The Alabama House of Representatives on Friday approved legislation to increase the state gas tax by 10 cents per gallon. The tax increase would be phased in over three years. After that, it would be adjusted to keep up with construction costs up to a penny every two years.
Under the proposal, electric and hybrid vehicle owners would pay additional annual fees — $200 on electric cars and $100 for plug-in hybrids. According to the Montgomery Advertiser, those could be adjusted depending on the presence of federal taxes.
Revenue from the tax increase would go toward rebuilding the state’s roads and bridges. Gov. Kay Ivey has pushed the infrastructure plan as an initiative that’s been long overdue. Proponents have argued the state’s deteriorating infrastructure is a hindrance to economic development. Some of those opposed want to be sure the state is spending the funds wisely.
A companion oversight bill adopted by the House requires state Department of Transportation projects to be ranked on an objective criteria, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.
Certain convicted sex offenders in Alabama will soon have to undergo chemical castration if they want to be released on parole. That’s according to a bill signed into law this week by Gov. Kay Ivey.
It was one of the busiest and most contentious legislative sessions in years. The near-total abortion ban passed by Alabama lawmakers overshadowed many other bills. What else happened?
Lawmakers approved a slew of bills this week, which is expected to be the last one of the 2019 session. Measures on equal pay and holding back third-graders who don't read proficiently were among those passed in the push toward the session's end.
Alabama lawmakers this week passed what’s considered one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country. We look at the fallout and where this leaves one other major legislative priority here in the state -- prisons.
Alabama’s Republican governor signed the most stringent abortion legislation in the nation Wednesday, making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases.
The Alabama Senate passed a bill Tuesday evening to ban nearly all abortions. The state House had already overwhelmingly approved the legislation. It's part of a broader anti-abortion strategy to prompt the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the right to abortion.
