State lawmakers representing Limestone County talked about how to improve roads without raising the gasoline tax, how to fix the ever-growing Medicaid system and other issues during a public forum Thursday in Athens.

The Greater Limestone County Chamber of Commerce 2016 Legislative Wrap-Up was held inside the Athens-Limestone Public Library. Presentations opened with end-of-session updates from each of the men who represent part of Limestone County in the state Legislature. Lawmakers then answered prepared questions about funding for roads, Medicaid, prison reform and education.

Lawmakers in attendance included state Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur; Sen. Bill Holtzclaw, R-Madison; Rep. Danny Crawford, R-Athens; Rep. Phil Williams, R-Huntsville; and Rep. Lynn Greer, R-Florence. Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence; and Rep. Mac McCutcheon, R-Capshaw, could not attend.

Contentious session

Orr said the past legislative session was one of the most difficult he has seen since being elected in 2006.

“Lot of contention. Lot of pushing and shoving and, unfortunately, disagreements,” he said. “Why, I can’t really put my finger on.”

He said lawmakers failed to reach agreement on Gov. Robert Bentley’s proposal to borrow $800 million to reform the state’s overcrowded prisons. They also failed to reach consensus on the Medicaid budget, Both prison and Medicaid budgets continue to consume large portions of the state’s overall budget and lawmaker are looking to reduce or contain them.

Orr said his efforts this year focused on the state’s education budget.

He said the state saw “a considerable uptick in revenue that we were able to appropriate all across the education sphere. We were able to help Athens State considerably, get them on the right track, and also (help) K-12 public schools and Calhoun (Community College) the same.

He said some of the issues that were not addressed during the regular session lawmakers will work on, presumable in a potential special session, which if called, would likely occur in late August or early September.

New guy

State Rep. Danny Crawford, R-Athens, experienced his first legislative session after being elected Feb. 16 to replace Dan Williams.

Crawford said he understood the need for having an orientation and a mentor assigned to help him get up to speed on the legislative process. As it turned out, he received neither. He said the other men in the Limestone County legislative delegation were of great assistance.

“We got some things done,” he said. “I was able to work on the defamation of character bill and get it through.”

The defamation bill was made law in response to a Limestone County student electronically pasting the head of a coach into an online news story about another coach charged with having sexual contact with a student. The student could not be charged with a crime under the previous law.

Crawford lauded the Legislature’s earmarking of $15 million for pre-Kindergarten programs as “critical” and a $100,000 grant for Piney Chapel Elementary School.

“Those are the things that you know will pay dividends down the road,” he said.

Q & A

Q: A proposal to raise the state’s gasoline tax to pay for roads and bridge construction failed to make it out of the House. The bill sought to raise the gas tax 6 cents per gallon to bring Alabama in line with neighboring states. The tax would have been adjusted every four years to equal the average tax in Alabama’s four border states. Limestone County has landed several large industries over the past few years, and state Rep. Mac McCutcheon has been quoted as saying he believes improved infrastructure is the key to future successes. What is your view on the tax? If you’re against raising the gas tax, what can the Legislature do to ensure the safety and drivability of our roads for years to come?

Williams: The 6 cent per gallon road tax did fail; it kind of came out of nowhere. There’s a lot of unanswered question with the Alabama Department of Transportation. They kind of have their own budget. We don’t appropriate in the House for ALDOT. They build buildings — some really nice buildings they have a high overhead rate, I believe. They tell me they build fewer roads themselves. They subcontract it out … They are becoming more of a contract-management house. So I don’t know their personnel records. As they are subbing out more, are they staffing up or are they staffing down? There are all kinds of issues with ALDOT in my mind.

Roads are about the most political thing you can have in Alabama. It’s not fair; the resources should go where they are needed. Sen. Holtzclaw and I know how it is to be on the wrong end of the politics of roads. The bill, as I understood it, would have taken at least 55 to 60 percent of your money and sent it to Montgomery. It should be the reverse. We should have 75 to 80 percent stay local. Let each community deal with its own. So, when Mac asked me if I was going to support his bill, I said we need to spend some time really understanding where the need is. We need to force communities to name their top three priorities… The people will understand more when they see that their funds are going where our local communities tell them the funds are going to be used. None of that is even being discussed. There are better answer coming forward. How are we going to attract industry without road? We’ve actually got some pretty good roads. I’ve traveled around and while we may not have the best roads we’ve got some pretty good roads… There has got to be a better way to fund government and roads than to just say 6 cents…

Greer: We don’t get to see (the Alabama Department of Transportation’s) total expenditures. We don’t know what transportation does with all your money. If all this came through the Legislature like it does in other states, we would know… We got problems out there and we don’t want to get where it keeps us from attracting new industries, and we’re not there. I don’t know what lies ahead. It is something that needs to be continued to be looked at.

Holtzclaw: Industry well knows Alabama has a good infrastructure, though we’re just like the rest of the United States, we have to some degree an aging infrastructure. Roads should be built on economic development and safety, not politics. What I politely proposed to the bill’s sponsors, both in the House and Senate, is bring me a constitutional amendment, put it on the ballot. Let’s let the people vote to see if it is something they really want to support. I was actually told by someone in the road-building industry that the people are not close enough to this issue to make that decision. We borrowed money on future federal transportation dollars and built a billion dollars worth of roads out there. Guess what’s coming due? The bill. That is why ALDOT and others are behind trying to push this gas-tax increase, because if we are having to pay the note on that future borrow, then there is less money for road maintenance and road construction right now.

Editor’s note: Because of space constraints, the rest of this story will appear in the Saturday, May 21, edition of The News Courier.