Republican Governor's Attempt For Fairness Fails

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Tax Justice
Reported on the Bill Moyers' TV News Show “NOW” 11/21/03

MOYERS: But Riley's plan stunned his own Republican Party and his conservative base, including the Christian Coalition of Alabama. The Christian Coalition's John Giles said they didn't need a billion-dollar tax hike but rather more accountability in the way existing money is spent.

He said, "The money has been there for services. I don't know anybody that's gone lacking. I don't know of any unemployed person that has not gotten a check. I don't know of anybody that didn't get government services that were of a low-income family. Nobody has ever suffered in this state."

MOYERS: State law required that the voters make the final decision. Riley's supporters urged a vote "yes" for the plan. Opponents urged a "no" vote in the upcoming referendum. Opponents like commercial real estate developer Stan Pate fought the proposed tax hikes on large landholders. Some timber companies and cotton plantations claimed that under Riley's plan they would face property tax increases as high as 400 percent.

PATE: (being quoted via a news clip): You have to remember that it was the rich farmland and timberlands that brought the settlers to this part of the country and they're still number one generator of revenue in this state. So, they need to be protected.

MOYERS: Governor Riley insisted the companies would still be getting a bargain. After all, now they were paying the lowest property taxes in the region, just $1.30 an acre, compared to $2.50 an acre in Mississippi, and $4.50 an acre in Georgia.

GOVERNOR RILEY: Even after the full phase in over the next five years, Alabama would still be charging less property tax than just about any other southeastern state.

RICHARD BAILEY: These special interest groups have used all sorts of demagoguery to make it appear as if the poor, the working poor in the state of Alabama, will bear an unfair burden of taxes if this proposal is passed.

SHELIA SMOOT: (the Commisioner, Jefferson County being quoted via news clip): We got a high illiteracy rate in this state, very high. The big guys who are trying to defeat this plan are banking on that. However, they know that most families have one or two TV sets in the household so; they bank on that medium to try to get their point across because they know these folks can't read.

MOYERS: On September 9th, 54 percent of Alabama's voters showed up for the referendum. A two-thirds majority rejected the governor's tax reform package. The opposition was elated.

Years of bitter experience had left many voters deeply suspicious of how the extra tax money would be used by a notoriously corrupt state legislature and many voters who get most of their information from television remained confused as to how Riley's complicated tax plan would affect them. Exit polls showed that Riley's plan actually had less support among poor and working class blacks and whites — those whom the plan would have helped the most — than among Alabama's wealthy. Now some very tough cuts have to be made to achieve a balanced state budget.

SMOOT: I feel a sense of hopelessness more so than I've ever seen in this state. They just don't feel like there's any hope. I don't care if you're at the top of the food chain or the bottom. This state oughta be working for everybody.

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