MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Republican Party Chairman Terry Lathan recently urged legislators who ran on the Party’s platform of smaller, more limited government to keep their promises and not raise taxes while they deliberate a package of tax increases Thursday.
“We do know that there have been five tax referendums over the summer, and that voters have walked into a booth, picked up a pen and said no,” Lathan said. “I think five out of five is a pretty strong statement. When the voters pick, they’re saying don’t do it.”
On Tuesday, Lathan tweeted:
All eyes on Montgomery. Remember your promises as you solve our challenges. We know you can @algop members #alpolitics
— Terry Lathan (@ChairmanLathan) September 8, 2015
She followed up with another tweet Thursday, saying:
The @ALGOP has consistently messaged lower taxes. Members & our platform have not & will not blink. #cutwaste #combinebudgets #unearmark
— Terry Lathan (@ChairmanLathan) September 10, 2015
Lathan told Yellowhammer these tweets are a “positive message to the Republican elected officials that we believe that they are working very hard on some really tough issues.” However, Lathan thinks that legislators should keep their promises to their voters.
“I’m also asking them on behalf of the GOP party to remember the things that they told their constituents when they were elected,” Lathan said. “We know they’re in a tough place, but there is a very strong feeling among voters that raising taxes is not the answer.”
Lathan’s comments come at a time when GOP leaders in Montgomery are wrestling with how to balance the state’s General Fund Budget. Governor Robert Bentley and House Republican leaders have been adamant about the need to raise taxes, but Senate Republican leaders and many rank and file lawmakers in both chambers have ardently opposed such measures.
“I was thinking about it as a two sided record album from back in the old days. There’s one side that plays one groove and there’s another side that plays another,” Lathan said. “So I’m anxious to see what the Senate’s response will be.”
The conflict has led to the governor vetoing a budget that balanced on cuts alone, and then calling the legislature back into not one, but two, special sessions. Lathan believes that the Alabama legislators will soon reach a consensus, and that the Alabama GOP cares more about this issue and doing what’s right for their constituents than we may even realize.
“I have had a legislator tell me that he’s actually losing sleep over this issue,” Lathan said. “There’s some comfort there. It means that they do care. And that’s important, I think people should know that. The fact that it’s causing them much angst is very telling.”
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