April 2, 2025 - Hoover Continues to Grow and Flourish Under Leadership of Mayor Frank Brocato
The City of Hoover was founded in 1968 as a suburban bedroom community of the Over the Mountain area. In 57 years, it has grown into one of the most prominent and prosperous cities in the Jefferson/Shelby metro area.
It is now the fifth largest city in Alabama in real population following only Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery and its neighbor, Birmingham. About two decades ago, Hoover’s population had grown so significantly that the Census Bureau changed the label of Alabama’s largest metropolitan area from the Birmingham metro area to the Birmingham/Hoover metropolitan area. If current trends continue, Hoover will surpass Birmingham in population within 20 years. At that time, the Census Bureau will probably refer to the state’s largest metro center as the Hoover/Birmingham metropolitan area.
Hoover, with its large available sprawling land mass, will continue to grow and prosper as the center and heart of the state.Hoover’s per capita residential income among the top ten cities is surpassed by only Huntsville.
Hoover has been led by Mayor Frank Brocato since 2016. He is running for his third term this August. Mayor Brocato is Hoover through and through. He has a long history of service with the City of Hoover. Brocato began his career with the Hoover Fire Department in 1973, only five years after the city’s incorporation. He was the city’s first paramedic and rose to be the Fire Marshall for Hoover in 1979. After 42 years of service with the Fire Department, he retired in 2015 as the Chief of Operations and the Fire Marshall. The next year, in 2016, he was elected Mayor of Hoover.
Frank Brocato and his wife Frances have been married for 50 years. They have three children and nine grandchildren. Frank and Frances are both natives of Jefferson County and have called Hoover home for five decades. He loves his city, and it is obvious when he talks about Hoover’s amazing growth and success.
Mayor Frank Brocato realized that the key to success for a prosperous and robust city are good schools, a good police department and a good fire department. From his first year in office, Mayor Brocato demonstrated a deep commitment to the Hoover City Schools. Recognizing the critical role education plays in the community’s success, he took bold actions to support students, teachers, and administrators. He doubled the city’s annual contribution to the Hoover City Schools. He made sure that school resource officers were assigned to all 17 schools.
Mayor Brocato is a frequent visitor to all of the city schools. He looks forward to these visits. Under Brocato’s leadership, Hoover schools remain among the top school systems in the state with two of the premier high schools – Hoover High School and Spain Park High School.
Hoover has long been considered one of the safest cities in the state. The city has consistently been rated as the number one police/public safety department in the state, as well as the highest paid. The Hoover Police Department has achieved CALEA accreditation, a distinction held by only five% of police departments nationwide. Under Brocato’s leadership, the City of Hoover opened a $4 million state-of-the-art training facility that trains not only their officers, but other departments throughout the state. The Hoover Fire Department is also considered the best in the state. Hoover’s Fire Department maintains an ISO Class 1 rating, the highest possible ranking.
Hoover, under Brocato, continues to be a mecca for sports tourism. The Hoover Met Complex hosts numerous events, including the SEC Baseball Tournament. This event, alone, drew 180,000 fans in 2023 and 200,000 in 2024 to the Hoover Met.
Under Frank Brocato’s leadership Hoover remains one of Alabama’s most vibrant and thriving communities. It is celebrated for its excellent schools, premier and robust public safety, and family friendly amenities. The city has seen substantial but measured and well-planned growth. Under Frank Brocato’s mayorship, the city has grown in population from 85,000 in 2016 to 93,000 today.
See you next week.
March 26, 2025 - Legislature Needs to Let Alabamians Vote on Whether They Want to Reap Revenue from the Lottery and Sports Betting
Over the past ten years, the following question has been posed to me, “Flowers, why in the world does Alabama not have a lottery, and why can’t we receive the revenue from gambling that every one of our surrounding states and almost every state in America thrives on?”
Over this past decade, I have spoken to as many as 50 major Civic Clubs and Chamber of Commerce banquets. As Alabama’s primary political columnist and commentator, I am considered mainstream conservative, therefore, most of the clubs are Rotary Clubs. These conservative Rotarians and Chamber of Commerce leaders are primarily mainstream conservative voters, and movers and shakers in their communities. After my talks to them about current Alabama politics and Alabama political history, I tend to open up at the end for questions from the floor. The aforementioned question on gambling and lottery dollars has been the most prevalent question asked for the past decade from these conservative audiences.
Therefore, my observation is that older conservative Alabamians will vote “yes” on a lottery and gaming. “Why,” you ask, because these folks have enough walking around sense to know that most Alabamians buy lottery tickets and bet on ballgames,and they are sick and tired of their fellow state citizens’ money going to our surrounding states.
