There are some taxes that could be raised that would have little to no political blow back.

The first and most obvious is the cigarette tax. The national average is over $1.50. Alabama's is 42 cents a pack - 47th in the country. Of the states that touch us, only Georgia is lower at 37 cents a pack.

There's absolutely no downside to raising that tax and a ton of upside. First is that most of that 25% of that money goes to the general fund and 60% goes to Medicaid - the two biggest budget problems in the state.

That measly 42 cents a pack generates $120 MILLION dollars a year. Simply raising the tax to Tennessee's 62 cent rate would generate an additional 60 million. Bringing it to the national average could potentially generate close to $400 million. You could easily expand Medicaid, better fund corrections, and restore some of the other general fund agencies that have been seriously cut.

Of course, the "down" side is that people might smoke less - but that's the real beauty of it. It is a totally and completely optional tax. Not one single person is forced to pay it and if they smoke less they'll be healthier to boot.

Only about 22% of Alabamians smoke, so right off the bat 4 out of 5 people are complete unaffected. Throw in that of those remaining 22%, roughly a quarter are black and probably aren't voting Republican no matter what happens and you've got the recipe for a tax that could pass.

It got a little bit of traction in the last session. With the general fund budget issues looming in 2016 (they're big) and the elections being 4 years away after November of this year, I almost guarantee you'll see it and a few other revenue measures pass in the 2015 session. There's even an outside chance you might see a lottery discussed.