Barron said the bill will take $100 million from the Oil and Gas Trust Fund annually for a period of 10 years. Barron said the fund currently has $2.6 billion and averages between $150 to $250 million in new money added each year. Barron said the bill will give $25 million to counties and cities, $75 million to the Alabama Department of Transportation of which $5 million will go to each congressional district.

Barron said the bill is not only a roads bill but a jobs bill. He said the bill will create construction jobs, will assist in recruiting industry and will be an investment in the future. He said the first two years of the bill will be targeted at the BRAC jobs already recruited.

According to Barron, the next round of BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) will be 2015 and if the district doesn’t do something about the infrastructure, it could lose some of jobs recently sent to the district.

Chamber of Commerce CEO Rick Roden said that the average salary of a Redstone BRAC employee is $80,000 per year. Roden said 8,000 more BRAC jobs are coming between now and September 15, 2011. He said BRAC is the biggest economic development project in the history of the State of Alabama.

He said the issues that must be addressed for BRAC is the transportation issue. Roden said there is $23 million in payroll driving from Jackson County to the Arsenal each day.

Barron said alternative road bills include a five-cent gasoline tax and a bond issue for road and bridge repair.

Barron said the bill will be a constitutional amendment and will require a vote by electors.