State Rep. Poole on education budget: ‘We have resources available if the downturn is more acute or comes back’

There are many uncertainties ahead regarding the coronavirus pandemic, particularly regarding the economy. Under the current operating assumptions, the worst is behind the country and Alabama.

For lawmakers in Montgomery, the difficulties regarding the economy include not having a precise number on what tax revenues to expect to apply to an education budget.

However, despite having to deal with those unknowns, State Rep. Bill Poole (R-Tuscaloosa), the chairman of the House education budget committee, said lawmakers were able to proceed from a position of strength on the FY 2021 education budget.

“[T]here are a lot of uncertainties — is there a second or third wave?” he said during an interview that aired on Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal.” “But as we see our businesses and economy reopen, we hope that’s successful and swift. And so, we hope for a quick recovery. But we’re positioned — we’ve maintained without having to use our budget stabilization account. We have also held back over $250 million of a supplemental fund, in addition to a $350 million stabilization account. We have access to the rainy day account that is a separate ability to access the capital trust fund to prevent proration. So we have resources available if the downturn is more acute or comes back.”

“So, those are unknowns, but certainly, we believe we can weather those storms with the current budget,” Poole continued. “And we’ll react to those, and have the resources to react if we need to. And that’s important to note — we have held back resources to react if this is worse than we think it is. Hopefully, we’ll be in a good position. Hopefully, that won’t happen, but if so — I think we’ll be in as a good a position as we can under the circumstances.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly and host of Huntsville’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN.