Sunday 5/27/2007 DAILY NEWS DIGEST

Two of the amendments affect Mobile and Shelby counties, and will only be voted on in those communities. The other two have statewide impact on economic development and health care for retired state employees and retired education employees. The proposed amendments could bring the total number of constitutional amendments to a whopping 798 if they are approved.

Mark Berte, grassroots education director for the Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform Foundation, said that it is only by a twist of fate that citizens all across the state are not voting on the amendments for Mobile and Shelby counties.

Because of the 1901 constitution, if one legislator in either house of the Alabama State Legislature had cast a dissenting vote on the Mobile or Shelby County amendments, the entire state could have been voting on those local issues, too.

“It is a waste of not only time, but also taxpayer dollars to wait for the Legislature to be in session to handle matters that should be done at the county level,” Berte said.

The two statewide amendments were generated in a five-day special session called by Gov. Bob Riley in February, which cost the state an estimated $100,000. Riley called the special session before the regular legislative session began to ensure that his proposal to lure German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp got through the Legislature.

The proposal required a constitutional amendment to allow the state to increase the amount it can borrow for economic development. If the amendment passes, the state will be allowed to borrow up to $750 million. Right now, the state only can borrow up to $350 million for economic development.

State law requires that any proposed constitutional amendments go before voters no earlier than three months after the close of the legislative session in which they passed.

Riley’s rationale for the special session was that ThyssenKrupp might have taken its nearly 25,000 construction jobs and 2,700 manufacturing jobs to New Orleans if he had waited until the regular session. Since the regular session doesn’t end until sometime in June, the amendments would not have been put to the voters until the fall — far too late for ThyssenKrupp, according to Riley’s Web site.

Ed Packard, administrator of elections for the state, said issues such as a constitutional amendment usually will appear on a regular election ballot, but special referendums aren’t uncommon. Either way, it costs the state between $3 million and $4 million to hold an election, and Packard said that is the estimated cost for the upcoming referendum.

Greg Barker, vice president of economic and community development at Alabama Power Co., said the ThyssenKrupp project will be a catalyst for expanded economic growth in the state.

“I believe this will be a tipping point for south Alabama and the rest of Alabama,” Barker said at a recent roundtable symposium sponsored by the Public Affairs Research Council. “ThyssenKrupp makes steel for the automotive industry, which makes it less expensive for the industry here.”

Barker said there was some grumbling over the $811 million incentives package for ThyssenKrupp, but the question of whether the state should offer incentives is not what people will be voting on in the June 5 referendum.

“I wish there weren’t any incentives and that we competed on the basis of our natural and logistical advantages, because I think we would win far more than our share,” Barker said. “But we’re not voting on whether there will be incentives or not, because they will always be there.

“This amendment will allow us to continue to be part of the economic-development process and allow us to compete in the incentive process.”

Two of the amendments affect Mobile and Shelby counties, and will only be voted on in those communities. The other two have statewide impact on economic development and health care for retired state employees and retired education employees. The proposed amendments could bring the total number of constitutional amendments to a whopping 798 if they are approved.

Mark Berte, grassroots education director for the Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform Foundation, said that it is only by a twist of fate that citizens all across the state are not voting on the amendments for Mobile and Shelby counties.

Because of the 1901 constitution, if one legislator in either house of the Alabama State Legislature had cast a dissenting vote on the Mobile or Shelby County amendments, the entire state could have been voting on those local issues, too.

“It is a waste of not only time, but also taxpayer dollars to wait for the Legislature to be in session to handle matters that should be done at the county level,” Berte said.

The two statewide amendments were generated in a five-day special session called by Gov. Bob Riley in February, which cost the state an estimated $100,000. Riley called the special session before the regular legislative session began to ensure that his proposal to lure German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp got through the Legislature.

The proposal required a constitutional amendment to allow the state to increase the amount it can borrow for economic development. If the amendment passes, the state will be allowed to borrow up to $750 million. Right now, the state only can borrow up to $350 million for economic development.

State law requires that any proposed constitutional amendments go before voters no earlier than three months after the close of the legislative session in which they passed.

Riley’s rationale for the special session was that ThyssenKrupp might have taken its nearly 25,000 construction jobs and 2,700 manufacturing jobs to New Orleans if he had waited until the regular session. Since the regular session doesn’t end until sometime in June, the amendments would not have been put to the voters until the fall — far too late for ThyssenKrupp, according to Riley’s Web site.

Ed Packard, administrator of elections for the state, said issues such as a constitutional amendment usually will appear on a regular election ballot, but special referendums aren’t uncommon. Either way, it costs the state between $3 million and $4 million to hold an election, and Packard said that is the estimated cost for the upcoming referendum.

Greg Barker, vice president of economic and community development at Alabama Power Co., said the ThyssenKrupp project will be a catalyst for expanded economic growth in the state.

“I believe this will be a tipping point for south Alabama and the rest of Alabama,” Barker said at a recent roundtable symposium sponsored by the Public Affairs Research Council. “ThyssenKrupp makes steel for the automotive industry, which makes it less expensive for the industry here.”

Barker said there was some grumbling over the $811 million incentives package for ThyssenKrupp, but the question of whether the state should offer incentives is not what people will be voting on in the June 5 referendum.

“I wish there weren’t any incentives and that we competed on the basis of our natural and logistical advantages, because I think we would win far more than our share,” Barker said. “But we’re not voting on whether there will be incentives or not, because they will always be there.

“This amendment will allow us to continue to be part of the economic-development process and allow us to compete in the incentive process.”

BOX INFO

You Decide: Proposed Statewide Amendments to the Alabama Constitution of 1901 as they will appear on your ballot June 5

Amendment One: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended relating to the Capital Improvement Trust Fund to increase the amount of the General Obligation Bonds authorized herein and to provide for competitive bidding of said bonds (Proposed by Act 2007-005)

Amendment Two: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to require that funds dedicated for the purpose of paying health care costs of retired state and educational employees be used for that purpose. (Proposed by Act 2007-007)

Source: Office of the Secretary of State