Montgomery, AL – The Alabama Senate has defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that would have pumped $1 billion into construction of roads in Alabama.
The Senate voted 19-11 Tuesday for the bill described as a stimulus plan for Alabama. That was two votes short of the 21 votes needed in the Senate to pass a constitutional amendment.
But senators approved another stimulus bill that would spend $6 million of state funds to help spur home sales in the state.
The roads funding bill by Democratic Sen. Lowell Barron of Fyffe would have taken $100 million a year for 10 years from an oil and gas revenue savings account.
Eleven of the 13 Republicans in the Senate voted against the bill. Republican senators said the measure would take too much from the savings account.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)