MONTGOMERY: Legislators rejected Gov. Robert Bentley’s call for $302 million in taxes. Instead, the Senate passed budget cuts nearly $200 million from state agencies. The budget is similar to one passed by lawmakers in June and vetoed by Bentley.
The Alabama Senate approved a budget plan on that would slash millions of dollars from Medicaid, mental health services, law enforcement and other state agencies.The Senate passed budget would cut $31 million from the state’s Medicaid program, $5.3 million from the Department of Mental Health, $13 million from the court system and $14.7 million from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
The budget does allow a total $15.5 million increase to the state prison system and the state parole board to maintain efforts to alleviate severe crowding in state prisons.
