State of Alabama Archives: on Corporations
Bill Hightower:
End "government goodies" to attract out-of-state business
Bill Hightower is urging Alabamians to consider the bigger picture, and he cites North Carolina as an example. North Carolina routinely engaged in a "government goodies" battle with South Carolina for attracting new business and routinely lost.
That's how Alabama operates now. We cut generous deals to businesses trying to lure them to the state. You've seen it time and again. We can call it whatever makes politicians more comfortable,
but we're basically using tax dollars and specific tax breaks to pay a business to come to the state. Almost all other states do it, so the justification for the practice is that we'll be left out if we don't play the game.
North Carolina modified that game by lowering tax rates and simplifying their tax code. Hightower notes, "Most jobs are created by existing businesses, not new ones coming to the state. We need to make a good business environment for anyone to operate."
Source: Birmingham News on Alabama Senate voting records
May 10, 2015
Doug Jones:
Streamline regulations for small business
The most productive, innovative people I know are entrepreneurs who have had the courage to turn an idea into a business that makes their community better, grows jobs and truly stands at the heart of America. The future of our state is in
supporting the growth of small and mid-sized businesses that care about the place they are formed and the people they employ. For these businesses, we need to streamline regulations and reduce the impediments to their success.
Source: 2017-2018 Alabama Senate website DougJonesForSenate.com
Aug 17, 2017
Doug Jones:
Cut corporate tax rates, but not by increasing the deficit
Q: It looks like the Senate and Congress is going to pass the tax bill before you get to town. But if you had a chance, would you vote for this bill or against it?JONES: Well, I've got to be honest with you, that's a 500 page bill. So I haven't had a
real chance to look at that and study it, as a lot of people have not, which is one of my biggest concerns about the way things are going up there right now. This seems to be done, plopped into a vote too quickly. What I'm seeing and hearing and just
reading about, there's things that I like about it, cutting corporate tax rates, cutting some things for the middle class and increasing the standard deduction. But my biggest concerns are the process and also the fact that it's going to increase the
deficit by over a trillion dollars. That causes me great concern. I don't buy into the fact that it's going to grow the economy such that that trillion dollars debt will get wiped out. I think that's a major problem.
Source: Fox News Sunday 2017 on 2017 Alabama Senate race
Dec 17, 2017
Jessica Taylor:
Let's end sweetheart deals for woke companies
Let's end sweetheart deals for woke companies. Woke corporations are chasing after appeasement from the same radical socialists that would happily let the government assume control of their means of production if given the opportunity.
These woke companies do so at the expense of and adversarial to conservatives. If corporate leaders want to force their partisan liberal values on us, then they should no longer receive any tax-breaks, sweetheart deals, or government contracts.
Source: 2021 Alabama Senate campaign website JessicaTaylorAL.com
Aug 31, 2021
John Merrill:
Same-day service: government at the speed of business
Merrill urged fiscal responsibility, and pointed to his opponents. "You ask the other candidates how you push back against record spending, 'Where have you been?' Ask how they've cut their budget, how they've cut staff," he said. "Because you're not
going to get a positive answer from somebody who expanded the court system. You're not going to get that answer from somebody who has been in Congress who has been a part of the swamp. And you're not going to get that answer from an athletic
administrator football coach who says I need more coaches and more money. You're not going to get that answer from them."According to Merrill, he had, in fact, cut his operation to do more with less by downsizing his staff from 49 to 36 and
significantly expedited business filings that once ranged from taking seven to nine months before confirming receipt, to same-day service. "We're not operating at the speed of government anymore," he added. "We're operating at the speed of business."
Source: YellowHammerNews.com on 2020 Alabama Senate race
Jul 12, 2019
Kay Ivey:
Tax relief to job creators and small businesses
Unlike the federal government who continues to increase the burden on small businesses through programs like ObamaCare, Alabama House Republicans are focused on providing needed tax relief to job creators. Currently, when Alabama small business owners
make sales tax payments, they are required to front the money based on an educated guess of the amount.The Small Business Tax Relief Act will raise the threshold for making these estimated payments from $1,000 to $2,500 per month.
This could provide approximately 6,000 Alabama small business owners with an immediate, one-time tax cut of up to $2,500 and will inject approximately $4.6 million into the Alabama economy.
Under the Tax Elimination Act, we will give authority to the Alabama Department of Revenue to suspend taxes and fees when the cost of collecting the tax exceeds the amount of revenue the tax brings in.
