Democratic gubernatorial candidates answer questions on housing, lending, transportation, taxes
Alabama Arise — a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of congregations, organizations and individuals promoting public policies to improve the lives of low-income Alabamians —reached out to the 2018 gubernatorial candidates to seek their thoughts on policies that affect low-income people in Alabama. They received replies from three candidates, all Democrats: Sue Bell Cobb, James Fields and Walt Maddox to questions about housing, payday lending, transportation and taxes. Here are the questions and candidates’ responses: Q: The Legislature has now created the infrastructure for both an Alabama Housing Trust Fund and an Alabama Public Transportation Trust Fund. Would you commit to providing funding for these trust funds? If not, how do you propose to address the lack of affordable housing and transportation, especially in rural areas? Sue Bell Cobb: Without reliable, substantive streams of revenue, neither the Alabama Housing Trust Fund nor the Alabama Public Transportation Trust Fund will be able to get off the ground. I am glad that the legislature has laid the groundwork for these funds, and the programs they could support have the potential to be transformational for quality of life in Alabama. I am absolutely committed to finding dependable streams of revenue that we can use to address both of these issues. In order for Alabama to have a healthy, productive workforce, they need a safe roof over their head and a stable method of transportation to and from work. James Fields: I will certainly commit to funding both. There can be no ‘trust funds’ without funding. Sources of revenue for housing have been identified including the deed record tax, unclaimed property funds, the 2012 national mortgage settlement. I support legislation to utilize these resources as well as others. I support development of public transportation, including high speed rail. The administrative tools made available by the Act must identify systems that can meet the needs of all, rural & urban, ensuring effective ridership and utilization, as well as related state revenue. Transportation related taxes must match today’s needs. Walt Maddox: Lack of housing and public transportation are persistent problems that must be addressed because, among other things, they contribute to chronic unemployment and underemployment. Helping people find and keep jobs is one of the most successful ways to eliminate poverty. I will reach across aisles and across the state to find agreement on ways to fund these programs. Q: Alabama law allows payday lenders to impose fees that add up to an Annual Percentage Rate (APR) as high as 456 percent. Would you favor extending the repayment period on payday loans in Alabama from the current 14 days to 30 days, effectively cutting their APR in half (from 456 percent APR to 213 percent)? Sue Bell Cobb: I am absolutely in favor of lengthening the repayment period to 30 days. I am also in favor of capping APR for small, short-term loans. We have far too many Alabamians trapped in a cycle of crushing debt thanks to predatory lending institutions that drain our local communities, and particularly our neighbors at or near the poverty line. Many of these companies siphon precious resources out of Alabama and funnel them into corporate pockets out of state. Not only does this extraction of resources have a deleterious economic impact on our state and our communities, the ballooning interest on these loans has a devastating human cost for children and families. James Fields: I absolutely support extending the repayment period and additional legislation which prevents those who must utilize these services from being caught in an ever-increasing accumulation of interest debt. I will continue to research strategies to accomplish this. Of course, accessible small short-term loans by banks would add competition, the possibly the most effective regulator for this industry. Walt Maddox: By attaching outrageous interest rates to easy to obtain loans, predatory lending creates vicious cycles that can make desperate people even more desperate. I am open and committed to looking at various ways to protect vulnerable populations from such practices. Q: Alabama is one of three states that give no state tax break on groceries, and we have the highest income tax in the nation for a family of four at the poverty line. In most states, this family would not pay income tax at all. How would you change Alabama’s upside-down tax system? Sue Bell Cobb: The first step to making Alabama’s tax system fairer is to remove the tax on groceries because Alabamians should not pay tax on something as essential as food. To accomplish this, we must replace that lost revenue. A politically feasible solution would be to work for passage of a flat state income tax, eliminate deductions for the wealthy, and add an exemption for anyone at or below the federal poverty line. I also believe that Alabama’s income tax should be calculated based on federal taxable income instead of adjusted gross income. James Fields: Clearly, the legislature, a majority of whom answer only those who fund their campaigns, cannot accomplish tax reform. I would establish a non-partisan Fair Tax Commission, tasked with righting the current upside-down system, including but not limited to addressing equitable taxes on real property, repeal of the ‘current use’ law, raising the threshold of taxable income, eliminating the tax on food, and revising deductions which favor those most able to pay, including corporations. Its work and any enabling legislation must be clearly and transparently presented and explained to the people to counter the certain opposition. Walt Maddox: I support eliminating the state sales tax on groceries. But to do so we must offset the lost revenues with another source. One idea is to eliminate the state deduction for federal income taxes, which would require a constitutional amendment to be voted on by the people. We also must find a way to amend the tax structure so that people living below the poverty line do not pay income taxes.
