The approaching statewide vote on Amendment One, a proposal to funnel more than $400 million from the Alabama Trust Fund into the troubled General Fund, poses plenty of room for debate.

Legislators, who voted to put the amendment before Alabama voters, appear to be as divided as the public in their views on the proposal. Locally, state Sen. Paul Bussman, R-Cullman, has made a blistering stand against the amendment and challenged fellow lawmakers to go back into session next year and make the tough decisions that would cut waste and possibly bring new life to the General Fund.

On the other side, state Rep. Jeremy Oden, R-Vinemont, favors passage of the amendment as a means of salvaging some of the state’s valuable services to seniors and keeping the court system funded. Cullman County District Attorney Wilson Blaylock has also made public his support for the amendment, noting that the money would allow prosecutions to continue to move forward in a timely manner and prevent a backlog in the court system.

Healthcare organizations favor the amendment because of the need to keep Medicaid payment flowing. Educators are also favoring the amendment, perhaps as a means to prevent any temptation among lawmakers to find a way into the Education Trust Fund, which this year has enjoyed a $150 million surplus.

The amendment, the lone issue on the Sept. 18 ballot, is timed as last-ditch effort to secure money for the General Fund before the budget years begins on Oct. 1. Without the more than $400 million from the Alabama Trust Fund, which would be paid into the state’s budget over three years, some lawmakers warn that the state may be forced to reduce courthouse hours, make layoffs and even release inmates from the Alabama’s correctional system.

State Rep. Mac Buttram also pointed out this week that cities and counties receive money from the capital gains in the Alabama Trust Fund. Passage of the amendment would allow the directors of the trust fund to withhold payouts to local governments if they determine that doing so would harm the health of the overall fund.

“A lot of people have not been aware of that part of the amendment,” Buttram said. “The area’s mayors have met and discussed it. The payouts means different amounts of money for different towns and cities and counties.”

The money is issued on a set percentage of the capital gains. The state’s General Fund receives 69 percent while counties, municipalities and the Forever Wild program each get 10 percent. Another 1 percent is designated to senior services.

Buttram noted that Hanceville received about $25,000 in the last payout, while Cullman was awarded $125,000. The county took in about $300,000. The money is designated by local governments for capital improvement projects, which may include work on parks and recreations facilities or municipal and county buildings used for maintenance equipment.

“I know there is a lot of different feelings about the amendment. Our local delegation is divided and I understand healthcare providers favor it because of their needs,” said Cullman Mayor Max Townson. “Everybody has a lot of questions. There just seems to be a lot of confusion.”

From Cullman’s perspective, Townson said the city has saved around $200,000 from payouts to use for capital improvements. He said the money has to be used for such projects and is valuable because it allows locally generated revenue to go to other services.

“We did receive $125,000 from the last payment, and we’ve had as much as $200,000 paid to us. It depends on how well the fund is performing,” Townson said.

Townson said passage of the amendment doesn’t necessarily mean an end of the payments, but it provides the trust fund’s governors the option of withholding payments based on the fund’s performance.

“I’m still looking at information about it. I do know that losing a year’s payment is something than many towns don’t want to face.” Townson said.

One irritation in the proposed amendment is that lawmakers quickly passed the act and failed to add a clause that requires the fund to be repaid. Several lawmakers have noted that a bill has since been prefiled to require repayment when the legislature returns to session in February.

The Alabama Trust Fund was established as a savings account for the citizens of the state. Money goes into the fund from revenues generated by gas and oil drilling.

Lawmakers who support the amendment say passage would allow the legislature time to reach an agreement on how to make the General Fund more viable in the future.

* David Palmer may be contacted at dpalmer@cullmantimes.com or 256-734-2131, ext. 213.