MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Senate debated this week a $1 billion road and bridge bill that would create approximately 29,000 new jobs statewide and provide badly needed funds to improve roads and bridges throughout the state.

Senate Bill 121, sponsored by Sen. Lowell Barron of Fyffe, would invest $1 billion dollars in statewide road and bridge construction over a period of 10 years. The plan would divide $100 million per year from the state’s rainy day Alabama Trust Fund among every county and city in the state.

Sen. Lowell Barron said his road and bridge legislation is an investment Alabama needs to make in its citizens. Barron said the bill, in a struggling economy, would create jobs throughout Alabama.

"This bill does not create an expense, it creates an investment in Alabama's future," Barron said. "We have hundreds of unsafe bridges, and miles of roads that are in need of repair and expansion, all across this state. My bill will provide the funding to make much-needed improvements to Alabama's infrastructure.

"These investments will benefit Alabama citizens for decades to come," Barron added. "Not only will it make transportation safer and more efficient, but it will help Alabama compete for new jobs that depend on a reliable transportation system.”

Barron says the legislation will benefit all areas of the state. "Counties and cities will receive $25 million of the funds each year," he explained. "The remaining $75 million will be invested in every corner of the state by the Department of Transportation." The DOT will be required to invest at least $5 million annually in each of Alabama's seven congressional districts.

Opposition to the bill has been raised this week by senate Republicans, who are hesitant to take money from the Alabama Trust Fund.

"This fund is Alabama's rainy day account," Barron said. "With experts telling us that our current economic condition is as close to the Great Depression as we've seen in our life time, I would say it is definitely raining. It is time to use that money and use it wisely to help put Alabamians back to work and strengthen our economic development efforts."

An alternative bill that has been offered by senate Republicans would allow counties to raise gasoline taxes to help fund road construction. "This is certainly no time to be raising taxes," Barron said. "I will not support any measure that would raise taxes on the backs of our citizens at a time when more than ten percent or workforce is unemployed. My bill brings a real solution to the table using the money Alabama has set aside to help with economic hard times."
An amendment to Barron's bill that is being discussed would effectively add a 'floor' to the Alabama Trust Fund. "The Senate leadership plans to amend this bill to read that if the Trust Fund dips below a balance of $2 billion, the road and bridge program will be suspended until the balance rises above that amount again," Barron explains. "This is really just a safeguard to keep the Trust Fund from getting too low. The current balance is $2.6 billion, and in a typical year it is replenished by interest plus some $150 million to $200 million from oil and gas revenue.

"If the fund holds true to the past," Barron continues, "we should never have to implement this safeguard."

If approved by both legislative bodies and signed by the governor, the road and bridge bill will go before voters in the November 2 General Election for final approval.