Will taxpayers statewide
Usually, local Town Halls are primarily about issues only relevant to those in that area. That’s not always the case. An upcoming Town Hall meeting in Orange Beach is a prime example of one with statewide implications. The meeting has been called to discuss two critical subjects: first, creating an independent city school system and then what’s happening relative to bridges and roadways. It is this second conversation, which has piqued the interest of politicos and taxpayer advocates statewide. Locals are speculating that among the topics to be discussed is in what has been described as a costly and unnecessary second local bridge. The proposal many are expecting according to local sources, is a competing bridge to the Foley Beach Express. This proposed bridge would divert much needed state resources away from other critical state infrastructure projects The Town Hall, hosted by Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon and the City Council, is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 7 at Orange Beach Event Center. Both the Baldwin County Schools Superintendent Eddie Tyler and the Alabama Department of Transportation Director John Cooper will clear their schedules to be in attendance. “Director Cooper and Vince Calametti will be here from ALDOT, who will announce what’s going to happen relative to bridges and roadways,” Kennon said during Tuesday’s city council meeting. Cooper’s attendance comes at a time when both Montgomery and Birmingham are both having real highway crises. In fact, State Auditor Jim Zeigler identified the top four projects he believes ALDOT needs to tackle, including a proposal for how to pay for them, which have nothing to do to with the creating of a second bridge which he is not sure current traffic conditions calls for. Zeigler’s priorities include: Fixing the congestion on 280 in Jefferson and Shelby Counties Creating six-lanes from I-65 from Pelham petroleum tanks to Prattville Building four-lanes and upgrading “Bloody 98” in west Mobile County Completing the I-10 bridge and expansion of I-10 Bayway over Mobile Bay Cooper has a history of using his office for political purposes. In the past he admitted to halting proposals in the Yellowhammer State to retaliate against those who opposed former Gov. Robert Bentley‘s tax plan. Leaving many to wonder if his decision to prioritize a second beach bridge is another example of misplaced priorities and rewarding loyalty. The Town Hall is also prepared to discuss the Orange Beach school system. “Eddie Tyler and his staff from the county school system will be there as we discuss the new schools and the split, and answer questions as we can,” Kennon added. He is referring to the split between Orange Beach school system and Gulf Shores regarding the future of a $14.9 million new high school, which is projected to be completed by 2019. It has yet to be determined whether of Gulf Shores will break from the Baldwin County School System. Kennon is hoping for a large crowd to show state officials what locals truly think of the projects. “We need 1,200 to 1,300 people to show up,” Kennon added. “We need to make an impression on the state and on the county that it matters to us. …We need to make an impression on our new governor.” The Town Hall will begin promptly following the City Council’s 5 p.m. meeting. The public is encouraged to attend.
