The House State Government Committee favorably reported SB 250 by Sen. Greg Reed, R-Jasper. The legislation, if it becomes law, would affirm that appeals regarding the Surface Mining Commission must be made in court in the county of the agency. This bill previously passed the Senate by a vote of 31-0. It now awaits consideration by the full House.

The House Commerce and Small Business Committee held a public hearing on HB 345 by Rep. A.J. McCampbell, D-Gallion, which would impact how hazardous waste disposal facility fees are distributed.  Debate on the bill is over how these fees would be divided among counties with disposal facilities, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, and the General Fund Budget. The committee did not vote on the bill following the public hearing.

The House Insurance Committee on a voice vote this week favorably reported SB 88, the health mandate bill sponsored by Sen. Gerald Dial, R-Lineville. This bill would restrict terms and conditions of how private insurers reimburse health care providers for services.

The Health section of BCA's 2015 State Legislative Agenda states that, "BCA will actively oppose mandating employer-provided health care benefits or any legislation, resolution or regulation that would increase health plan costs."

A recent blog post by the BCA focused on why health care mandates are unhealthy for business. "While some may cite that one mandate affects minimal or no cost increases on plan participants, the reality is that mandates beget mandates. For every 'just' mandate, there is always another. It is this culmination that creates a costly paradigm for businesses and employees" The appropriate forum for determining the fine print in health care agreements is between the parties involved, not the government, in our opinion.

This session there have been 8 health care mandate-type bills filed which are listed below. All have different nuances and facts, but this is the primary decision that must be made by legislators: does the Alabama Legislature want detailed oversight of health care agreements? It is our opinion that they should not.

Health Care Mandate related legislation:

SB 88 by Dial/HB 271 by Rep. Ed Henry - would restrict the terms and conditions of how a private insurer reimburses a health care provider for services.

SB 270 by Sen. Slade Blackwell/HB540 by Rep. Matt Fridy - prohibits a private insurer from being able to establish costs of non-covered services in an employer's benefit program by a vision provider.

SB 295 by Sen. Paul Bussman/HB 404 by Rep. Anthony Daniels - prohibits a private insurer and employer sponsored benefit plans they administer from including cost of services in a quality rating system. 

SB 296 by Bussman/HB 397 by Daniels - prohibits a private insurer from being able to set costs of non-covered services of a dental provider for its contracts with those providers.

The House voting 98-1 on Thursday passed the Alabama Consumer Lawsuit Lending Act that is supported by the Business Council of Alabama and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. If HB 160 sponsored by Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, becomes law, consumer lawsuit lenders would be required to obtain licensing from the State Banking Department.

Pringle's bill, which was substituted in committee, goes to the Senate for consideration. The Senate version, SB 68 sponsored by Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, was on the Senate calendar.

"We applaud the House voting to approve the bill and look forward to a successful conclusion in the Senate," said BCA President and CEO William J. Canary.

As part of its 2015 State Legislative Agenda's Judicial and Legal Reform, the BCA supports efforts to provide meaningful regulation in order to protect the interests of businesses, consumers and the public. To read more, click on this blog post written by the BCA this week.

View the BCA's fact sheet on lawsuit lending here.  

BCA President and CEO William J. Canary, testifying at a public hearing on SB 29, said the BCA volunteers to participate in a Senate subcommittee study of the bill planned for after the end of the 2015 legislative session.

"We'd like to work with you," Canary testified. "We don't want to see small businesses hurt."

SB 29 sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham, would add new and burdensome regulations as well as a new and untested regulatory scheme to the numerous state and federal rules already governing consumer credit.

The BCA opposes SB 29 as written. It was carried over in committee.

Other members of the business community including the Alabama Bankers Association, Alabama Retail Association, and the Automobile Dealers Association also voiced concerns with the SB 29 as written and volunteered to work with Sen. Coleman to study this issue.

The Senate this week favorably reported SB 367 by Sen. Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City. The bill, and its House companion, HB 352, relate to restrictive covenants in contracts between businesses and their employees, among others. These bills, supported by the Alabama Law Institute, would replace the existing statute with a more definite list of protectable interests and reasonable restraints on length-of-time and geographic-area limitations.

The Senate Judiciary Committee amended and favorably reported the bill. HB 352 sponsored by Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, was previously amended and favorably reported by the House Judiciary Committee.

Local governments in other states have taken ill-advised steps to increase the local minimum wage or to require local employers to provide certain employee benefits. HB 495 sponsored by Rep. Arnold Mooney, R-Birmingham, is intended to halt similar attempts to impose mandates on Alabama's employers before they gain any traction.

Rep. Mooney's bill would prohibit local governing bodies from enacting any measure that tells an employer to provide any employee benefit not required under state or federal law, including leave, wages, or work schedule. The bill further would provide that local governing bodies shall not interfere in any way with the employer conducting background checks on potential employees nor shall such bodies restrict the collective bargaining rights of employers or employees as provided for under federal labor laws.

On Thursday, Sen. Bill Hightower, R-Mobile, introduced SB 409, a proposed constitutional amendment that proposes a flat tax to replace the Alabama income tax. A rate of 2.75 percent on the federal Adjusted Gross Income of individual taxpayers and a rate of 4.59 percent for corporate taxpayers would apply to their federal taxable income that is attributed to Alabama.

A "flat tax" is generally lauded for its simplicity, in that most common deductions and exemptions do not apply or are strictly limited and the flat tax rates are simply applied to the taxpayers' income. If the legislation passes the Legislature and is ratified by the voters, enabling legislation will be needed to detail its implementation.

The bill states that it would take an 80 percent vote of members of each House to enact any future credit, deduction, and exemption.

The bill has 20 Senate co-sponsors and is scheduled to be considered by the Senate Finance Taxation Education Committee on Wednesday. The two tax rates are geared to be revenue-neutral in their overall impact on State revenue.

BCA's long-standing tax policy is found in the Tax and Fiscal Policy section of the BCA 2015 State Legislative Agenda which states:

"Should any tax or tax reform initiatives be proposed, the BCA will not consider supporting such legislation unless it is applied fairly without levying a disproportionate burden on any individual segment of Alabama's economy. Any tax reform proposal must be tied to governmental accountability and the elimination of wasteful spending. It is further the policy of the BCA that taxes and regulatory fees be properly aligned such that they are commensurate with the actual costs of performing the necessary day-to-day functions of the affected state agencies."

The House Ways and Means General Fund Committee this week favorably reported HB 490, which would extend for one year the requirement to repay the Alabama Trust Fund. A 2013 law requires full repayment of the $437 million that was borrowed from the Alabama Trust Fund in 2012 by Sept. 30, 2026. HB 490 would delay this year's payment of $15 million and extend the deadline to Sept. 30, 2027.

The BCA supported borrowing $437 million from the Alabama Trust Fund based on the stipulation that the full amount would be repaid. Alabama voters ratified the repayment constitutional amendment in a special election in September 2012.

HB 490 is sponsored by House General Fund Committee Chairman Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark. The bill would free up $15 million for the cash-strapped General Fund budget for the 2016 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Bay Minette, has a companion bill, SB 408.