Big 10 Mayors announce legislative agenda

MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Big 10 Mayors today released their legislative agenda for the 2023 legislative session. The mayors’ collective priorities include legislation to grow Alabama’s economy and to improve public safety.

“Policy decisions made in Montgomery have a direct impact on our cities. And with nearly three out of four Alabamians living either in or around our state’s 10 biggest cities, legislation that creates jobs and improves public safety in our communities benefits the vast majority of Alabamians,” the Alabama Big 10 Mayors in a news release. “That’s why we have joined together to collectively advocate for important, common-sense legislation that will make our state a better place to live, work and raise a family.

“We look forward to working with our state’s dedicated elected lawmakers to make Alabama a safer, more prosperous state.”

The group includes Auburn Mayor Ron Anders, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, Decatur Mayor Tab Bowling, Dothan Mayor Mark Saliba, Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, Madison Mayor Paul Finley, Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed, and Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox.

In addition to the collective legislative priorities, each city may also pursue additional goals in this and future legislative sessions, the group said.

Representing Alabama’s 10 biggest cities – and with 75% of the state’s population living in their metro areas – the Alabama Big 10 Mayors work together to address the state’s most important issues and make Alabama a safer, better place for all its residents.

Below are highlights of their key legislative priorities:

• Renew and Expand the Alabama Jobs Act and the Growing Alabama Act: The Alabama Big 10 Mayors support the reauthorization and accompanying expansion of the Alabama Jobs Act and the Growing Alabama Act. The incentives programs established by these bills are critical to keeping Alabama’s economy globally competitive as we work to attract new businesses and new jobs to our communities.
• Increase Online Sales Tax Transparency: The Alabama Big 10 Mayors support efforts to make online sales tax distribution data from the State available publicly. If Alabamians are required to pay taxes on items purchased on the internet, they deserve the right to know where their tax dollars are going.
• Revitalizing Neighborhoods and Reducing Blight Through Clearing Red Tape: The Alabama Big 10 Mayors support legislation that would slash unnecessary, burdensome red tape to allow local governments and land bank authorities to take control of vacant, abandoned, and tax-delinquent properties and address them in a way that would then allow those previously unusable properties to contribute to and improve communities in Alabama cities.
• Implement State Penalties on Illegal Devices to Protect Law Enforcement and Keep Our Communities Safe: The Alabama Big 10 Mayors supports legislation that would enable more expedient prosecution of unlicensed persons found to be in possession of any “trigger activator” device, such as a “Glock switch.” These devices, which are federally illegal and not authorized by gun manufacturers, effectively turn a semi-automatic firearm into a fully automatic firearm. These devices increase the number of rounds fired per second and decrease the amount of control one has over the firearm, increasing risks to bystanders and law enforcement. New state legislation would allow state and local law enforcement the ability to address this growing crime problem and take offenders off the street, without waiting on the federal government’s lengthy indictment process.
• Ban “Exhibition Driving”:  The Alabama Big 10 Mayors support legislation that prohibits and provides criminal penalties for “exhibition driving” – which is when a driver purposefully drives in a manner to intentionally create unnecessary engine noise, tire skid, burnouts, and other dangerous and damaging driving techniques. This is a growing problem across Alabama cities that creates a public safety hazard for pedestrians and other drivers while draining limited lawenforcement resources.