Gov. Robert Bentley has done something neither of Alabama's last two governors could do: Get voters to turn out in a special election to pass a major initiative defining their administrations.
Bentley said the constitutional amendment withdrawing money from the Alabama Trust Fund didn't involve moral issues like Gov. Don Siegelman's lottery vote in 1999 or tax increases like Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax plan in 2003.
Bentley credits legislators with coming up with the idea for the withdrawal, but he said Thursday that his commitment to repay the money helped put it over the top.
He also said cost savings begun by his administration undercut arguments by opponents that state officials aren't doing enough to save money.
The measure passed 65 percent to 35 percent.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.