Friday 1/27/2006 DAILY NEWS DIGEST

Much has been made of the way our state income tax penalizes the poor and benefits the rich. And there is a lot of back-patting going around now that the governor has finally, partially, addressed the issue.

However, the income tax is only part of the burden borne by the poor. As far as folks in lower income brackets are concerned, Alabama’s sales tax system may hurt them even more. As a recent article in The Star revealed, Anniston families making around $25,000 a year pay just under 10 percent of their income in sales taxes while a family making $108,000 pays about half that.

Which, of course, is not fair.

But unlike the income tax, which is pretty cut and dried, sales taxes in this state are complicated by varying percentages, extensive exemptions and a host of exceptions that will make any reform effort difficult to explain, much less pass.

In addition, the sales tax system as it currently exists is supported by two powerful groups which, for very different reasons, will not be friendly to reform.

Most of the money from state sales taxes goes to education. Reducing the tax burden on the poor would mean reducing the already insufficient amount available for our schools, which would make it all the more difficult for the poor, through education, to rise from poverty. We call that giving with one hand while taking with the other.

But fear not, the Alabama Education Association will oppose any reduction in money going to the Education Trust Fund unless it is offset by money from other sources — such as an increase in property taxes, which in Alabama are among the lowest in the nation, or the removal of most of the sales tax exemptions.

As you would expect, the Alabama Farmers Federation will fight any change in the property tax structure. But ALFA will also oppose any change in the exemptions because so many of them favor agriculture.

So with AEA and ALFA less than enthusiastic, if not outright opposing, sales tax reforms that will help the poor, the chances of change are small indeed.

Being poor is bad enough.

Being poor in Alabama is even worse.

This past week the Alabama Poverty Project, a nonprofit organization committed to ending poverty in Alabama, released its long-awaited study of the poor in Alabama. The report, titled “The Picture of Poverty,” reveals a grim and frustrating view of people in need. And while it is clear that poverty in Alabama is not as bad as it could be, it is nonetheless far from being acceptable.

The study was prepared by the Auburn University Montgomery Center for Demographic and Cultural Research under the direction of Don Bogie. The study gleaned Census data from the years 1990 and 2000, along with a plethora of other sources. The picture of poverty offered by the report makes it tragically obvious that poverty will be a significant part of Alabama’s future.

Overall, the number of Alabama residents living in poverty fell during the economic growth of the 1990s. But even with these gains, many rural counties continue to have poverty rates over 30 percent.

For example, the state’s poorest county, Wilcox, has nearly 40 percent of residents living below the poverty level. This includes 47 percent of the children in the county. Compare Wilcox to Shelby County, which has the lowest poverty rate, 6.3 percent. Statewide, the poverty rate is 16.1 percent.

The picture of poverty has many different angles. For instance, the poverty rate statewide among children 17 and under is nearly 22 percent. For families with a female head of household, the rate is nearly 45 percent. The percentage of Alabamians eligible for Medicaid is right at 16 percent.

Wayne Flynt, an Auburn University history professor and president of the board of the Alabama Poverty Project, notes that the greatest poverty in Alabama is among our children. “In a state where evangelical Christianity is by far the dominant religion,” Flynt said in a press briefing, “these numbers are hard to accept.”

Dr. Flynt’s reference, of course, is to Jesus’ admonition that his followers show particular care for “the least of these in your midst.” Children and the elderly are in fact singled out in the Scriptures for special attention — the so called “widows and orphans.”

In the foreword to the report, Dr. Flynt writes, “What does it say about the moral values of a society when its poorest, least powerful, most neglected people are its children and its senior citizens?”

A copy of the study was hand delivered to every state legislator and to Gov. Riley.In a statement on the steps of the statehouse last Friday, Dr. Flynt said, “Never again will the leaders of our state be able to say, ‘I didn’t know that!’ concerning poverty because they did know that, because we’re going to give them a copy of this.”

Of course, changing the picture of poverty in Alabama will require a concerted effort by all its citizens. It will require a substantial enactment of Jesus’ admonition that we “love our neighbor as we love ourselves.” And it will take some awareness of the scope of poverty, which means taking stock of just how many folks qualify as “the least of these in our midst.”

To that end, the Alabama Poverty Project will make the “The Picture of Poverty” available to anyone who would like a copy. There is a free download of the study available at the group’s Web site, alabamapoverty.org. To obtain a hard copy of the study, call toll-free 877-782-5867 and ask for “The Picture of Poverty.” The price of the hard copy is $20.

James L. Evans is pastor of Auburn First Baptist Church and is on the board of directors of the Alabama Poverty Project. He can be reached at faithmatters@mindspring.com.

Twenty years ago, Mike Rogers, a 28-year-old attorney from Saks, became the youngest member and first Republican member of the Calhoun County Commission.

Over the ensuing two decades, he’s asked voters to invest their trust in him. His most recent success was the 2002 election to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Thursday, he asked voters to do it again. Rogers announced his campaign for reelection to the 3rd Congressional District at the monthly Anniston Kiwanis Club meeting. He told members that his staff delivered qualifying papers to Birmingham Wednesday night.

“Hopefully, we’ll have good success,” he said.

According to the latest campaign-finance reports filed Sept. 30, 2005, Rogers had received $639,487 in contributions and still had $597,369 cash on hand. Much of Rogers’ contributions come from the health care, banking and insurance industries, as well as contributions from other political action committees.