Senate Democrats to propose $1 trillion infrastructure plan
Senate Democrats on Tuesday will propose spending $1 trillion on transportation and other infrastructure projects over 10 years in an attempt to engage President Donald Trump on an issue where they hope to find common ground. Details of the plan provided to The Associated Press include $200 billion for a “vital infrastructure fund.” An example of the types of projects that could be eligible for financing from the fund is the Gateway Program to repair and replace rail lines and tunnels between New York and New Jersey, some of which are over 100 years old and were damaged in Superstorm Sandy in 2012. The project, which would double the number of trains per hour using the tunnels and help enable high-speed Amtrak service, is estimated to cost about $20 billion. Republican leaders, who have said previously that they’re waiting for Trump to offer his own proposal, are unlikely to embrace the Democratic plan. It’s not clear where Democrats would get the money for their proposal. Infrastructure was raised at a meeting Monday between Trump and lawmakers from both parties. Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said he doesn’t want another infrastructure plan that is effectively an economic stimulus program like the one Congress passed in 2009 at former President Barack Obama‘s behest. “They thought that was an area maybe to find common ground, and then Sen. McConnell made the important point it needs to be paid for because we’ve got $20 trillion in debt,” Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican leader. Trump bemoaned the state of America’s roads, bridges, airports and railways during the presidential campaign and promised to generate $1 trillion in infrastructure investment, putting people to work in the process. But Trump has offered few specifics. Administration officials have indicated they expect Trump to offer details this spring. “Senate Democrats are walking the walk on repairing and rebuilding our nation’s crumbling infrastructure,” Senate Minority leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “We ask President Trump to support this common sense, comprehensive approach.” Democrats estimate their plan would create 15 million jobs. Besides transportation, the plan includes money for expanding broadband access in rural areas, water treatment and sewer construction, veterans’ hospitals and schools. A proposal by two of Trump’s financial advisers circulated just after the election calls for using $137 billion in tax credits to generate $1 trillion in private investment in infrastructure projects over 10 years. But investors are typically interested only in projects that have a revenue stream like tolls to produce a profit. Elaine Chao, Trump’s nominee for transportation secretary, told senators last week that she wants to “unleash the potential” of private investors to boost transportation. Charging tolls for roads and bridges is often unpopular. A recent Washington Post poll found that 66 percent of the public opposes granting tax credits to investors who put their money into transportation projects in exchange for the right to charge tolls. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and transportation industry lobbying groups want a hike in direct federal spending instead of tax credits. What is needed most, they say, is money to address the growing backlog of maintenance and repair projects, most of which are unsuitable for tolling. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Fact Check: Donald Trump overstates crowd size at inaugural
President Donald Trump‘s speech Saturday at the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency turned into the latest battle in, as he put it, his “running war with the media.” He had two central complaints: that the media misrepresented the size of the crowd at his inauguration and that it was incorrectly reported a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. was removed from the Oval Office. A look at those assertions: TRUMP: “I made a speech. I looked out. The field was — it looked like a million, a million and a half people.” The president went on to say that one network “said we drew 250,000 people. Now that’s not bad. But it’s a lie.” He then claimed that were 250,000 right by the stage and the “rest of the, you know, 20-block area, all the way back to the Washington Monument was packed.” “So we caught them,” said Trump. “And we caught them in a beauty. And I think they’re going to pay a big price.” THE FACTS: Trump is wrong. Photos of the National Mall from his inauguration make clear that the crowd did not extend to the Washington Monument. Large swaths of empty space are visible on the Mall. Thin crowds and partially empty bleachers also dotted the inaugural parade route. Hotels across the District of Columbia reported vacancies, a rarity for an event as large as a presidential inauguration. And ridership on the Washington’s Metro system didn’t match that of recent inaugurations. As of 11 a.m. that day, there were 193,000 trips taken, according to the transit service’s Twitter account. At the same hour eight years ago, there had been 513,000 trips. Four years later, there were 317,000 for Obama‘s second inauguration. There were 197,000 at 11 a.m. in 2005 for President George W. Bush‘s second inauguration. White House press secretary Sean Spicer later added to the misstatements. Spicer claimed that it was the first time white “floor coverings” were used to protect the grass on the National Mall and that it drew attention to any empty space. But the same tarp was used four years ago. Spicer also said it was “the first time that fencing and magnetometers went as far back on the Mall, preventing hundreds of thousands of people from being