The substitute General Fund Budget, HB 135, sponsored by Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, which was favorably reported by the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee, does not include money from the General Fund for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management for Fiscal Year 2016.

In addition, the budget would direct ADEM to transfer $7.7 million in other department environmental funds to the General fund to support other state agencies. This redirection of environmental remediation funds to other non-environmental state agencies will have a negative impact on environmental clean-up activities in Alabama.

The BCA has a long-standing policy of support for adequate funding of ADEM and ensuring that ADEM retains primacy over the environmental programs that they implement.

Combined with the proposed action by HB 345 mentioned in last week's Capital Briefing, which would remove $450,000 from ADEM's budget, ADEM would be facing the loss of approximately $1.5 million in funding in FY 2016.  It is assumed that permit fees would have to be raised to cover this loss.

Should a budget with these cuts be enacted, SB 375 by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, would be a necessity for ADEM to have the flexibility to survive the loss of its General Fund appropriation as well as the loss of ADEM's $7.7 million accumulated fund balance and still retain the environmental programs.

Change came to the Birmingham Water Works Board yesterday following Governor Bentley's signature of a bill that affects board pay, requires public hearings and public votes on rate increases, and discussion about travel expenses.

Changes taking effect immediately under the new law that was sponsored by Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills, include eliminating the current pay of $285 per meeting and replacing it with a compensation of $1,000 a month. Board travel and reimbursement must be approved in a public vote, expense records must be listed on the Water Works' website, and board members may not be reimbursed for alcoholic beverages or entertainment.

The House Insurance Committee favorably reported HB 540, by Rep. Matt Fridy, R-Montevallo. It would prohibit vision insurers from limiting a vision care provider's ability to set fees for services and materials that are not covered by the insurer.

 
The Senate voting 26-1-1 approved SB 296 by Sen. Paul Bussman, R-Cullman. The bill would prohibit a private insurer from being able to set costs of non-covered services of a dental provider for its contracts with those providers.
 
In the 2015 legislative session, there have been nine health mandate related bills. 

On Wednesday, the House State Government Committee held a public hearing on HB 495 by Rep. Arnold Mooney, R-Birmingham, which would further specify Alabama's status as a right-to-work state by prohibiting local governments from enacting certain employment policies and labor peace agreements on private sector businesses that go beyond federal and state regulations.    

HB 495 would establish a statewide policy prohibiting municipalities, counties, or authorizes to set wage, benefit, or leave policies for private-sector employees. HB 495 also would prohibit municipalities to require employers to grant collective bargaining concessions to unions in exchange for assistance with a development project.

Scott McNelley, president of Admiral Movers in Montgomery and member of the BCA Board of Directors, testified in support of HB 495.

"We are a small business and our employees are our greatest asset," McNelley said. "But we already spend large sums of resources to comply with existing government regulations and with more regulations and red tape that means fewer shifts, less pay, and fewer jobs we can create. We want to invest more in our employees but more government regulation is not the answer."

As the bill explains, there are existing federal and state laws that seek to protect individuals from discrimination in employment while providing appropriate due process to employers without limiting employers' ability to maintain a secure, safe, and productive workplace.

The Labor and Employment section of the 2015 BCA State Legislative Agenda States that the BCA strongly supports Alabama's "right-to-work" status for its benefits to economic growth, industrial recruitment, and job creation.

To this end, BCA works to protect Alabama's competitive edge nationally and internationally by fighting efforts to create a state minimum wage above the national minimum wage and oppose attempts to negatively influence the current balance between business and labor as it relates to unionization and contract negotiations.

Other states with similar laws include Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

The House Ways and Means General Fund Committee favorably reported its version of the Fiscal Year 2015-16 General Fund budget on Thursday. The proposed budget would appropriate estimated funds but does not call for new revenue.

HB 135 sponsored by Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, would appropriate $1.64 billion, some $204 million less than the total appropriated for the current fiscal year. The bill contains a significant number of conditional appropriations totaling $202 million to be released only if additional revenue is realized next fiscal year.

The committee version would cut Medicaid and the departments of Corrections, Mental Health, and Human Resources by 5 percent. All other agencies would be cut by about 9 percent. The full House could vote on the budget as early as Tuesday.

Governor Robert Bentley wants $541 million in tax increases and says he won't sign a budget that includes state agency cuts.

Conditional appropriations in the House version, if realized, would level-fund Medicaid, the Department of Mental Health, the Department of Human Resources, and the Administrative Office of the Courts. It also would provide funding to begin implementing critical prison reform measures.

Associated with the budget is SB 453 by Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston. SB 453 is a constitutional amendment that asks voters to create an Alabama Lottery and Gaming Commission that would regulate a state lottery and casino gaming at four existing racetrack facilities.

The House Ways and Means Education Committee this week favorably reported companion bills that would authorize tax credits to employers who hire apprentices.

The Senate on April 30 passed SB 109 by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, and sent it to the House where the education committee favorably reported it. The committee also favorably reported HB 437 sponsored by Rep. Ritchie Whorton, R-Owens Cross Roads.

The bills would authorize a tax credit of $1,000 to employers for each apprentice hired. An employer would have to employ the apprentice for at least seven full months of a taxable year. The credit would be limited to four years per apprentice. Amendments to both bills would cap the tax credits at $3 million.

The amendment also would require the Alabama Industrial Development Training Institute in coordination with the Alabama Workforce Council to annually report the effectiveness of the apprenticeship program to the chairs of the House and Senate education budget committees.

The House Way and Means Education Committee this week favorably reported a substitute version of HB 416 by Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile. HB 416, the Alabama Renewal Act, would authorize a port credit, create the Growing Alabama Act tax credit to meet economic development needs that cannot be solved with traditional tax incentives, and add provisions to the Alabama Jobs Act that are proposed in HB 58, which became law this year.

The port credit, if approved by the Alabama Renewal Commission, would be granted to users of Alabama's publically owned ports based on qualifying increased cargo shipments and would offset a company's income tax liability.

The port credit, with an aggregate annual cap of $8 million, is designed to match incentives offered by other states and spur increased shipments of certain types of cargo through Alabama's ports.

The Growing Alabama Act would allow individual and corporate contributors of funds or property to economic development organizations to receive an income tax credit that is the lesser of 50 percent of the contributor's tax liability or the full amount of the contribution. The aggregate contribution cap would increase from $5 million in 2016 to $10 million in 2017 and top out at $15 million in 2018 and each year thereafter.

Economic development organizations would make allocations to qualifying purposes, following approval by the Alabama Renewal Commission. Qualifying purposes would include promoting the state, acquiring industrial sites, public infrastructure projects, downtown revitalizations, expansion of the missions of Alabama's military bases and educational technology, and placing high technology equipment in Alabama classrooms.

Companies receiving the Alabama Jobs Act incentives and which employ veterans totaling between 12 percent and 22 percent of their workforce would receive an additional jobs credit of 0.5 percent of wages paid to veterans.