During a meeting of the Alabama Legislature's Contract Review Committee last week, House Pro-Tem Chris Pringle (R-Mobile) made waves with his criticism of the Ivey administration's West Alabama Corridor project, which, if completed, would make a long-envisioned four-lane route between Mobile and Tuscaloosa a reality.
Critics have panned the project for the Ivey administration's unwillingness to explore a federal matching component for the project.
Pringle predicted that the next governor would ultimately shut down the project.
SEE ALSO: House Pro-Tem Chris Pringle: Next governor 'going to shut down' West Alabama Corridor project
During his weekly appearance on Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show," State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine) echoed those concerns.
He also stated that Ivey's use of Rebuild Alabama gas tax revenue as a funding mechanism, under the guise of economic development, was not the intention of the 2019 law.
"Well, you hit the nail on the 'force it' comment there — you know, or characterization," Elliott said. "I think that there are a number of different problems with the project. I mean, one of which is it's been discussed for decades and decades and decades and decades and it's never come to fruition. But the way this governor is trying to prosecute this is forcing it, right? And using an insane amount of state funding and only state funding to pay for it. And so the theory there, I think from the governor's office is, if we use only state funding, we don't have to ask anybody else about it. And we don't have to talk to the federal government about it on this U.S. highway, right? And we'll just build it and build it out of Rebuild Alabama money. And we'll call it 'economic development.'"
He continued, "And then we'll kind of force again this concept that this is economic development, so that we can use all of the money, the state money, to build it. And that's just not what Rebuild was envisioned for, right? And that certainly was not what the economic development provisions of it were envisioned for. And when you have the potential to use that state money to match federal money, and you squander it on one project, that becomes problematic, not just for the project's health, but for other projects around the state as well. And so that's why I think it's probably in threat before you ever discuss the merits of the project."
Jeff Poor is the editor-in-chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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