Amendment 1’s approval rewrites the state constitution to divert 35 percent of the royalties paid to the Alabama Trust Fund every year by companies extracting natural gas from the Gulf of Mexico. Now, Siegelman and lawmakers can sell $425 million of bonds to fund construction projects and use diverted royalties to repay the debt. Siegelman plans to use the money for $100 million worth of improvements at the state docks in Mobile, including new cargo-handling facilities. In addition, $50 million will be spent to help build $250 million worth of improvements to roads and bridges in the state. Federal grants would make up the difference. In addition, Siegelman wants to reserve $185 million in borrowing capacity to offer incentives to recruit plum projects to Alabama.

One company that may benefit from improvements at the Alabama State Docks in Mobile is Mercedes. Mercedes announced this summer a $600 million, 1.5 million-square-foot expansion of its M-Class plant in Vance, Ala., that is expected to create 5,900 direct and indirect jobs and $275 million in total wages. Thus far, Mercedes has not been able to use the port in Mobile to ship its vehicles due to the port’s capacity limitations. M-Class vehicles are currently being shipped out of Brunswick, Ga., and Jacksonville, Fla., while engines from Germany arrive in the U.S. via the Port of Charleston.

With the capital improvement proposal including $100 million in improvements for the Alabama State Docks, Mercedes may be in position soon to ship some of its products from the state. Mercedes officials have said that if it met its needs, they would certainly consider the port for future business.