Alabama Legislature: Bigger class sizes, state agency layoffs possible this session
Published: Sunday, February 27, 2011, 10:00 AM
The Birmingham News By David White

MONTGOMERY -- A state education budget that could bring bigger class sizes to schools this fall and a state General Fund that could trigger layoffs at noneducation agencies next year likely will dominate debate in the session of the Legislature that starts Tuesday.

Key lawmakers predict they will have to trim education spending and slash spending at some noneducation agencies to craft balanced budgets for the 2012 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.

They also say they absolutely will not raise taxes on businesses, for fear that doing so would harm job creation, or on consumers.

''I think it's going to be a session with a lot of hard decisions to be made. The people of Alabama are going to be proud that the politicians finally stood up and became fiscally responsible with state government," said Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston, the top-ranking state senator.

Other issues likely to surface in this year's regular legislative session, which could last through June 13, include a proposal designed to discourage illegal immigrants from living in Alabama and a plan that could trigger yet another court challenge to the health care overhaul law passed by Congress last year.

Those and several other bills are part of the ''Handshake with Alabama," a list of priorities that Republicans said last summer they would try to push into law if voters gave them control of the Legislature.

Voters on Nov. 2 did exactly that. Republicans now hold 22 of the 35 seats in the Senate and 65 of the 105 seats in the House of Representatives, where there is one vacancy.

''I feel very confident that we'll do everything in our power to pass our Handshake. We want to make sure people know that we're going to keep our word," said Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, the House majority leader.

Gov. Robert Bentley is scheduled to present lawmakers with his own legislative agenda during his State of the State speech at the Capitol, which starts at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Bentley already has publicly mentioned part of his to-do list -- creation of a statewide business incubator to help new and existing companies with worker training.

Bentley is expected by Thursday to present his state budget proposals for fiscal 2012.

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