In Alabama? Vote Today!

[otterinbham 0]

There is a constitutional amendment that gives the state extra latitude for borrowing to attract industry to Alabama. As somebody peripherally involved in industrial recruitment, I know that there are several huge concerns that are currently negotiating with the state of Alabama to relocate and even headquarter here, all on the same scale as Mercedes.

The industrial recruitment office has done an amazing job over the past six years. As a result of their efforts, unemployment is at historic lows and household incomes in this state are skyrocketing dramatically. This bond issue gives the state the bargaining ability to continue our economic development. Considering what's possible, it's a very small investment in our state's future.

So, even though you may not have heard about today's vote, go in and mark Yes on your ballot.

[aumd03 2]

Yes also means a competitive advantage for a foreign steelmaker over US steel in Birmingham. I am all for drawing industry here. I'm not for selling our souls to get them here. And I'm not for putting industry that is here at a disadvantage. Alabama is an attractive place for industry. We don't need incentives of this kind to get a business to locate here.

[otterinbham 0]

Yes also means a competitive advantage for a foreign steelmaker over US steel in Birmingham. I am all for drawing industry here. I'm not for selling our souls to get them here. And I'm not for putting industry that is here at a disadvantage. Alabama is an attractive place for industry. We don't need incentives of this kind to get a business to locate here.

Oh, there is plenty of business to go around in the steel biz. It's not a zero-sum game. What's more, given how US Steel has historically jerked around the City of Birmingham and the State of Alabama, I feel we really don't them a cotton-picking thing. After all, USS has enormous land holdings throughout the state. Go ahead and ask how much they pay in property taxes. So, given how USS has benefitted from Alabama's largesse over the past century, I'm not going to really worry about them.

At the same time, offering incentives to these blockbuster economic developments pays enormous dividends. All you have to do is look how much secondary business Mercedes, Honda, and Hyundai bring to the state in terms of suppliers, parts manufacturers, and distribution facilities to realize how these incentives have funded some high-octane economic growth.

[WinCrimson 61]

What's the one about lowering the insurance premiums on high risk equipment?

ALFA's backing it. That's really all I needed to "NO."

[otterinbham 0]

What's the one about lowering the insurance premiums on high risk equipment?

ALFA's backing it. That's really all I needed to "NO."

Then you're taking money out of the pockets of farmers who have to use that equipment everyday.

[Tiger in Spain 0]

And it wins!

Voters approve bond amendment to help fund steel mill

Alabama voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a measure to free up $400 million in bond money to lure employers to the state, including $195 million for a steel mill in north Mobile County.

"This is a great victory for Alabama," Gov. Bob Riley said in a written statement. "It will sustain our economic growth, which makes it possible to put more money into education. It will keep Alabama in competition for thousands of more jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity."

Mobile and Baldwin county voters passed the measure with an even greater margin than the rest of the state, with about 90 percent and 86 percent of the vote, respectively.

State voters also approved measures to put state employees' health programs into trusts. Mobile County residents voted to create a foreign trade investment zone in the city of Prichard.

But it was statewide Amendment One, which raised the borrowing limit of the state's Capital Improvement Trust Fund from $350 million to $750 million, that garnered most of the attention in the weeks leading up to Tuesday's vote.

In April, the state Legislature voted unanimously to put the amendment up for a statewide vote, and officials from Riley on down pushed for its passage.

About $195 million of the additional $400 million will be given to German steel company ThyssenKrupp AG, which last month announced plans to build a $3.7 billion mill in northern Mobile County.

The factory will create 2,710 permanent jobs paying an average salary of $42,000, along with more than 24,000 construction jobs over the next three years, according to a state report.

State and local governments offered the company a total of more than $811 million in cash incentives and tax breaks to choose the Alabama site over one in Louisiana. That figure includes the $195 million that will be paid for through the bonding authority OK'd on Tuesday.

The remainder of the $400 million will be used to woo other employers to the state, Alabama Development Office Director Neal Wade said Tuesday. The state is in negotiations with 30 companies, including eight that would open facilities with 500 or more jobs. Wade said he could not name the companies because of confidentiality agreements.

LTFA