The Business Council of Alabama (BCA) on Wednesday praised Governor Kay Ivey’s newly unveiled plan to raise the state’s gas tax 10-cents to pay for infrastructure improvements.
Dubbed, the Rebuild Alabama Infrastructure Plan, the plan will provide additional funding to enhance and improve Alabama’s transportation system at both the state and local levels.
“The road to our future must be paved,” said BCA President and CEO Katie Boyd Britt. “Alabama’s transportation system is the backbone of the state’s economy and is crucial to our economic growth, and I commend Governor Ivey for making this a priority of her Administration.”
“Alabama’s drivers are more likely to be killed in a traffic accident in Alabama than 44 other states. Last year, 282 people lost their lives in Alabama because of our road conditions,” Britt added. “Alabama’s current infrastructure challenges create a serious safety concern for all those who travel our roadways while also hindering job creation and eroding our businesses’ bottom lines. An investment in our roads and bridges is an investment in the safety and quality of life of all Alabamians.”
“Economic development and infrastructure go hand in hand. We are on an unsustainable course and can no longer afford to do nothing, and I urge the legislature to pass the governor’s package,” Britt concluded.
The BCA has produced a fact sheet that outlines their belief in the for need for an investment in our state’s infrastructure system.
“Alabama must be competitive with our sister southeastern states, many of which have already addressed this issue,” said Jim Page, the chairman of the Alliance for Alabama’s Infrastructure, a grassroots advocacy coalition focused on fixing Alabama’s infrastructure crisis. “It’s imperative in the 2019 legislative session that we finally address this issue for the first time since 1992.”
