Perhaps it was not the most politically popular initiative of the Alabama Legislature. Still, the phased prison plan passed earlier this month and signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey will have an outcome better than most expected.
During an interview with Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” State Sen. Clyde Chambliss (R-Prattville) said altogether the plan would save up to $1 billion if the $135 million in surplus of the general fund and the $400 million from the federal government in pandemic relief money is deducted from the total the state of Alabama would have borrowed otherwise.
“[L]ooking at the $400 million that we were able to use from the rescue fund — the ‘loss of revenue’ fund that would have theoretically been general fund — we were able to use that, then another $135-or-so million from the general fund,” he explained. “And when you put those two together and take them off of a bond issue — those will two will save us according to my calculation close to $1 billion over the 30-year life of the loan in principle and interest. That’s a significant positive economic input from our general fund and also from the federal funds.”
“That will allow us to have a much lower payment and to also use those funds that we were going to use for debt service to save them up and pay as you go, hopefully, on phases two and three,” he added.
The Autauga County legislator insisted he was confident that the federal government under the Biden administration would green-light the “loss of revenue” funds for the prison plan.
@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 Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.