Tough Times Demand Real Leadership
November 30th, 2009Guest Editorial Column
by Ron Sparks
Alabama is facing the greatest financial crisis of modern history with the potential looming on the horizon of firing thousands of teachers and denying care to thousands of nursing home residents. While other candidates for governor, both Democrat and Republican, refuse to address this crisis, I have offered a means of providing additional funding for our state without taxing working families.
Just last week, we learned that Alabama has one of the ten highest unemployment rates in the nation. This news comes on the heels of months of catastrophic financial projections that the Education Trust Fund, Medicaid, and other vital state services are at great risk.
Recently, federal stimulus money helped fill the holes in the state budget. That much-needed money has now been spent and the chickens are coming home to roost.
What’s been missing from the political debate is any effort on the part of my fellow candidates to be honest about our state’s financial condition and plain talk about what we are up against.
Basic laws of economics tell us that we can’t spend what we don’t have. Considering the crisis we are facing and the many needs we have, we have very few choices. We must cut services, raise taxes on the working people of this state, or as I have proposed, identify new revenue streams to flow into our state budgets.
I have been clear that I will never raise taxes on the hard working men and women of Alabama. Our families are already strapped with all they can handle just trying to keep a roof over their heads and food in their children’s mouths. I will not support any plan that that will put teachers out of work and takes supplies and technology out of your child’s classroom. Whether you live in Wilcox County or Mountain Brook, every child deserves the same standard of educational opportunities.
The only option left is to find new money for our state budgets.
I have a plan that will immediately improve, if not completely transform, our economy. First, we must close the tax loopholes that allow multinational corporations to avoid paying what they owe the people of Alabama. Then, we can expand on the economic development initiatives I implemented as Agriculture Commissioner, like opening foreign markets for Alabama products and promoting green technology.
We have other untapped sources of revenue in Alabama.
There was a time when other states manufactured cars and we didn’t. But, we saw great potential and began recruiting automobile manufacturers to Alabama. Now, Alabama has built over one million cars and tens of thousands of people work in this industry.
It is time for the same kind of forward thinking when it comes to maximizing the economic impact of gaming; the fastest growing, unregulated, and untaxed industry in our state.
It’s a matter of simple economics – supply and demand.
Last year, WE the people of Alabama spent over 1.5 billion dollars on gambling; 400 million of which was spent on lottery tickets. The vast majority of that money was spent in neighboring states that have seized the economic opportunity offered by the gaming industry.
In addition to the revenue Alabama could realize from gaming itself, an upscale casino employs nearly 1,000 people. Add to this the thousands of other jobs in the restaurant and hotel industry created by casinos and the total economic impact of the gaming industry is staggering.
According to regulating agencies in Mississippi, Alabamians made nearly 4 million visits to Mississippi casinos last year. Gross gambling revenues in Mississippi exceeded $1.2 billion last year and taxes from gambling amounted to almost $660 million for the past 24 months.
According to the Mississippi Gaming Commission, last year alone, gaming in Biloxi pumped over $980 million into the city’s economy. It is not surprising that Mississippi gambling interests staunchly oppose gaming in Alabama.
We must regulate gaming and develop it like we would any other emerging industry.
This tremendous untapped source of funding will allow us to hire more teachers, build better schools, and secure a better quality of life for our seniors.
When I’m Governor, individual counties will be allowed to vote on whether they want casinos. I will create a statewide gaming commission to regulate the industry and protect our people.
Times are hard and touch choices must be made. Before anybody criticizes my plan, they should be required to explain how they plan to generate this much money for the state.
The difference between me and the other candidates in this Governor’s race is that I have a plan to begin dealing with our financial troubles and I am willing to present it to the voters and fight to make it a reality.
Comments
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November 30th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Mr. Sparks needs a do-over on his website. Flashblock does a number on his site. Vimardi Media should try something a little more 21st Century oriented. Every page has the same static bracket box with oversize buttons around it. He should give some geo locater program like http://www.foursquare.com/ a spin.
No energy or environmental policy on his “Where I Stand” plan.
Site does not appear to have any handicap access features. No text size adjustment button. Can a screen reader handle his site?
Oh, nice article. thanks for posting.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
And, of course, any layoffs as a result of troubles with the state budget would have the greatest impact on working families. If there are no teachers in the public schools, would most working families be able to afford private schools? Those who can already afford to send their children to private schools would not be impacted, but imagine the damage to families of children in public schools, not to mention the impact on the future of those children. Conservatives would give a tired cliche of pulling oneself up by the bootstraps, but if that is the case, why shouldn’t children of privilege also be required to do the same?