Last week Rotarians welcomed Representative Bill Poole of the Alabama Legislature to the club to discuss some issues facing District 63. Poole serves his district through his work on several committees including the Ways and Means, Education Committee, and on its Higher Education appropriations subcommittee. He also serves on the Judiciary and Technology and Research Committees. Poole was selected as one of the top 4 freshman legislators out of 34, and as a rising star in the legislature. Poole has passed the Natural Disaster Sales Tax Holiday, and the Copper Metal Theft Bill.

Representative Poole touched on several topics including education, pension reform, and redrawing of the district lines. The most important topic Poole spoke on was an upcoming constitutional amendment that will allow money to be secured over three years from the Alabama Trust Fund. This money will go into the General Fund, which at the moment has static taxes unlike the Educational Trust Fund. The General Fund has appropriations for the States Medicaid program and the prison system, to name a few. Poole explained that this is a very important amendment and in his opinion needed to be passed to avoid underfunding these programs. The vote will be on September 18th, 2012.