The questions now facing the nation as well as Alabama’s state government are how did America get into this situation, and how to fix it. There are two basic answers: monetary policy and fiscal policy. They work in tandem. Both created the problem, and both are needed to correct it.
As the Legislature heads towards its 2023 regular legislative session, calls for Medicaid expansion are likely to increase. Alabama remains one of 12 states that has not expanded coverage under Obamacare.
Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced that the country’s economic growth rate had dropped by 0.9 percent, falling for the second straight quarter.
According to recent data from the U.S. Department of Labor, Alabama overpaid unemployment compensation benefit recipients by more than $164 million in 2020 and 2021.
When Birmingham won its bid to host the 2021 World Games in 2015, it was expected to be a major boom for the area. At the time, organizers projected that the economic impact would be $256.5 million against a projected cost of $75 million. But now that the World Games have come and gone, was it worth the price? Did expectations live up to reality?
There is no doubt that inflation is hurting many Alabamians right now, whether they be public or private sector employees or business owners. In June, inflation rose to 9.1 percent year over year, with record high gas prices being the underlying cause. But no one expects that trend to last. The Congressional Budget Office projects that inflationary pressures will begin to ease later this year and fall to 3.1 percent in 2023. From 1960 to 2021 the average annual inflation rate in the United States was 3.7 percent.
The reality that so many pro Medicaid expansion advocates seem to ignore is that Alabama already expanded Medicaid coverage for new mothers and their children, before the Roe decision.
Last week President Joe Biden called on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax for three months. What was Governor Kay Ivey’s response? She called it a “gimmick, plain and simple.”
When Alabama lawmakers came into session in January, one of their first priorities was allocating the first half of Alabama’s $2.1 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. With the second half set to hit the state’s coffers soon, lawmakers should hit the pause button before spending any additional funds. If they don’t, it will cost all Alabamians.