Montgomery, AL – Governor Bob Riley urged the Legislature to raise the threshold where Alabama's working families start paying the state income tax and to give tax incentives to small businesses that provide health insurance to their workers. He made the recommendation during his State of the State address tonight.
Riley said cutting taxes spurs economic growth, which results in more funding for education.
Riley asked the Legislature to give most state agencies the same amount they are getting this year. But he recommended increases for the prison system and the Medicaid Agency, which provides health care for many children and elderly in Alabama.
Riley recommended a General Fund budget for non-education agencies that would go from 1.8 billion dollars this year to 1.9 billion dollars next year. That increase included $63 million Alabama recently received at the end of its litigation with Exxon Mobil over natural gas royalties.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)