BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE AUTAUGA NEWS
State House Dist. 31 Representative Troy Stubbs was in very familiar territory Tuesday, as he spoke before the Elmore County Commission.
Prior to winning his current seat, Stubbs was the Commission Chairman for Elmore County. He came back to give commissioners an update on the recent legislative session, with some important highlights and outcomes.
Stubbs said he wanted to share important events during the spring, and that recently concluded.
During the session there are a lot of things discussed, but not everything passes through to become law, he said.
“I wanted to make sure that some of the highlights that actually made it to the governor’s desk and were signed, are on your radar as you interact with citizens and as you operate your county business,” Stubbs said.
Stubbs said this was a historic year concerning the state’s general fund and educational trust fund budgets.
“The general fund budget this year was $3.4 billion. That is a record. And the education trust fund budget was $9.35 billion which is also a record.”
Within the general fund, money was allocated from the supplemental budget to continue construction of prisons in the state, including one in Elmore County.
“We’re making sure the Elmore County location is moving forward and has the necessary funding.”
In the area of mental health, Stubbs said there was an increase of 11.3 percent for funding in the general fund budget.
“We are certainly not where we need to be, but it is important for you to know it is a priority in the legislature, and we are making sure of that by putting dollars towards it with that 11 percent increase,” Stubbs said.
Additionally, Stubbs said there was a two percent pay raise for all state employees.
In the education trust fund budget, a two percent pay raise was made for education and support staff.
School Choice
“One major education item that did pass the legislative session early on was the Choose Act which is Creating Hope and Opportunity for our Students education Act. This was a priority for Governor Ivey and the Legislature. This is what we would all regard as school choice. This allows for taxpayer dollars to follow the student wherever they go to school,” he said.
Stubbs stressed this has been a conservative priority nationwide and there are many states that have followed through with a very robust school choice program.
“We feel very confident that this is a very good step in the right direction,” he said. “It is not full universal school choice, but it will get there in three years.”
Stubbs said in the first two years of the program, there is a financial cap, meaning if the family makes more than 300 percent of the poverty level, they do not qualify. But in the third year of the program, there is no financial cap. So, a family, regardless of income, can qualify for the $7,000 that would follow the student whether they are attending a parochial, private or other school.
Stubbs explained this is not sending the family a check for $7,000 and “crossing our fingers they spend it properly.” The money never goes to the family. It is all processed through the state. They apply for it, then the private school matches the student that is participating with the funding. They send in a purchase order to the state and that money is remitted to the private school for that student on a quarterly basis.
“I commend the state leaders and the governor’s office for recognizing that this is needed, but also taking advantage of things we can learn from other states,” Stubbs said.
Stubbs says he views this as a net positive for all education. He believes that taxpayer dollars should go to the education of students, wherever they may be.
“It is an investment. And we are investing in those students so that they, in turn, can be productive citizens of the state of Alabama,” he said.
Stubbs also spoke of a bill that prohibits Ballot Harvesting.
“This has been something that has been a concern where people are illegally taking absentee ballots, passing them around to a large group of people, getting people to sign and then processing a number of absentee ballots at one time. It is almost an orchestrated system by which they try to manipulate our election system. We tried to pass it last year. We were able to pass it this year. The Secretary of State is very supportive of this, and hopefully it will ensure election security for all of us.”
Human Trafficking in Alabama.
Another topic Stubbs discussed was the Sound of Freedom Act that passed.
It imposes a minimum sentence of life imprisonment for those convicted of human trafficking of a minor in the state of Alabama.
“This is another example of things that we see and hear. We are disappointed that things like human trafficking are taking place. But we don’t just talk about it. We took action. And we made it so that the state of Alabama has one of the strongest penalties for those that perpetrate that type of act against our children.”
See related story – https://governor.alabama.gov/newsroom/2024/04/governor-ivey-signs-sound-of-freedom-act-making-alabamas-anti-human-trafficking-law-toughest-in-the-nation/
Stubbs said legislators also passed several bills related to artificial intelligence and child pornography.
“There are people now who are creating a pornographic image of teenagers in school by taking their face and putting it on a pornographic image and then spreading it around the student body,” he said. “This obviously causes irreparable harm to that individual’s self-esteem and other issues.”
Stubbs also addressed the cap on Property taxes.
“This is something where I worked very closely with the Association of County Commissions and Sonny Brassfield,” he said. “Obviously, on the surface a cap of property taxes is alarming. I sat in your seat, and I recognize that is important to the county commission in terms of servicing and funding the people of Elmore County.”
However, Stubbs said legislators were able to negotiate a sunset of this, so in five years that sunset will give time to evaluate if it is effective, and if it is detrimental to county commissions and school districts in term of funding.
The negotiated cap was seven percent which means that no individual’s property tax can go up in one year greater than seven percent.
Stubbs said that in some parts of the state, individuals saw their property tax rise by as much as 30 percent or more in one year. “This was alarming for people who are suffering from high inflation and all the other things we are seeing with the economy right now. This is something we were able to address.”
In other issues, Stubbs said, “Sometimes it is not what we pass, but what we stop from passing.”
He said there were innumerable bills to take away gun rights and other issues that did not make the cut.
“But one bill made it further than I thought it would, which was to levy an additional online sales tax. What that would do is take the online sales tax that we all pay, and the county commission receives a portion of, and increase it by 1.4 percent. Then the money would be distributed among cities, counties and school systems. On the surface it sounds like an opportunity to make things more equitable.”
However, Stubbs said the distribution of the funds was out of balance and benefited the 10 largest cities in the state leaving the counties “out to dry.”
“We were able to successfully combat that, stop it before it got anywhere,” Stubbs said.
Finally, Stubbs talked about gambling, which has been a huge topic and cloud hanging over the session.
In the end, a gambling bill failed across the state.
Commissioners thanked Stubbs for the update, praising him for his openness and willingness to work with them on a multitude of issues.
Commissioner Mack Daugherty said, “It is just amazing what you do for us. I know I can pick up my phone and call you at any time.”
Daugherty said that everything mentioned in the update was important, but as a law enforcement officer, he is particularly pleased with bills passed regarding human trafficking.
“I wish every state in the union would pass that harsh of a penalty. Even in Elmore County on a local level, because of the migration and migrants with small children, we are seeing more of that. To see that pass makes my heart smile. Please know you have the gratitude of all law enforcement, and this is something we have needed for a long time.”
