Kay Ivey meets with legislative budget chairs
Gov. Kay Ivey met with legislative leaders on Wednesday to discuss the 2024 budgets and potential 2023 supplemental appropriations. “Today, we had our first meeting of the new term with our legislative budget chairs,” said Gov. Ivey. “How we budget will affect Alabamians for decades to come, and this group of leaders is committed to ensuring we will continue taking a fiscally conservative approach to our budgets.” Republicans have commanding control of Alabama state government, so all of the legislative leaders at Wednesday’s meeting were members of the GOP. They include new Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter, new Chairman of the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee Rex Reynolds, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Education Committee Danny Garrett, Ivey’s Director of Legislative Affairs Drew Harrell, State Finance Director Bill Poole, State Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee Chairman Greg Albritton, State Finance and Taxation Education Committee Chairman Arthur Orr, and Senate Pro Tem. Greg Reed. Legislative Service Agency Fiscal Division Director Kirk Fulford, the Pro Tem.’s chief of staff Derek Trotter, and other staff members were also present. “Yesterday the Leadership of the House and Senate, and the Budget Chairman’s met with Governor Ivey, Director Poole and staff,” Reynolds said on social media. “The Governor engaged the meeting with direct questions related to our economy, our workforce, and the services the state provides to Alabamians.” The big-budget question hanging over the coming legislative session is what to do with the budget surplus. The state had over a billion dollar surplus left over from fiscal year 2022, which ended on September 30 that rolled into fiscal year 2022. Alabama has an arcane budgeting system where education goes into one budget – the education trust fund budget (ETF) for education spending and the state general fund (SGF) for non-education-related expenditures. Last year, the ETF for FY2023 passed by the Legislature was $8.26 billion – $589 million more than FY2022. The SGF for FY2023 passed was $2.74 billion – $53 million more than FY2022. Both are all-time records. The state’s reserve funds are already flush with funds from four straight years of conservative budgeting. With wages rising and the number of workers employed at an all-time high, the state is likely to take in more than the $11 billion the Legislature expected in FY2023 – the current budget year. The Legislature has some hard choices to make when the 2023 regular legislative session begins on March 7. They likely will have significant surplus funds left over for supplemental appropriations in FY2023 – they had over a billion dollars in supplementals in FY2022. Leaders could increase state spending, rebate surplus dollars to the taxpayers in one-time checks, or lower taxes in FY2024. Orr said that the Legislature may rebate up to $500 million back to taxpayers later this year. Another major issue facing the budget committees is what to do with all the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money that the state is getting from the federal government – albeit with many federal strings attached. The second $one billion of that money has to be appropriated. The Governor will formally make her FY2024 budget requests on Tuesday, March 7, when she makes her state of the state address to a joint session of the Alabama Legislature at the historic 1859 Alabama Capitol Building. To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Personnel note: Del Marsh hires Derek Trotter as his chief of staff
Anniston-Republican and Alabama Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh announced Monday he has hired Derek Trotter as his chief of staff. “I look forward to having Derek serve as my Chief of Staff,” Marsh said. “His previous experience in the Pro Tem’s office makes him uniquely qualified to ensure that the Alabama Senate continues to run smoothly and serve the people of Alabama as it has in the past.” Trotter returns to the Pro Tem’s office after a stint in the Governor’s Robert Bentley‘s Legislative office as well as a stint the private sector at Butler Snow. In Bentley’s office, Trotter represented the governor before the Alabama Legislature and built and maintained relationships with key legislative leaders on behalf of the governor. He also managed and implemented strategies to pass key items on the governor’s legislative agenda. Trotter frequently advised the governor’s 22-member cabinet on legislative matters impacting their agencies. In 2016, he joined Butler Snow’s Montgomery, Ala., office where he practiced with the firm’s regulatory and government relations team. Prior to that he served as communications director for Marsh. “Having spent the majority of my career working with the Alabama Senate, both in the President Pro Tem’s Office and Governor’s Legislative Office, I am thrilled about the opportunity to serve as Senator Marsh’s Chief of Staff,” Trotter said. “Every member of the Alabama Senate has a shared commitment to serving their constituents to the best of their ability and I look forward to working with them in an effort to make Alabama an even better place to live, work and raise a family.” Derek is a native of Trussville and a graduate of Auburn University. He and his wife Kala reside in Pike Road with their two children. Trotter’s first day was Monday.
