ALGOP chairman urges Republican leaders to balance budget without tax hikes

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Republican Party Chairman Terry Lathan sent a letter to the state’s elected Republican leaders Monday urging them to work together to solve the General Fund Budget shortfall without raising taxes.

The letter, which was addressed to Governor Robert Bentley, Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, and House Speaker Mike Hubbard, reminds the elected officials of several promises made to voters during the 2014 election cycle and the current legislative session, particularly a promise to not raise taxes.

“As our leaders at the top of our state government, there is no doubt your challenges are great,” Lathan wrote. “As the Chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, I respect and will continue to support your endeavors to improve our state. Conflicts, however, seem to arise on differing opinions of what is best for our state.”

The three men addressed in Lathan’s letter have each offered their own solution to the current budget crunch. Governor Bentley recommends raising taxes by $541 million, Pro Tem Marsh is supporting a lottery and gambling expansion, and Speaker Hubbard would couple a $150 million tax increases with cuts and reforms.

Lathan, however, noted that the state Party passed a resolution supporting the un-earmarking and combining the state’s two budgets as a solution to the problem.

“In researching this topic, it is my understanding that Alabama is only one of three states in our nation that have two budgets,” Lathan wrote. “This process unnecessarily ties your hands. Governors in our past have asked repeatedly that we combine our budgets. I believe it is time to seriously address this option to benefit our state.

“As a former school teacher, if I had 30 students and 42 books in my classroom yet another teacher next door didn’t have enough books it would only be logical to share my extra books. This simple concept should also apply to the removal of earmarks in the education budget with its additional revenue available.”

With two-thirds of the legislative session already gone, Lathan suggested that legislators should not attempt to cram “[t]he topics of raising taxes, gambling and lottery” into such a short time period.”

“I respectfully suggest you continue to address the work of the people the best you can in those ten days and return back in a special session with a determination of finding more budget cuts and combining the two budgets into one,” she said. “By freeing up the excess in the education budget and making sensible cuts, it’s very possible you can balance our budget without tax increases.”

The recently elected state Party head closed by conceding that Republicans have only had five years to solve problems created under 136 years of Democratic control, but urged lawmakers not to use that as an excuse and called on Republicans to “rise to this challenge and secure the fiscal future of our state with your decisions.”