Head of Ala. Teachers Group Concerned About Coastal Insurance Bill

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The head of Alabama’s teachers’ organization is concerned that legislation designed to improve the availability of insurance along the Alabama coast could have another effect – eliminating tax dollars for public schools.

Paul Hubbert, executive secretary of the Alabama Education Association, said legislation proposed by Sen. Ben Brooks, R-Mobile, could cost the state’s education budget anywhere from several hundred thousand dollars to $5 million a year.

Brooks said Hubbert’s concern involves a portion of the bill that would establish tax breaks for people who improve existing properties to be more storm-resistant. He said he does not expect the tax breaks to negatively impact state education funding, which comes primarily from sales and income taxes.

“As I have said many times in public life, … it is my belief that through targeted tax incentives over time, revenues to the government will actually increase because economic activity will actually increase,” Hubbert said.

The men said they have discussed the bill with each other and describe their talks as encouraging and constructive.

Hubbert said he hopes that his concerns can be worked out before the beginning of the legislative session in February. He told the Press-Register that he would not talk publicly about which aspects of the bill concern him because Brooks “indicated a willingness to work through that problem.”

Brooks’ bill is intended to curb the rising cost and decreasing availability of property insurance on the coast. Several carriers increased rates, dropped coverage or did not renew policies after hurricanes Ivan and Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2004 and 2005.

Brooks’ bill would also expand and overhaul the “beach pool,” the name given to the insurer of last resort for property owners on the coast.

Information from: Press-Register,
http://www.al.com/mobileregister