The Libertarian Party of Alabama opposes the proposed amendment, Amendment 1, on the May 24 ballot.
We stand firm in opposition of the amendment not because we hate our state parks, but because we love our fellow Alabamians and their right to choose how and where their money is spent. “It’s only twenty bucks!” proponents say. Perhaps–it’s a blank check for $85 MILLION you’re being asked to sign your children and grandchildren’s name to. Assuming their math is correct, to many of us twenty bucks is nothing. To others twenty bucks is everything. We have all been affected by the crippling near double-digit inflation and record high gas prices we face today. Governor Ivey is begging for a ‘Yes’ on the State Parks Amendment but she refuses to provide some relief at the pump by granting a temporary reprieve from her 2018 cash cow gas tax.
Commissioner of the Department of Conservation & Natural Resources Chris Blankenship says our campgrounds need upgrades to accommodate “half a million dollar motor homes.” We say great, let the motor home owners pay for those upgrades through user fees. It is not the taxpayers’ duty to ensure glampers have adequate power. It is not your children and grandchildren’s duty to pay for those upgrades either.
If you love our natural resources, our parks, and the diverse flora and fauna Alabama is known for as much as we do, and you want to see them preserved for the enjoyment of future generations, great! Donate, voluntarily, twenty bucks or more to Outdoor Alabama or to the Dept. of Conservation.
Or better yet, join us in asking our representatives to wipe out corruption and pork barrel funding that has plagued this state for decades. Write them and tell them to fly straight, to balance their budgets, and to get that money from one of their many slush funds.
On May 24 vote NO on Amendment 1.