Among the largest contributors for 2005 were Alabama Power Company Employees’ Federal Political Action Committee, $10,000; American Dental Political Action Committee, $10,000; Americans for a Republican Majority PAC, $10,000; BAE Systems United Defense Employees PAC, $10,000; ELECT – The PAC of the Alabama Farmers’ Federation, $10,000; Keep Our Majority PAC $10,000; National Association of Realtors’ PAC $10,000; Together For Our Majority PAC, $10,000.

An independent candidate, Mark Layfield of Auburn, is compiling a petition for ballot access. He needs 5,000 verified signatures by the April 7 qualifying deadline, and as of Thursday had about 4,400, according to the Secretary of State’s election division.

The Alabama Democratic Party said Thursday that no Democratic candidate had filed yet to run against Rogers.

In his Kiwanis speech Thursday, Rogers laid out the Republican agenda for the coming year. He said the agenda includes reforming the ethics policy for lobbyists, making tax cuts permanent, and immigration reforms.

Rogers said immigration reforms undoubtedly will stir the most debate among the parties.

“It’s become a real problem from a national security standpoint,” he said.

He spoke of a trip to Arizona, New Mexico and Texas where he learned just how easy it was for Hispanic immigrants to get across the border. It could be just as easy for terrorists, he said.

“We know there are people out there who want to come into our country and do us harm,” Rogers said.

He advocates construction of a high security fence along the border.

“We know the fence won’t keep them out, but it will slow them down,” he said.

He said he wants immigrants to register legally. He understands the poor conditions they live in and the need for jobs, he said.

“They need to work, and frankly, we need the labor,” Rogers said.

Rogers said after the meeting he was pleased with many of the projects he’s been able to work on during his first term. He cited $22 million earmarked for the Eastern Bypass and a successful trip through BRAC hearings.

Rogers said that in the future, he would like to work with the Center for Domestic Preparedness to offer mobile training sessions. He feels the training could benefit volunteer fire departments and EMS personnel who can’t leave their full-time jobs for two weeks to train at the McClellan center.

He also wants to expand the use of dogs for security and drug-detection purposes. He said many of the dogs are bred and trained In Europe rather than the United States.

Auburn University’s Canine Detection Training Center is at McClellan.

Rogers is a member of the House Armed Services, Agriculture, and Homeland Security committees. He is chairman of a committee investing the funding of Sept. 11 projects.

Rogers’ first elected office was as county commissioner at age 28.

In 1994, he was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives. He was reelected and became the House Minority Leader in 1998.

Rogers previously worked as an attorney in Anniston.

He graduated from Saks High School and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Jacksonville State University.

He graduated from the Birmingham School of Law in 1991.

Rogers lives in Saks with his wife, Beth, and their three children.

Star Capitol Correspondent Brian Lyman contributed to this report.

MONTGOMERY — You have to take up the tacks before you take up the carpet.

And before you take up the state constitution, you have to take up the tax.

State Sen. Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, introduced bills Thursday that would eliminate the federal income tax deduction and the sales tax on groceries, raise personal and dependent exemptions and increase the minimum income tax threshold from $4,600 to $12,000.

Bedford said attempts to reform Alabama’s Constitution of 1901 have generally run into opposition because of questions over what a new governing document would do to taxes.

“I’ve come to the conclusion we better tackle the hardest part first, and that’s taxes,” he said.

Bedford’s tax proposal is the third to be considered by the legislature this year.

Gov. Bob Riley has proposed raising the minimum income tax threshold from $4,600 to $15,000 over a five-year period, as well as increasing the standard deduction and personal and dependent exemptions.

Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery, has introduced legislation to repeal the state’s federal income tax deduction, increase standard deductions and personal exemption to their federal equivalents, and raise the minimum tax threshold to $22,800.

Alabama Arise, an advocacy group that has endorsed Knight’s plan, estimates that Riley’s plan would save families approximately $350 per year when fully implemented. It estimates Knight’s plan would save families approximately $700 per year. Bedford said his proposal would save families between $300 and $400 a year.

The federal income tax deduction is written into the state constitution through Amendment 225, passed in 1965. Bedford’s proposal hinges on voters approving another constitutional amendment to repeal Amendment 225.

Bedford says repealing the deduction, which generally favors the wealthy, would bring an additional $270 million to state coffers, which he said would cover the cost of repealing the 4 percent sales tax on groceries. The Legislative Fiscal Office estimates that cost at $275 million. The money would come out of the Education Trust Fund.

Riley’s tax-cut plan would cost approximately $233 million in state revenues. Bedford’s and Knight’s plans are “revenue neutral” – they would not cost the state anything.

The $12,000 threshold would be below the federal poverty level, but Bedford said the difference could be made up by the repeal of the sales tax.

If the repeal of the deduction passes, however, nothing in Bedford’s plan would require the state to repeal the sales tax.

“My preference is there would be a link, but I heard from House members and senators (to) let the voters speak first,” he said.

Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston, has introduced legislation to repeal the sales tax on nonprescription drugs and medical equipment, from eyeglasses to wheelchairs.

“I’d like to see it first,” he said. “If the numbers work, I’d be supportive. But I’d have to see it first.”