Sunday 3/19/2006 DAILY NEWS DIGEST
http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/114276400150840.xml&coll=2 – Editorial in opposition to the proposed “deadly force” bill being considered in the legislature.
http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/opinion/editorials/060319a.shtml - Editorial in support of tax reform measure currently before Senate.
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060319/NEWS02/603190303/1009 - “The Capitol Insider,” the weekly political roundup from the Montgomery Advertiser.
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060319/OPINION01/603190301/1012/OPINION - Editorial praises Gov. Riley and Rep. Knight for leading the legislature into action on income tax reform.
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060319/NEWS/603190326/1013/EDITORIAL2 - Dana Beyerle’s weekly political column, “Alabama Exposure,” for the NYTimes regional papers.
FROM THE ANNISTON STAR:
Dems, GOP claim credit for tax-cut plan
By Bob Johnson
Associated Press
03-19-2006
MONTGOMERY — The plan to cut income taxes for poor Alabama residents has had many names, depending on which political party is talking, as it has made its way through the Alabama Legislature.
It’s been called “the Republican plan,” “the Democratic Party plan” and “the people’s plan.” It’s an election year, and some legislators and political observers say it’s an effort by both parties to claim credit for a tax cut on the campaign trail.
Teachers lobbyist Paul Hubbert said his organization did a poll, where 51 percent of respondents said they felt talk of tax cuts was an “election year ploy.”
“Obviously that 51 percent, judging on what has happened, were right,” said Hubbert, executive secretary of the Alabama Education Association.
The House passed the plan Thursday on a 101-0 vote to raise the income level where poor Alabama residents begin paying taxes from $4,600 for a family of four to $12,600. But the unanimous vote came after several hours of debate, during which Republicans talked about GOP Gov. Bob Riley’s efforts to cut taxes and Democrats accused Republicans of trying to offer amendments so they could use the votes against opponents in this year’s elections.
“First thing you know I’m going to think many of these comments are political,” Speaker Seth Hammett, D-Andalusia, said at one point during the debate.
For years in the Legislature it was known as the “Knight plan,” proposed session after session by Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery, to raise the income level where poor residents begin paying income taxes. When Gov. Bob Riley proposed a plan to raise the income level for paying income taxes and to give a tax cut to all taxpayers at the beginning of this session, it became “the Riley Plan” or “the Republican Plan.” Then when the governor and Knight negotiated a compromise tax cut, it became the “Knight-Riley plan.”
Knight and the governor announced the compromise on March 8 at a Capitol press conference surrounded by Democrats and Republicans, declaring the plan was nonpartisan. But the next day the governor’s re-election campaign sent out a news release saying the governor was embarking on a statewide tour “to promote his tax cut for working Alabama families.”
Last week Knight and Democratic legislators came up with a new version that limits most of the benefits of the tax cut to those with incomes under $30,000 a year. At a news conference Wednesday, House Majority Leader Rep. Ken Guin said the plan was now “the Democratic Party tax cut.” A press release from the Democratic Party concerning a north Alabama legislative race called the new plan the “Knight-Lindsey plan,” named for Knight and for Rep. Richard Lindsey, D-Centre, chairman of the House education budget committee.
Monitoring the process closely has been Kimble Forrister, executive director of Alabama Arise, an advocacy group for the poor which has long advocated reforming the income tax system. He said he’s just happy to finally have the Legislature considering a plan that will help the people his organization represents.
“Mostly it’s just a matter of how you get things done in an election year,” Forrister said. Despite the competing press conferences and news releases, Forrister said Knight and Riley should share the credit — Riley for making tax cuts an issue for the 2006 campaign and Knight for working with the governor to start the move toward a compromise.
“Both Rep. Knight and Gov. Riley played critical roles in making this happen and they deserve praise along with every member of the House who voted for it,” Forrister said.
Jess Brown, a political scientist at Athens State University, said the governor will end up getting political credit for the plan if he signs it into law.
“In the final analysis, if the governor signs the bill at a signing ceremony it is going to be extremely difficult for the governor not to get some credit for this plan,” Brown said. He predicted that Riley would again be surrounded by Republicans and Democrats at the signing ceremony.
Knight said he hopes that’s the way it ends up.
“I think it’s the people’s plan. Maybe we can have a joint press conference with everybody supporting it,” Knight said.
Rep. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, said he thinks the efforts to make the proposal bipartisan broke down when negotiations between Knight and Riley ended and legislators started talking about the plan.
“I think honestly that the governor and John Knight have gone into this with good intentions about raising the income tax threshold. But once it got to the House floor, both sides wanted to take credit,” Ward said.
Another legislator, Rep. Jeff McLaughlin, D-Guntersville, said he believes both Democrats and Republicans have good intentions, but admitted he gets tired of hearing the political speeches.
“It’s just election year foolishness. We need to come to a consensus, but unfortunately this is the way it’s done in politics,” McLaughlin said. “But I think everybody recognizes that the income tax threshold is despicably low. Everybody recognizes this is a bad thing. And I think both parties recognize this is the best year to change it.”
