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Alabama Trust Fund Not Taking Stand On $437M Vote

Alabama Public Radio | By The Associated Press

Published August 23, 2012 at 4:32 PM CDT

Gov. Robert Bentley has awarded $80,000 in federal recreation funds for signs along the 2,500-mile trail of navigable rivers, streams and lakes.

The board that oversees the Alabama Trust Fund is not taking a position on whether voters should approve taking more than $437 million out of the fund to help operate state government.

The board chairman, Gov. Robert Bentley, said he did not ask the board to take a position during a meeting Thursday because the board manages the $2.3 billion fund, but it's up to voters to decide the issue in a statewide referendum Sept. 18.

The secretary of the trust fund board, State Treasurer Young Boozer, said he's not taking a public position. Board member Sandra Sims-deGraffenried said she has mixed feelings.

The longtime educator said the board has a duty to protect the fund, but she has sympathy for the financial problems facing state government.