“Rumors and Rumblings” is a weekly feature that runs each Wednesday. It includes short nuggets of information that we glean from conversations throughout the week. Have a tip? Send it here. All sources remain confidential.
Regular readers will know that we usually put together a more extensive list of what people are buzzing about, but we have a scoop today that is significant enough that it deserves our full attention.
Yellowhammer has learned that a jobs bill that could have a significant economic impact on Alabama will be introduced on Thursday in the Senate. According to our sources, Airbus was persuaded to locate in Alabama in part because they were assured that a very narrowly defined bill would be passed to protect them and their suppliers from frivolous lawsuits. Governor Bentley and legislative leadership has tapped Senator Cam Ward and Representative Bill Poole to shepherd the bill through their respective chambers.
The bill will be applicable only to a small category of lawsuits which involve commercial aircraft manufacturers of aircrafts with 100 seats or more. The manufacturer would be liable for causes of action occurring no more than 10 years after delivery of the aircraft. The bill will protect the rights of Alabama citizens to bring suit against the manufacturer, but will also protect the manufacturer from out-of-state and foreign plaintiffs who may seek to file suit in Alabama simply because the manufacturer located their plant here. The bill would not impact a plaintiff’s ability to recover from liable defendants.
But here’s what you really need to know…
According to a study prepared for the Alabama Department of Commerce, the economic impact of the Airbus plant on the state’s economy will amount to $409 million of additional output (GDP). The plant itself will employ approximately 1,000 Alabamians. But on top of that, an additional 3,700 Alabamians could be employed by Airbus suppliers locating in Alabama.
These suppliers could very easily decide to locate in nearby Florida or Mississippi — states that have already implemented bills similar to the one outlined above.
Nothing symbolizes Alabama’s economic resurgence better than the Airbus deal which landed our state in the headlines of every major business publication in the country, and many all over the world. The message was sent out loud and clear: Alabama is open for business.
There are many reasons Airbus chose to locate in Alabama. Our workforce is one of the best in the nation, and our status as a right-to-work state was a prerequisite to even being considered. But without passing the liability protections outlined above, Alabama won’t ultimately see the full economic benefit of the Airbus deal.
More details will emerge soon, but you heard it here first: when this bill is introduced on Thursday, it will immediately become the most important jobs bill of the 2013 legislative session.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.