While much of the state’s focus on politics has been on the Alabama legislature’s handling of its Rebuild Alabama Act infrastructure legislation, which was signed into law last week by Gov. Kay Ivey, Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) has been making his way around the state promoting his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the 2020 U.S. Senate contest.
The winner of the contest will likely face Sen. Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook), who won the seat in 2017.
In an appearance on Huntsville’s WVNN on Friday, Byrne was asked to weigh in on the legislature’s recent passage of the Rebuild Alabama Act and the process by which it was passed.
Byrne told WVNN’s “The Jeff Poor Show” it was not something he had been following given that it is a state issue, and he is a federal elected official.
“You know, I haven’t really followed it that closely,” Byrne replied. “It’s a state thing, not a federal thing. We’ve kind of had our hands full with the federal thing. I’ve signed a ‘no new taxes’ pledge. I’ve had some people from Alabama come to ask me to support an increase in the federal gas tax, and I have always said, ‘I can’t do that. I’m not going to do that.’ So my position is no new taxes at the federal level, including no new gas taxes.”
“I’m not a state official,” he added. “State officials looked at this and made a decision they wanted to do it. They’ve done it. The governor has signed it. And if there’s going to be a reaction here, it’s up to the people of Alabama. It’s not up to me.”
When asked about money generated by the gas tax hike to fund the Port of Mobile’s expansion, which is matched by federal money 3-to-1, Byrne suggested GOMESA oil and gas revenue could be used instead.
“In terms of being able to match federal money for that project in Mobile, there was another source for that money,” he said. “It’s the GOMESA [Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act] money that the state gets from revenue – that the state derives off of the federal offshore gas wells. There’s a federal law that allows some of that money to go to the states, and that could have been used for that.”
“But once again, state officials said we’re not going to use the GOMESA money,” he continued. “We’re going to raise gas taxes, use some of that money for that.”
The Baldwin County Republican referenced the decision by state officials to fund I-10 bridge construction using a toll and said that could have been another use for the GOMESA money.
“Look, we’re going to build an I-10 bridge across the Mobile River,” he explained. “They’ve decided to raise the state portion of that money using a toll. I don’t like a toll, but it’s their decision. It’s not a federal decision. I’ve done what I’m supposed to do to make sure we’ve got the federal money for that and the federal approvals. And the state has the authority to issue these tolls. I’m a federal official, not a state official. I really don’t have any control over that.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.
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