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In Alabama, where rolling up your sleeves and putting in extra hours is as natural as breathing, some lawmakers are scheming to punish the very people who keep this state running. Why? Because they have decided that taxing overtime is somehow more important than rewarding hard work.
The “No Tax on Overtime Act” was a rare bipartisan win, a policy that recognized the sacrifices Alabamians make to work extra hours—sacrifices of time, rest, and family moments. It wasn’t just good for workers; it was good for business. Employers benefited from having experienced staff willing to go the extra mile, without the additional cost of hiring and training new workers. Yet now, some in Montgomery want to quietly let this policy expire, citing so-called “lost revenue” for the Education Trust Fund.
Lost revenue? Let’s pause on that absurdity for a moment. Apparently, in the halls of Montgomery, “lost revenue” now includes money that never existed in the first place. Genius. The truth is simple: many workers only take on overtime because they know it won’t be taxed away. Without that incentive, fewer people will clock those extra hours, and the state’s coffers won’t see a dime of what lawmakers are now wringing their hands over.
This isn’t just numbers on a spreadsheet. This is the single mom in Birmingham picking up extra shifts so her kids can have new school supplies. This is the nurse in Montgomery working double shifts to cover rising grocery bills. This is the factory worker in Decatur putting in extra hours to fix the family car. Who looks at these people and thinks, “They need to pay more taxes”?
And what about the businesses that depend on overtime to keep operations running smoothly? Employers across Alabama have seen the benefits of this policy firsthand. When workers are incentivized to take on overtime, businesses can rely on experienced staff to meet demand without the expense and disruption of hiring new employees or temporary workers. That’s not just efficient—it’s smart. Repealing the exemption forces employers into tough decisions: overburden taxed employees, hire undertrained temps, or scale back operations. None of these options is as beneficial as maintaining the status quo. Taxing overtime doesn’t just hurt workers—it slows down local economies, as businesses face higher costs and workers have less to spend in their communities.
The argument that this exemption “hurts education funding” is a tired scare tactic. Alabama’s Education Trust Fund has other, larger revenue streams that remain untouched. Are we really supposed to believe that balancing the budget falls on the backs of those sweating it out for an extra paycheck? If lawmakers are truly concerned about funding education, perhaps they should look at the millions in tax breaks handed out to corporations or the $100 million in incentives allowing wealthy Alabamians to send their children to private schools on the backs of taxpayers. It’s absurd, and it panders to the elitist nature of those who think they know what’s best while robbing workers to reward the upper class. This is not fiscal responsibility—it’s highway robbery dressed up as policy.
We’ve long celebrated the value of hard work in Alabama—it’s part of who we are. Yet now, some lawmakers seem intent on tearing down that tradition, replacing it with policies that penalize effort and reward mediocrity. It’s easy to dismiss the value of overtime when you’re sitting in an air-conditioned office with a taxpayer-funded salary, but for the average worker, those extra hours are the difference between stability and struggle.
If these lawmakers think they can quietly let this exemption expire, they should think again. Let them explain to their constituents why they believe the sweat on a worker’s brow and the strategic decisions of employers are less important than padding state coffers. Let them justify why the overtime hours that fund Christmas presents, car repairs, and rising grocery bills should be taxed away.
Alabamians know better. We know that taxing overtime is a tax on ambition, a tax on resilience, and a tax on the sacrifices workers make every day to keep this state moving. It’s also a tax on the businesses that rely on these workers to maintain operations and grow the economy.
Protecting the overtime tax exemption isn’t just good policy—it’s a statement that Alabama still rewards hard work, honors sacrifice, and respects the people who make this state great. It’s time for Alabamians to call their representatives and demand they protect the overtime tax exemption. Remind them that this state was built on the backs of hardworking men and women—not on the whims of misguided bureaucrats. If they won’t stand up for you, perhaps it’s time to elect someone who will.
