ON THE ISSUES

For almost a quarter of a century Lowell Barron has been “Working For Us” in state government. His dedication to Senate District 8 has brought tremendous progress to Northeast Alabama.

  • Good roads are a key to a region’s growth. Industry will locate where it finds a good transportation system. Throughout Northeast Alabama, state highways have been resurfaced and expanded, and new bridges have been built. Since his first day in the Alabama Senate, Barron has focused on bringing millions of taxpayer dollars to Northeast Alabama to improve  state highways such as 11, 35, 75, 72, 117, and 71.
  • Barron believes in working closely with local agencies and state government to attract new industry to the region. Through this partnership, hundreds of new jobs have been created in Northeast Alabama in the past three decades, from the location of new companies and the expansion of existing ones.
  • Barron believes that to support new jobs an area must provide a quality workforce. His focus on education has helped reduce student/teacher ratios, build much-needed classrooms and provide teachers with the support needed to offer students greater learning opportunities. His support has been a key factor in the growth and development of Northeast Alabama Community College and its workforce training efforts.
  • A community must have access to safe and abundant drinking water. This is not only important to public health, but is also critical to residential and commercial growth in a community. Barron has secured funding for numerous water line extension projects in Northeast Alabama. He also established Rural Water Authorities in DeKalb and Jackson counties to help water systems reach underserved areas. Barron’s goal is for every community to have the water it needs for growth, and for every resident to have access to safe public drinking water.
  • Our senior citizens have worked hard for many years, helping grow families and build our communities. Barron believes we should do everything possible to make sure their needs are met today. That’s why he worked to develop a senior prescription program to help our seniors work through the complicated paperwork to secure discounted and free medications from pharmaceutical companies.
  • Crystal meth is one of the worst blights to ever come upon rural America. The illegal drug is a particular problem in Northeast Alabama, where individual lives have been destroyed and families have been torn apart. Barron has worked tirelessly in the State Senate, with the support and assistance of District Attorneys and Law Enforcement agencies, to pass strong laws to fight meth. These laws have made it more difficult to manufacture the drug, and have created severe penalties for those involved in making or distributing it.

WORKING AT THE STATE LEVEL

Lowell Barron’s leadership in the State Senate has not only benefited Northeast Alabama, it’s brought important progress to the entire state.

  • Through Barron’s leadership, Alabama now has tough laws to protect families. The Home Protection Bill gives families the right to use whatever force is necessary to protect themselves from intruders, without worrying about the possibility of being charged themselves with a violent crime.
  • Many groups in Alabama supported legislation to make it a crime to harm an unborn child while committing an act that harms the mother. However, the groups had different ideas about how to accomplish this legislation. Barron brought the parties together to work through their differences, and the Brody Bill became law.
  • Barron has been a champion of education in the Alabama Senate. He helped move our schools toward the national average by establishing a school calendar that matched those in surrounding states. And he fought in years past against efforts to spend the entire surplus in the state’s Education Trust Fund, instead working to establish a Rainy Day Account to help Alabama’s schools avoid proration in the future.
  • Recent reports show that Alabama citizens pay the lowest taxes in the nation (with all taxes, including sales tax, income tax and property tax, combined). Barron is proud of that fact, and is committed to continuing his fight to keep taxes low in the state.