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Homegrown Population |
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There's a very good chance that if you're reading this, you were born and raised in Alabama!
An estimated seventy percent of today's Alabamians were born here, the tenth-highest percentage among all fifty states.
Governing Magazine researchers compiled "homegrown" percentages for states and cities, using Census Bureau data for 2010. Their analysis showed that the Deep South and the Midwestern Rust Belt have the largest percentages of homegrown residents. Louisiana tops the list.
Among cities, Birmingham's
homegrown population
ranks fourth-highest
in the U.S., at eighty
percent.
William Frey, a Brookings Institution demographer, points to the challenge
of governing areas with
such populations.
"Interests groups, biases
and preferences are
much more well-known
and harder to overcome,"
he states in the
Governing article.
To see the data for Alabama and our cities, as well as the analysis, click here.
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Low Taxes Alone |
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Low taxes alone won't give Alabama good government.
It's widely known that Alabama's taxes are the lowest in the U.S., as recently reported. But low cost doesn't always mean highly efficient. Are there steps our governments can take to improve their performance? Some improvements to consider:
- Tell us more about what's in the budget. Despite its financial woes, Jefferson County reveals less and less in its budgets each year. Maybe Alabama law should require counties to adopt itemized budgets. (To learn more, click here.)
- Allow more time to plan and measure how wisely our money is spent. Just when finances are most uncertain, the State of Alabama gives its agencies a break from SMART budgeting. Perhaps the state should consider biennial budgets to give agencies more time to plan and the Legislature more time to oversee spending. (To learn more, click here.)
- Look at expenditures on both sides of the budget. Governments spend money not only through appropriations from the treasury, but also by granting various kinds of exemptions in the tax laws. Alabama is one of only seven states that do not evaluate these "tax expenditures" on a regular basis. (To learn more, click here.)
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PARCA Friends on the Move |
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- The board of directors of the Alabama Council on Economic Education has named PARCA Board member Johnnie Aycock as Executive Director of the Birmingham-based organization. For more information, click here.
- Under the leadership of BCA President and PARCA Board member Billy Canary, the Business Council of Alabama receives ILR's 2011 Outstanding Organization Award. Read more here.
- PARCA Board member Bruce Ely was recently elected into The International Who's Who of Corporate Tax Lawyers-2011. He is the only lawyer in the state of Alabama to be included.
- Alabama Coastal Foundation names PARCA Roundtable member Mark Berte its new Executive Director. To read about Mark's new position, click here.
- PARCA Roundtable member Danny Markstein has been elected as an officer of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center Advisory Board. More information can be viewed here.
- PARCA Roundtable member Greg Powell has been named the newest member of the Hoover City Schools Foundation Advisory Council. His bio can be read here.
- Railroad Park, under the leadership of Park Executive Director and PARCA Roundtable member Camille Spratling, was recognized with an award from the Society of American Travel Writers. To read more about the award, click here.
- Alabama Association of Nonprofits, led by PARCA Roundtable member John Stone, is partnering with its members and communities around the state to promote Governor Bentley's newly designated November Nonprofit Awareness Month. Read more here.
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