Poor Perhaps but Prosperous Precisely

Governor Riley and Republicans like Mike Hubbard and apparently much of the Black Caucus have gotten behind an idea to raise the standard income tax deduction for Alabama tax returns. This proposal would apparently benefit the poor yet also some rather affluent Alabamians. The Montgomery Advertiser offers,

The compromise income tax plan would increase the standard income tax deduction from $4,000 to $7,000, increase the personal exemption from $1,500 to $1,700 and the dependent exemption from $300 to $1,000. It would be phased in over a five-year period. The compromise would cap the personal exemption at individuals who make over $100,000 a year and for couples filing jointly making more than $200,000 a year.

In Alabama the average individual hardly makes 100K or the average family 200K per year! AEA, hardly the ideal special interest group in Alabama at times, clearly sees the loss of education funds as a legitimate concern. We certainly need reform yet it seems the plan today is going way beyond relief to the poverty class. Maybe that is what it takes in today's political world yet this plan seems far too broad and it also puts our already low education funding at risk. Peace ... or War!