By Associated Press
Montgomery, AL – The Alabama House passed a proposed constitutional amendment that would set up a ''rainy day'' savings account for the state's General Fund budget.
The proposed amendment would use funds from a savings account made up of oil and gas revenues to establish the account.
The sponsor, Representative Greg Wren of Montgomery, said money would be taken from the account if there is not enough tax revenue in a budget year to fund all agencies that receive funds from the General Fund. Wren said the proposed amendment would allow the General Fund to receive up to 10 percent of the amount of the previous year's budget from the savings account.
The General Fund for the current year is about $1.8 billion. This means if next year's budget went into proration up to $180 million could be taken from the ''rainy day'' account.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)