Thomas Spencer

Your Guide To Alabama’s 2020 Constitutional Amendments

Changes to voting, the judicial system and the Alabama Constitution itself are on the ballot.

Dissecting Alabama’s General Fund Budget

The state’s new budget year starts October 1 and agency leaders have to figure out how to work within the austere general fund budget passed by lawmakers in a special session last week. The budget provides level funding to key departments such as prisons, Medicaid, law enforcement, and mental health. Most others face cuts of at least 6 percent. For an overview we turn to Thomas Spencer, a senior research associate at the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama. PARCA is a nonpartisan think tank focused on Alabama government.

The General Fund Budget Pie

State lawmakers will gather in Montgomery Tuesday to kick off this year's legislative session. One of the biggest issues they face is how to make up for a projected shortfall in the General Fund budget. There are no easy fixes.