Count on Congress?
Up in Colbert County, the National Steel Car plant is being built. As one of the prizes that Gov. Bob Riley's economic development team won for the state, the facility might one day employ as many as 1,800 Alabama residents.
But it looks as if the whole thing could cost more to finish than initially anticipated — and this at a time when more money is not something Alabama has to spend.
Here is what happened: One of the incentives offered the company was the promise that Alabama would make its "best effort" to secure a $300 million low-interest loan for construction. How? By getting Congress to add Colbert County to the federally chartered "Gulf Opportunity Zone" that was created to help with hurricane recovery.
Say what? Look at a map. Find Colbert County. When was the last time a hurricane hit there? But folks all across the state figured that if Alabama's senators and representatives could sell that to Congress, more power to them.
They couldn't.
At least not fast enough.
Congress had to approve the deal and Congress hasn't done it. Not that Congress is opposed — this sort of stuff goes on all the time up there. The whole "Gulf Opportunity Zone" thing is part of a bigger measure designed to revive the sagging housing market. And since that plan has not gone through, neither has the little bit that Alabama wants for itself.
Put simply, this means that if National Steel Car Ltd. does not get the financing from Alabama's promises to put its "best efforts" to securing, then the state and local governments might have to cough up some $30 million in penalties.
Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, an experienced legislator who one would expect would be on top of this, could only say that it was "a complex tax issue that has taken time and effort to get to this point." Rep. Arthur Davis, D-Birmingham, who sits on the Ways and Means Committee, could not explain the delay.
Thus, a difficult situation.
The state of Alabama and local governments in and around Colbert County made promises based on the assumption that Congress would act within the time specified in the contract with National Steel Car Ltd. Congress didn't do that.
The lesson? It doesn't need explaining.
