Madison City Council passes resolution opposing state bill

The Madison City Council passed a resolution stating formal opposition to a bill currently in committee in the state legislature. (File Photo)

By Nick Sellers | Staff Writer

MADISON – The Madison City Council in its meeting April 13 passed a rarity in opposing a bill currently sitting in the Alabama state legislature.

Upon the recommendation of the Alabama League of Municipalities, which Mayor Troy Trulock and Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle are members, the Council expressed their opposition to House Bill 185, a piece of legislation that would let qualified home health care businesses and hospice agencies pay business license fees only to the city or county of its headquarters.

Cameron Grounds, the revenue department director, remarked when he introduced the proposal that of the approximately 5,600 business licenses issued by the city of Madison every year, about 1,200 claim its headquarters as Madison.

Trulock affirmed that although the dip in revenue would be relatively small, the potential effect on larger cities would be substantial.

“They would lose that revenue, and even for us, we wouldn’t know the ripple effect on what this might mean for us down the road,” Trulock said.

The text of the resolution states that the city would lose around $5,800 per year from not being able to license home health care businesses.

According to LegiScan, the last action taken on the bill was on April 2 in the House of Representatives committee on Health, when an amendment to the bill was offered. Rep. Ronald Johnson, (R–Coosa, Talladega), who sits on that committee, sponsored the bill.

Johnson is a partner with Medical Care Equipment Incorporated, according to his biography on Ballotpedia.

“We’re just showing solidarity with the other cities in the opposition to this bill,” Trulock said.