able to access the Mall as quickly as they had in inaugurations past.” The Secret Service says that this was the first time security fencing was installed around the National Mall for an inauguration. To get onto the Mall, people were required to go through one of seven checkpoints where their bags were checked, but there were no magnetometers used at those checkpoints. A law enforcement official not authorized to publicly discuss the inauguration says officials were “not aware of any issues with flow rate in and around the National Mall.” Spicer then said, “This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration — period — both in person and around the globe.” He offered no evidence and there is no immediate way to confirm such a claim. But photo taken during Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration showed substantially more people on the Mall. It is not known how many people watched the ceremony on television around the globe. In the U.S., Nielsen estimates 31 million viewers watched TV coverage, but that’s less than Barack Obama’s and Ronald Reagan‘s first inaugurations. The exact size of the crowd Friday may never be known. The National Park Service stopped providing estimates in the 1990s. ___ TRUMP: The president also went after a reporter who incorrectly wrote that the president had removed a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office. The reporter later acknowledged the error, saying a Secret Service agent and a door had obstructed his view of the bust when reporters were allowed into the room briefly after Trump’s swearing in. “But this is how dishonest the media is,” Trump said. “Now, big story, the retraction was like, where?” he asked. “Was it a line or do they even bother running it?” THE FACTS: Trump is right. The reporter for Time magazine made an error. The White House said Trump never removed the King bust from the Oval Office. The error about the bust was first transmitted in a pool report distributed among reporters. The White House often uses a pool system when not all reporters who want to attend an event can be accommodated in a space. At 7:30 p.m., reporter Zeke Miller wrote a pool report saying, “The MLK bust was no longer on display.” Once Miller realized his error, an update was sent to the pool. “The MLK bust remains in the Oval Office, in addition to the Churchill bust, per a WH aide. It was apparently obscured by a door and an agent during the spray. Your pool offers sincerest apologies.” Miller also corrected the error on Twitter, and Time magazine corrected its story based on his report. Republish with permission of The Associated Press.
Elaine Chao: Unleash private investors to boost transportation
The Trump administration is looking to “unleash the potential” of private investors to boost the national transportation networks that underpin the U.S. economy, transportation secretary-designate Elaine Chao plans to tell lawmakers at her confirmation hearing Wednesday. Economic gains are being jeopardized by infrastructure “in need of repair, the specter of rising highway fatalities, growing congestion, and by a failure to keep pace with emerging technologies,” according to prepared testimony Chao plans to deliver to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Chao, 63, is expected to be easily confirmed by the Senate. She was labor secretary during George W. Bush’s administration, and deputy transportation secretary under President George H.W. Bush, making her better known than some nominees. She is also the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and many senators have a personal relationship with her. But she hasn’t been immune from criticism. Unions say that as labor secretary she mostly sided with industry when enforcing labor and safety rules. In her testimony, Chao advocates using “innovative financing tools” that can “take full advantage of the estimated trillions in capital that equity firms, pension funds and endowments can invest.” She says private investment should be “incentivized with a bold, new vision.” She doesn’t detail those incentives, but a paper written by two economic advisers to President-elect Donald Trump recommends providing $137 billion in tax credits to infrastructure investors. His advisers predict that will generate about $1 trillion in investment over 10 years. But transportation experts note that investors are interested only in transportation projects that produce revenue, like toll roads, and there are relatively few large projects like that. They say states need help with a growing backlog of maintenance and repair projects for aging highways, bridges and transit systems. Providing tax incentives also runs the risk of providing a windfall to investors for projects that would have been built anyway. Trump repeatedly promised during the campaign to spend $1 trillion on roads, bridges, railways, airports and other types of infrastructure. It’s one of the principal ways he said he would create jobs. But he has said little about this since the election. Republican congressional leaders have said they’ll wait to see what Trump proposes before tackling an infrastructure bill. Trump has said he expects to be occupied early in his administration with cutting taxes and repealing President Barack Obama‘s health care overhaul. Infrastructure isn’t expected to be dealt with until late spring. As transportation secretary, Chao would be responsible for regulating auto, truck, train, transit, pipeline and aviation safety. The department frequently faces pressure from industry to relax safety rules and block new ones. Chao, who has been a fellow at conservative think tank, is likely to lend a sympathetic ear to industry pleas for less regulation. Republish with permission of The Associated Press.
