Yeah, everybody says that. People come to Alabama and expect us to be like Georgia economically. What everybody keeps forgeting is that the largest city in the state, Birmingham, has fewer than 700,000 citizens counting the 'burbs. I mean the state as a whole has about 4.5 or 5 million people living in it, with about 60% of those able to work and contribute to the public coffers. By contrast Georgia has Atlanta which , by itself, has almost half the population of Alabama, when you throw in the rest of the state, Georgia has a lot more people to generate an economy.
One bright spot, Alabama has the lowest state income tax in the US. Less monies for Education:(, and the general populace is to scared of Montgomery Insiders to allow a tax increase. I could go on, but suffice to say that Montgomery is infamous for making under the table deals. A large portion of the state budget is tied up in legislation, which doesn't allow it to be moved to a line item that needs it.
