Alabama

The Alabama legislature lowered the minimum age for a truck driver’s (CDL) license to 18 for within-state transport to help alleviate a driver shortage the American Trucking Associations (ATA) says has existed since 2005. 

The Alabama legislature kicked off its new term with a special session to increase the gas tax, a result which seemed foreordained.  Nonetheless, the gas tax raises interesting economic and political considerations.

Unfortunately, many recent college graduates report putting off buying cars or homes, saving for retirement, or marriage due to student loan debt.

Presidential tweets and a Supreme Court case have reignited the question of taxing internet sales.

Self-reliance and prosperity reforms to Alabama’s welfare system would save taxpayers’ money and get people get back to work.

Last spring Alabama’s legislature mandated coverage of autism therapy by health insurance plans.  Such mandates provide benefits to people without spending our tax dollars, but threaten the viability of health insurance.

Using a new methodology that seems to have been designed to produce exactly the conclusion it did, the EPA has now found that the nation’s methane emissions have been dramatically higher in recent years than previously thought. And for the EPA, this is a story with a villain: In a major departure from earlier studies, this year’s report claims the oil and gas industry is the nation’s chief methane culprit.

There have been numerous stories, rumors, and outright falsehoods reported in the media and by detractors regarding state Sen. Arthur Orr’s (R-Decatur) recently proposed welfare reform bill.