By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – State House Speaker Seth Hammett says the Legislature should be able to pass a good education budget for the 2005 fiscal year. And, he says lawmaker should be able to do it without raising taxes. The reactions come from news that tax collections for the Education Trust Fund have increased five-and-a-half percent since October. That's nearly 93 million dollars. The two primary taxes that benefit the education budget are sales taxes and personal and corporate income taxes. Between October and last month, sales tax revenues went up 8-point-9 percent. Income tax revenue increased 4-point-3 percent.