance to get the sales tax removed now with full replacement of the revenue in today’s dollars, but if we aren’t going to get that, is this acceptable?

South Union Street – Montgomery Republican Introduces Sales Tax Bill.

UPDATE: I previously wrote an erroneous headline. This is not THE Republican counter-proposal, it’s different than the one the caucus is pushing. I congratulate Rep. Wren for stepping into the fray on his own. I certainly prefer his proposal over the one being offered by the caucus. A tax credit will not help as many Alabamians as the outright elimination of the tax.

April 8th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , | Category: Alabama, Politics | 2 comments

My Conversation with Representative Greg Wren on the Tax Fairness Act – Part 2

By TWAY Kris

I did receive a response from Rep. Wren to my earlier communication:

Kristopher,
I appreciate your views regarding HB116 and would like a chance to share a few thoughts of mine regarding this issue.

Under the Knight plan, approximately one-third of taxpaying families in the state would see their taxes increase dramatically, and small mom-and-pop businesses organized as limited liability companies would experience substantial increases at this time of unprecedented economic turmoil.

The Knight plan would also allow the state to double tax income by demanding that citizens pay state tax on income that never made it in the pockets but, instead, went to federal income taxes. In short, the bill places a tax on your taxes.

There are alternative methods to removing the sales tax on groceries. For instance one plan used in Idaho and supported by Alabama House Republicans, provides citizens who file state returns with a year-end rebate for the grocery taxes they pay. Because sales taxes are the only taxes that certain groups, such as illegal immigrants, actually pay, we can provide tax relief to Alabamians while ensuring those who are here illegally are contributing something to the state. Tourists and visitors from out-of-state would pay the sales taxes, as well, while in-state residents would be exempt.

Another solution offered by the Republican Caucus would phase in the removal of the state sales tax on food based on growth in the ETF and without increasing taxes on any individual or joint taxpayer. We continue to await the Democrats allowing consideration of a counter plan.

I hope that Republicans and Democrats alike can continue this discussion. During this time of record job losses and economic recession I realize that a 4% sales tax relief would be beneficial to citizens across the State of Alabama.

Thanks again for your comments.

Representative Greg Wren
Alabama House of Representatives
4213 Carmichael Road
Montgomery, AL 36106
334-395-0123 (O)
334-396-4787 (F)
www.gregwren.com

And I have responded to him as well:

Rep. Wren,

Again, I appreciate your willingness to dialogue on this issue, and I agree that Rep. Knight should be open to dialogue as well. I strongly disagree with your statement that 1/3 of Alabama families would see their taxes increase dramatically under this plan. I would like to know the source of your numbers.

As for the small mom-and-pop businesses…only the ones who have an income well into six figures would be impacted by this act, and the impact would not be significant for the vast majority of them. In addition, the increases would not take effect until well into 2010 at the earliest (due to the fact that the referendum would have to go through the Governor, and ultimately to the people on a statewide ballot).

Now to the so-called “double taxation”. We already pay taxes on the same income twice, how is this any different? We are in the minority of states that allow individuals to write off the taxes they pay to the federal government, and Alabama cannot afford to be in that minority any longer.

While the end of year write-off sounds like a good plan in theory, you have to realize that negates the benefit of eliminating the tax for many of Alabama’s poorest citizens, as many of them don’t pay enough income tax to cover the amount of state sales tax they would be able to write-off. If the aim of this bill is what I understand it to be, then the benefit is significantly reduced with this approach. And as for illegal immigrants and tourists, there are any number of other taxes that these individuals pay and eliminating the tax on groceries is not going to significantly reduce the amount that we gain from either of these populations in the state coffers.

Your second counterproposal would involve an effective reduction in the amount of funds going to our schools. It’s much the same thinking that the Governor is attempting to use with the stimulus dollars and its wrong-headed. You can’t achieve the worthy end of eliminating the grocery tax by making Alabama’s children pay with fewer resources for their education.

Again, I agree that there should be dialogue, but I don’t view either of the alternatives you proposed as viable as presented.

Thank you again for your time and engagement.

Sincerely,

Kristopher

March 27th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , | Category: Alabama, Politics | Leave a comment

Is the Governor Responsible for the Defeat of the Grocery Tax Elimination Bill?

By TWAY Kris

It seems that Governor Riley is the puppeteer behind the united front put up by Alabama House Republicans earlier this week on the grocery tax bill. Rep. John Knight is angry because the Governor seems to have switched his stance on the bill, and has now become an active opponent instead of a passive supporter.

Democrats bristled at Riley sending information opposing the grocery tax bill to House Republicans and questioned its accuracy.

“I don’t have a problem debating the issues,” Knight told fellow lawmakers. “But to try to mislead, intentionally, the people of this state … it is wrong to put out that kind of information.”

According to Hubbard, an e-mail from Riley’s office said that estimates referenced by Knight exaggerated the grocery spending by Alabama families and their potential savings under Knight’s plan. The e-mail contended that the average family of four would save $194 annually, not Knight’s $468 estimate.

Knight’s estimates came from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Office, which, in turn, used figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Stacy said the USDA figures were based on suggested, rather than actual, spending on groceries. The actual numbers showed a smaller benefit, Stacy said, and were sent in response to a request for information from lawmakers.

Joyce Bigbee, executive director of the fiscal office, said the office stands by its estimates.

Things are starting to make a lot of sense now. This idea that it’s somehow fairer to keep the tax system the way it is then to reduce the burden on those hurting the most is absolutely ridiculous. There should be outrage, and there should be anger…it’s just wrong.

Tempers flare over legislative grocery tax battle – al.com.

March 27th, 2009 | Tags: , , | Category: Alabama, Politics | 5 comments
 
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