Policy Perspectives from Alabama Counties: Recent Episodes
Alabama Counties
This podcast features the perspectives of Alabama's 67 counties regarding state legislation and policies that impact the day-to-day operations of county government.
Senate Bill 64 by Sen. Larry Stutts proposes to allow off-road vehicles to share county roadways with the general driving public, which currently includes not just large personal vehicles, like SUVs and trucks, but also 80,000-pound commercial trucks. Should Senate Bill 64 become law, there is no doubt its proposed changes would create highly unsafe conditions for drivers on every single county road, including the many that run through city limits.
ACCA Executive Director Sonny Brasfield discusses the importance of the Alabama Legislature passing House Bill 2/Senate Bill 3 during the second special session of 2023.
ACCA Executive Director Sonny Brasfield discusses the negotiations surrounding this year's road builder liability legislation and expresses counties' support for the Senate's engrossed changes to SB159 by Sen. Clay Scofield and Rep. David Faulkner.
A number of Alabama counties and cities utilize Amendment 772 to the Alabama Constitution in order to provide a “thing of value” when pursuing economic development projects at the local level. The Amendment establishes a limited set of circumstances under which counties and cities may provide incentives, despite the prohibition against giving a “thing of value” to a person or entity found elsewhere in the Constitution.
Amendment 772 was adopted by statewide referendum in 2004 and has not been updated since. Supported by the Economic Development Association of Alabama, HB458 by Rep. Jeff Sorrells & Sen. Steve Livingston proposes several technical changes to the Amendment to address challenges that have arisen in nearly two decades of economic development and recruitment.
Alabama's 67 Counties OPPOSE SB157
If enacted, the provisions of Senate Bill 157 would cause significant damage to Alabama county roads and bridges by removing the existing weight restrictions recommended by engineering professionals nationwide to allow for logging trucks to transport the increased weight of nearly 100,000 pounds per trip on public roads and bridges.