State of Alabama $avings

     I've been thinking  a lot about Governor Bentley's announced $1-Billion in "savings", announced at a news conference attended by  all of the GOP leadership. It was a show of solidarity for Alabama Republicans, and comes in advance of the September 18th vote by Alabamians on transferring almost 146-Million Dollars a year, for three years, from the oil and gas trust fund to the General Fund budget to save Medicaid and the state prison system from disastrous cuts.
     The "cuts" announced by the governor came mostly at the expense of state employees, with thousands of jobs eliminated by attrition and retirement benefits slashed. Some of those savings won't be realized for decades, when workers retire. And each of those dollars "saved" represents money potentially not spent in the Alabama economy as well...an economy that is still fragile. The unemployment rate was up for the second month in a row in June. At that rate Governor Bentley may never get a paycheck.

     The Wall Street Journal reported this week that retail giant Amazon is softening it's opposition to collecting sales taxes on the stuff it sells. In Alabama, residents are supposed to pay the tax on items they buy online when they file their income tax...a 'use" tax that virtually nobody really pays.
     All Alabama would have to do is lure an Amazon warehouse or distribution center to the state using some of those incentive bucks the state loves to spread around, and voila! Then, with a so-called "brick and mortar" presence in Alabama. the law would be on the state's side and Amazon would legally have to collect sales taxes. But that may smell a little too much like a tax increase to anti-tax crazy Alabamians for anyone seeking re-election to embrace.