Source: 2014 Alabama Lt. Governor campaign website KayIvey.org
Oct 30, 2014
Marcus Bowman:
Hire and fire based on business needs
Q: Do you support or oppose the policy, "Legally require hiring more women/minorities"
A: Strongly oppose. Businesses should be free to hire and fire based on their business needs.
Source: Email interview on 2016 Alabama Senate race with OnTheIssues
Jan 21, 2016
Mo Brooks:
Stay out of politics or adopt pro-America positions
Brooks offered a warning in response to Major League Baseball's decision to move this year's All-Star Game from Atlanta over Georgia's new voting law. "Republicans are fans most likely able to afford Major League Baseball obscene ticket, parking &
food prices," Brooks wrote on Twitter. Brooks said the league "should stay out of politics, or at least adopt pro-America political positions, or risk losing their #GOP fan base."
Source: Birmingham News on 2022 Alabama Senate race
Apr 3, 2021
Richard Shelby:
Don't smother small banks with unnecessary regulations
If you ask a White House spokesperson, Shelby's proposal to overhaul the nation's banking regulations is just another example of Wall Street interests getting their way. Not so fast, according to Shelby, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee:
"Community and regional banks that had nothing to do with the financial crisis should not be smothered by unnecessary regulations originally designed for Wall Street," Shelby said. "These burdensome regulations from Washington are making it harder for
community and regional banks to do the things that grow our economy, such as small business lending."Shelby's Financial Regulatory Improvement Act would revise provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a 2,000-page
bill that was passed in 2010 and implemented sweeping regulations to America's banks & financial institutions.
Shelby said while the bill was touted as "Wall Street reform" many of the regulations have negatively impacted community and regional banks.
Source: Huntsville Times coverage of 2016 Alabama Senate race
May 22, 2015
Robert Bentley:
We will do whatever we can to attract new businesses
Governor Bentley announced that Alabama has been selected as one of the top three states in the nation for doing business. Bentley said, "Alabama has a unique blend of excellent sites, quality infrastructure and incentives that make
us attractive to companies throughout the world. These consultants have recognized what we knew all along. Alabama is the best place in the nation to open or expand a business."
Source: Alabama 2011 gubernatorial press release #5633
Sep 23, 2011
Ron Crumpton:
Offshore profit shifting needs to end
The simple fact is that we could pay for [domestic programs] by changing the tax code concerning offshore profit shifting, which allows multi-billion dollar companies like
GE, Boeing and others to avoid paying any U.S. taxes. Currently many of these companies are not only paying no taxes, they are getting refunds. This needs to end.
Source: 2016 Senate campaign website CrumptonForAlabama.com
Jul 23, 2015
Ron Crumpton:
Transfer $11 billion from corporate tax loopholes to schools
Richard Shelby does not serve the people.- He voted against legislation that would eliminate tax credits for sending American jobs overseas and establish a tax credit for bringing American jobs back to America.
- He voted against legislation that
would allow those with student loan debt to refinance that debt at a lower rate of interest.
- He voted against legislation that would raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.
- He voted against legislation that would have shifted
$11 billion from corporate tax loopholes to education.
Every time the interest of the people is pitted against the interest of big business, big business gets the support of Richard Shelby. It is time for the people of
Alabama to elect a progressive senator who will work for what is in their best interest and not the best interest of the political fat cats and big business executives that fund their campaigns.
Source: AL.com editorial by Ron Crumpton on 2016 Alabama Senate race
Apr 16, 2015
Ron Crumpton:
Trickle-down economics good for business but not for people
Our elected leaders should focus their efforts on what is best for the economy as a whole and not what is best for business because, very often, they are at odds with one another. Over the last 35 years, the U.S. has operated on the concept of
trickle-down economics. The theory that if you give tax-breaks to corporations, those funds will trickle down through the economy in the form of more and better paying jobs. The problem is that corporations are in the business of doing what is best for
the corporation, which is what businesses should do, but it is also the reason why we should not trust that they will do what is best for someone else... It's not their job.Corporate profits are the highest they have been in 86 years, and worker pay
is the lowest it has been in 66 years. We should help small business; we should not give handouts to big business. Under my plan the majority of tax breaks would go to help small business and large corporations pay their share.
Source: Vote411.org League of Women Voters: 2016 Alabama Senate Race
Sep 19, 2016
Roy Moore:
Against same sex marriage; against civil unions
A strong family, based on marriage between one man and one woman, is and should remain our only guide and model.
I oppose same-sex marriage, civil unions, and all other threats to the traditional family order.
Source: 2017-2018 Alabama Senate campaign website RoyMoore.org
Aug 31, 2017
Page last updated: Feb 18, 2023