The Economic Development Association of Alabama presented both Sen. Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) and Rep. Danny Garrett (R-Trussville/Clay/Pinson) with Legislator of the Year Awards during the Governor’s Luncheon on Monday, July 31.

Each year the award is given to the legislator — from the Alabama Senate and House of Representatives — who has worked to bolster the state’s business climate through economic development legislation. Both legislators were selected based on their individual contributions to the development and passage of “The Game Plan,” a package of four bills signed by Gov. Kay Ivey in April.

Both the Jobs Act and the Growing Alabama Act, two of Alabama’s primary economic incentive laws, were set to expire at the end of July but were extended through 2028 as part of the first act in The Game Plan. It also allows the annual incentive cap of $350 million be raised by $25 million each year over five years.

During her speech at the annual summer luncheon, Ivey said, “Without legislative action, our incentive programs were due to expire this summer, so we had to act quickly. Thank you to Sen. Garlan Gudger and Rep. Danny Garrett for guiding The Game Plan through the legislature to final passage and not a moment too soon.”

According to the Alabama Department of Commerce, the Jobs Act has been influential in the creation of roughly 40,000 jobs since it was enacted in 2015 and brought $22 billion to the state in the form of capital investment projects. A statement from Ivey, in March, said $10.1 billion of those investments were made just over the course of last year.

Other aspects of The Game Plan allow for renewable energy projects to be eligible for Jobs Act funding, increase grant access to support small innovative technology businesses and give the Industrial Development Authority power to issue grants for the development of “industry ready” sites.

Gudger, who chairs the Senate Economic Development Committee, said one of the keys to not only attracting industry, but to retaining job growth in Alabama, was the requirements companies must fulfill prior to receiving incentives. The Game Plan carries over previous restrictions which require companies to conduct business within the state for a full year, and be able to show it had produced the promised amount of job creations before receiving its tax incentives.

“We only give these incentives after the first year so that we know they’re staying in Alabama. It’s not just something we are dangling out in front of them to get them here. We want companies to stay in Alabama and I think that is one of the reasons we have possibly the best economic incentive package in the nation,” Gudger said.

Gudger was also tasked with carrying the fourth piece of The Game Plan, the Transparency in Incentives Act, through the Senate which requires the ADC to make information about incentives — such as company names/location, the number of jobs created and the estimated value of incentives — available on its website.

Gudger said, while this portion of the package doesn’t directly provide incentives to companies, it plays the vital role of holding legislators accountable to the public in order to issue incentives responsibly.

“I think the transparency is important for the taxpayers so they can know where their money is going and they can see the results and benefits that are being produced, and that we aren’t just spending money to be spending money,” Gudger said.

Gudger said he was honored by the recognition and described the award as the high point of his current five-year career in the Senate.

“I mean, … there are 140 legislators in total, so to be recognized as Legislator of the Year for economic development definitely means something to me. I’ve worked and tried to learn from a lot of different people what economic development means to them,” Gudger said. “What I’ve learned is that it’s different for everybody, but what we all agree on is that these incentives bring jobs to Alabama and make our future brighter. That’s the main reason I sponsored the bill and why I believe in it.”