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Archived: 10/27/2002 at 12:00:51
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Thanks to President Bush, over the next several weeks 1.2 million Alabama taxpayers will receive tax rebate checks from the federal government totaling more than $500 million. This is only the third time since World War II that Washington has offered across the board tax relief to America’s families. The president is absolutely right in seeing that this money is returned to the taxpayers. The folks who are receiving these refund checks have paid one hundred percent into the system and deserve a one hundred percent return on the money that they have overpaid through the years.
Thanks to Governor Don Siegelman, this will not be the case in Alabama. The governor has chosen to take this money away from Alabama’s families by taxing the government’s refund check. The governor was recently quoted as saying that exempting the rebates from state income tax would be the “right political thing to do…but horrible public policy.” This is the right thing to do period, Governor Siegelman.
Simply put, the state does not deserve a “finder’s fee” because these checks are coming into the state. Because the governor has lacked the political will and courage to seriously address our state’s funding woes, he is forced to look for manna from heaven in order to meet the state’s financial obligations. Under current law, the rebate will reduce the amount of federal income tax payments that Alabamians can deduct on their state income tax forms and increase state income taxes by various amounts next year. This money rightfully belongs to the hard working families of Alabama, not a Siegelman administration that has yet to prove it is capable of managing our tax dollars.
Congressman Bob Riley made the truest statement on this issue when he said, “Hard-working Alabamians have waited on a federal tax cut for more than a decade, and the last thing we need to do is funnel your money from one bureaucracy to another.” Alabamians across the state have been stung by the loss of jobs in the textile, manufacturing and paper industries. Now we are asking these families to hand more of their money over to the state government. Governor, by taking this money, you are telling the people of Alabama that you know best when it comes to their hard-earned dollars. I will never believe that government is better able to handle a family’s finances than they are themselves. It is unconscionable that the full amount of this money not be returned to those who originally paid it.
The Governor’s office has said that he will not reconsider this issue because it would force further cuts to our schools. This is wrong, Governor. This money has never been included in any state budget nor has it ever been allocated to any of the state’s schools. Its loss will not materially impact the state’s school systems as the governor claims. This rebate belongs to the taxpayers of Alabama and any attempt to take this money by Governor Siegelman will be nothing short of highway robbery.
Representative Mike Rogers (R-Anniston) currently serves in the Alabama House of Representatives where he is co-sponsoring legislation that would exempt the federal income tax rebate from the state income tax. Representative Rogers is seeking the Republican nomination for the 3rd Congressional seat being vacated by Congressman Bob Riley.
