State Sen. Gregg Albritton addressed the Alabama Business Council in Montgomery on Tuesday morning, providing his perspective on the 2024 session, which is currently in its final stages, and his outlook for the 2025 General Fund budget, which he oversees in the Alabama Senate.

Last week, the Alabama Senate approved a fiscal year 2025 general fund budget totaling $3.3 billion.

“I try to work with the governor's office and the finance director before there's an issue to talk about what issues are going to come up and what the future holds, because you can't do a one-year budget,” said Rep. Albritton (R-Atmore). “I try to look further ahead.”

“But then you start looking at the plan: where do we go from here? Where did we go wrong? Where do we need to improve? That sort of thing.”

Albritton said leaders are mindful of all general fund revenues and expenses, and that state Rep. Rex Reynolds (R-Huntsville), who handles the general fund budget in the Alabama House of Representatives, has been a strong ally in the process.

“They bring in a budget section, and I go through every single line item. I go through every single line item,” he said. “I go through them and I call most of the department heads and other members of the agency and I find out why this line item is happening, where it is, who is responsible and any other issues. It's a little bit of a chore. It's a little bit tedious and not fun. But in the process, we get a better idea of ​​which agencies are doing well and which agencies are not.”

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“So what do we do with inflation eating away at things? Right now, incomes seem to be starting to plateau, but demand keeps growing, population keeps growing. What do we do? Move money. Shift it. That's the only thing you can do. You have to find ways and patterns to move things around, just like you would shift things around in your house.”

He also made it clear that the top-to-bottom review process is not a “fun” job. “And it's not that easy,” he said.

“Sometimes it changes, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it's ignored by the House, sometimes it's not.”

“There's nothing fun or exciting about handling other people's money. It's serious.”

Austin Shipley is a staff writer for Yellow Hammer News.