September 18, 2015 Group Watch: News & Views from the State House
2nd Special Session Update
The Alabama Legislature returned to start work in the second special session of 2015 on September 8. Over the next several days, legislators looked for ways to raise revenue to cover shortfalls and finally pass a FY2016 General Fund budget.
Here’s how they raised approximately $107 million:
- The House voted to raise the state tax on cigarettes by 25 cents a pack, to 67.5 cents. That measure will generate an estimated $66 million $66 million a year.
- The House voted to raise the automobile title fee from $15 to $28, generating an estimated $19 million a year.
- The House voted to raise the car rental tax from 1.5 percent to 2 percent, generating an estimated $6 million a year.
- The House voted to add a pharmacy tax of 15 cents per prescription, generating an estimated $8 million for Medicaid for 2016 and 2017 only.
- The House voted to add a nursing home bed tax of $400/bed, generating an estimated $8 million a year for Medicaid for 2016 and 2017 only.
The House also initially approved a bill to provide a one-time payment of $50 million to the General Fund from an education savings account before ultimately compromising with the Senate on an $80 million payment.
They ultimately approved a General Fund budget that cut some agencies but level funded agencies such as Corrections, Medicaid, Mental Health and Human Resources. Corrections will receive a separate appropriation of $16 million to implement court ordered reforms. The House passed the compromise budget by a vote of 70-21, after the Senate passed it by a vote of 23-9. The House and Senate adjourned SINE DIE, thus ending the second special session of 2015. The budget was reviewed and signed by the governor the next day (September 17), averting a government shutdown.
Here are the details of the bills passed in the Second Special Session:
