A portion of Alabama's Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement (agreement in principle) reached by Governor Robert Bentley on July 1, 2015 will reportedly provide $1.0 billion in unrestricted funds over 18 years to Alabama's General Fund. The Mobile and Baldwin County state legislative delegations have together expressed opposition to the state's claim for this $1.0 billion in economic losses suffered from the oil spill. They are also working together to introduce legislation in the upcoming special session (beginning August 3, 2015) that would provide one-half ($500 million) of the state's settlement proceeds to be distributed to the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) for road and bridge projects in Mobile and Baldwin Counties and to the Department of Insurance for homeowner insurance reform.

This proposed legislation, should it be enacted, provides for the first time during my tenure as a County Commissioner, a feasible source of available funding to finally complete the long-stalled new U.S. Highway 98 project. My office sent a letter to Governor Bentley last week to address the critical need to complete the project and request his assistance with the BP settlement money to accomplish that goal. Click Here to see the letter sent to Governor Bentley and Click Here to see 2012-2014 data for total crashes on the two-lane section of Rural U.S. Highway 98 from Snow Road to the Mississippi state line. Until the new U.S. 98 is completed by ALDOT, the existing Highway 98, known as "Bloody 98", will remain the most dangerous two-lane road for vehicular fatalities in Alabama.

Please take the opportunity to assist my office and the Mobile and Baldwin County Legislative delegations in contacting Governor Bentley and key committee leaders in the Alabama House and Senate regarding the redirection of a portion of state BP settlement funds to ALDOT to complete the new U.S. Highway 98 project. Click Here for contact information. Any form of communication is effective, but PLEASE let them hear from you as soon as possible regarding this extremely important matter! Thank you in advance for your attention and assistance.