AL: Alabama lawmakers reject bill to add $5 to vehicle registration to support public transportation

The Alabama Legislature created a Public Transportation Trust Fund in 2018 but has never put money into it.

A bill introduced by Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D- Birmingham, would have added $5 to the current license tax and registration fees for passenger vehicles and motorcycles to go to the fund.

But it appears that will not happen this year.

An Alabama Senate committee on Wednesday rejected Coleman-Madison’s bill, SB11, by a vote of 7-5. Most of the Republicans on the committee opposed the bill, which had the support of Democrats.

“I don’t take it personally because I don’t depend on public transportation,” Coleman-Madison said. “But your constituents do.”

Coleman-Madison sponsored a similar bill last year, but it also died in committee. An amendment added this year in an effort to build more support for the legislation would have allowed county commissions to opt out of collecting the extra $5.

Coleman-Madison and supporters of the legislation said Alabama misses out on millions of dollars in federal funding for transportation because cities and counties are not able to provide the matching funds.

They said more public transportation would especially benefit rural areas and help people get to jobs and to medical appointments. They said it would help raise Alabama’s workforce participation rate, which is one of the nation’s lowest at about 57% and below the national rate of 62%.

“Both parties talk about economic development,” said Sen. Merika Coleman, D- Pleasant Grove. “Public transportation is an economic development driver. We’ve missed out on things because of a lack of public transportation in the state of Alabama.”

The fiscal note for the bill says there have been an average of 5.2 million vehicles registered in Alabama the last five years. That means the new fee could raise up to an estimated $26 million annually. The number would be lower if county commissions opt out.

Charlotte Shaw, executive director and CEO of the Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority, said there is a 5-to-1 return for every dollar invested in public transportation. Shaw spoke in favor of the bill for the second consecutive year.

“I’m especially heartbroken for the rural areas because they have to give money back,” Shaw said. “They can’t meet their matching funds based on their form of funding that they get from the federal government. And when they give that money back, operations actually suffer.”

Sen. Greg Albritton, R- Atmore, is chairman of the Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund committee, which voted down the bill Wednesday.

Albritton abstained from voting. He said he did not support the bill because he does not think it is the right solution for rural areas.

“Having public transportation is expensive,” Albritton said. “Personnel and equipment and liability. I would like to suggest, if anyone is listening, would be to take a look in the rural areas to use Uber and Lyft. The argument is, ‘We don’t have Uber and Lyft out there.' Well, you do, it’s your neighbors.”

Albritton said counties could enter a contract to provide transportation through citizens who sign up to be ride-sharing drivers.

“I don’t know if that would work or not but I think that’s something that’s not looked at that we need to look at.”

Democratic Sens. Coleman, Coleman-Madison, Billy Beasley and Robert Stewart voted for the bill, as well as Republican Sen. Andrew Jones.

Voting no were Republican Sens. Chris Elliott, Sam Givhan, Arthur Orr, Randy Price, Shay Shelnutt, Larry Stutts, and April Weaver.

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