Bentley Signs General Fund Budget

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has signed the state’s general fund budget.

Bentley signed the bill Thursday morning. The governor said the spending plan was not perfect but was a step in the right direction.

Lawmakers passed a $1.7 billion operating budget on Wednesday after months of negotiations over a budget shortfall. Legislators approved a 25-cent-per pack cigarette tax and a transfer of education funds to minimize cuts to state services.

Bentley is praising lawmakers who voted for the cigarette tax. He says they put “people over politics.”

Some Republicans were angered by the GOP’s governor’s push for tax increases.

The budget agreement came just two weeks ahead of the new fiscal year.

The spending plan provides level funding to some agencies, such as prisons and Medicaid, but cuts other agencies.