Robert Bentley awards $3.7 million to improve Labor Day, holiday highway safety
Gov. Robert Bentley on Thursday awarded nearly $3.7 million to help keep Alabama roads safe during the upcoming Labor Day weekend and other major traveling holidays during the next year. Funds will be used by law enforcement agencies throughout the state to maintain a presence on highways including setting up checkpoints, increasing patrols on heavily traveled roads, and providing traffic monitoring. “I am proud to award these funds to increase safety on all of Alabama’s more than 100,000 miles of roadways,” Gov. Bentley said. “Highway safety is a very important part of our overall efforts to increase public safety. By increasing the number of troopers and police on the roads, we look to increase driver awareness and adherence to our traffic safety laws.” Bentley awarded $1.2 million to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to keep more troopers on the road during heavy traffic times. The remaining funds will be distributed among the four traffic safety offices in the state, which allocate funds to local police and sheriff’s departments for use in their jurisdictions. Allocations to each office are as follows: North central region: $686,577 East central region: $669,581 Southwest region: $604,631 Southeast region: $536,127 The funds also help support major traffic safety campaigns like “Click it or Ticket” and “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.” The Drive Sober campaign is now in full swing through Labor Day, with the aim of reducing highway injuries and deaths caused by impaired driving due to drugs or alcohol, and distracted driving. Funds were made available to the state from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and are being administered by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA). “This program puts the funds into the hands of state and local law enforcement agencies who know exactly where patrols and police presence need to be,” ADECA Director Jim Byard Jr. said. “ADECA is pleased to partner with law enforcement across our state in this effort to reduce deaths and injuries on our state’s roads.”
Alabama members call for longer-term transportation planning after trust fund vote
The U.S. House has passed H.R. 2353 — a bill approving temporary funding for the nation’s federal transportation trust fund for two months beyond an impending statutory cutoff — with the support of U.S. Reps. Bradley Byrne and, somewhat more surprisingly, Terri Sewell. But that didn’t stop either from expressing displeasure at the short-term nature of the bill passed Tuesday, a result of ongoing gridlock over myriad issues in the House. Byrne and Sewell, who respectively represent Alabama’s 1st and 7th Congressional Districts, each issued statements Tuesday evening saying a more predictable and comprehensive approach is required for maximum public good. “It is sometimes hard in Washington for Republicans and Democrats to find common ground, but both sides agree we need a long-term, reliable funding stream for the Highway Trust Fund,” Byrne said in his news release. “While I voted for today’s short term extension, I will not continue to support kicking the can down the road and putting off difficult decisions. Funding our nation’s highway system is a fundamental responsibility of Congress, and it is time we get serious about finding a solution. I intend to be a constructive participant in that process.” Sewell — breaking with most of her caucus, which opposed the measure — echoed those statements after her “yea” vote Tuesday afternoon. “The Highway Trust Fund Extension is nothing more than a Band-Aid. It’s disappointing that Congress is no closer to drafting a long-term solution to invest in our nation’s roads, bridges, and rails than we were this time last year,” Sewell said in her written statement. “Our nation’s investment in infrastructure is woefully inadequate to the detriment of our constituents.” “In Alabama, deteriorating roads cost motorists approximately $1.2 billion a year. Across our country, an estimated one in three fatal traffic accidents is caused by roads that are in poor or mediocre condition, and the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that one out of every nine bridges in the U.S. is structurally deficient.” Sewell ended, however, on a hopeful note. “By building the infrastructure of tomorrow, we would also create thousands of good-paying jobs that help more hard-working Americans earn a living.”
