A state Senate committee has approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would take $1 billion out of a state savings account to spend on roads.

The Senate Finance and Taxation-General Fund Committee voted 11-1 Wednesday for the proposal by Democratic state Sen. Lowell Barron of Fyffe.

Barron’s bill would remove $100 million a year for 10 years from the Alabama Trust Fund and spend it on roads and bridges. Barron says it’s Alabama’s version of an economic stimulus package. The Alabama Trust Fund has $3 billion derived from natural gas wells drilled in state-owned waters along the Alabama coast.

Barron’s legislation now goes to the Senate for consideration.