Alabama First?

Guest Opinion by Jacob Bouma-Sims

Alabama First: That was a slogan used by Katie Britt in her successful 2022 campaign for US Senate. Like the Trump slogan she copied, it is extremely vague. Whatever Senator Britt’s interpretation of “Alabama First”, she likely didn’t mean rejecting support from out of state Super PACS and corporations. JP Morgan Chase, at $22,000, for example, is number 6 on a list of Britt’s top 20 supporters.

Ironically, the Alabama First PAC that was created during the same cycle Senator Britt was elected has received significant contributions from powerful corporations based in other states, including Aflac, Walmart, Amazon and American Airlines. Add to that list Alabama Power, a utility monopoly owned by the umbrella corporation Southern Company, based in Atlanta.

Unfortunately, Britt and the PAC associated with her slogan are merely symptoms of a broader problem in Alabama society. 59% of Alabama Timberland is owned by absentee owners, which researchers at Auburn University connect to the higher levels of poverty experienced by rural areas dependent on natural resources.

Alabama’s exploitation by outside forces and big businesses isn’t inevitable. It is a choice by our leaders. For years, the right-wing majority has kept property taxes low and sales taxes high, quashed attempts at regulation, and invited a race to the bottom by consistently siding with bosses over labor. Alabamians even in Republican controlled areas are proud of our biodiversity, yet there is no interest by our government in moving away from the plastics or fossil fuels that threaten it. In fact, Attorney General Steve Marshall has joined a lawsuit against the State of California attempting to stop its plastic regulations. Given concerns about AI, and the quality of life problems created by large-scale data centers, there is a national discussion about putting a pause on construction of them. Alabama, however, is 1 of 5 states that offer both sales and property tax incentives to large scale data centers. Data centers can receive these incentives for up to 20 or 30 years while creating as few as 20 jobs.

It is tempting to list here all of the ways our government could put Alabama first. But to quote the Robert Penn Warren character Willie Stark “You are the state. You know what you need.”

Vote wisely in August and November. 

Jacob Bouma-Sims is a cashier, community organizer and Democratic candidate for US House in Alabama’s 6th District.

For more information on Bouma-Sims and his campaign, follow him on Facebook, Substack or other social media platforms.

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