The only decision that your legislator/senator has to make is to vote to simply let you vote on whether you want to keep our gambling/lottery dollars at home.
If I were a legislator, I would have a hard time coming back home and explaining to my constituents that I voted to not allow them the right to vote to keep their lottery dollars at home. If your legislator is that high and mighty, you need to bring them back home.
The day of saying that buying a lottery ticket or betting on a football game is immoral is long gone. There are a lot more detrimental habits to be against than buying lottery tickets. If you want to help people be moral and protect their wellbeing, start your campaigns to do away with alcohol and cigarettes. These two vices have destroyed a hundred times more people than betting on lottery tickets or ballgames.
There are no passages in the Bible where Jesus rails against gambling. Check out Acts, Chapter one versus 23-25. The disciples cast lots to choose who should succeed Judas. If casting lots is good enough for choosing one of Jesus’ disciples, than it is good enough for educating our children.
Alabama is now one of only four states in America that do not have a lottery. It comes as no surprise that most Alabamians – both Republicans and Democrats – find this absurd. In fact, 80%of Alabamians, when polled, say they adamantly want their legislators to vote on whether to keep their lottery dollars at home.
This same reliable polling reveals that the Alabamians in favor of a state lottery also attend church up to two times a week and already gamble on sporting events and drive out of state to purchase lottery tickets. This is especially true of Alabamians under 50.
Today, most Alabamians see nothing irreverent or wrong about buying a lottery ticket or betting on a football game. What they do find appalling is that their children and grandchildren, who are successful in school, could go to college tuition free if they lived next door in Georgia. Alabamians have educated untold numbers of Georgia students over the past 25 years. It is no coincidence that the largest outlets for purchasing lottery tickets are located along Georgia’s Alabama border.
The same holds true along Florida’s Alabama border. The people in Dothan and the Wiregrass alone have probably paved most of the roads throughout the panhandle of Florida.
All of our four surrounding states of Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi allow the purchase of lottery tickets. Mississippi funds almost half of their government off of gaming dollars.
Alabama’s legislators need to let Alabamians vote on whether they want to reap revenue from a lottery and sports betting.
See you next week.
March 19, 2025 - Mac McArthur Retires
As the Legislative Session evolves, I find myself missing my ole friend Mac McArthur around the Statehouse. We would visit in the halls and sometimes sit together in the gallery. He would be busier than a one-armed paper hanger as he was always having to work on legislative matters for the state employees. We would reserve our long hours of talking politics for lengthy phone conversations in between legislative sessions. We both very much enjoy our political discussions. Mac knows Alabama politics and our political history as well as anyone and was a part of it for a long time.
Mac McArthur was born and raised in Ashford in Houston County. His McArthur ancestors were some of the first settlers of that Wiregrass County. About half the folks in Ashford were named McArthur or were kin to them when Mac was growing up. Bill Baxley was Mac’s mentor and idol in politics. Baxley’s relatives were also some of the first settlers of Houston County. His people lived in Dothan. Bill and Mac are actually cousins.
Bill grew up watching court in Dothan as his daddy, Judge Kenner Baxley, presided over his Houston County courtroom. Bill was a two-term Attorney General who blazed an unprecedented Civil Rights trail that is unparalleled. He was the most renowned, progressive Attorney General in Alabama history. Baxley’s prosecution of the “Kluxers,” who bombed Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church and killed four little girls on one of the most tragic and horrific Sunday mornings in Alabama history, will be featured in an upcoming Alabama Public Television documentary. He was also the youngest person ever elected Attorney General in Alabama and holds the record for being the youngest Attorney General ever elected in the country. He was elected as the state’s top lawyer at age 28.Baxley is now 83 and still practices law in Birmingham.
Mac Began his career being Baxley’s Chief of Staff when Bill was Lt. Governor from 1982 to 1986. Mac has been more like a brother to me than a friend. His daddy, Gene McArthur, and my great uncle, Maurice Miller, were best friends and more like brothers. Alabama is just one big front porch.
My friend Mac McArthur retired as Executive Director of the Alabama State Employees Association late last year after 26 years leading the organization. He not only ran the organization,he was their lobbyist. In his last six years, he accomplished something no other ASEA Director accomplished or probably ever will – getting five cost of living raises in the last six years. Mac fought many a battle for state employees over the years and won most.
Let me tell you, the legislative wars are a real battlefield. Legislative politics is a messy business and not for the faint of heart. Mac McArthur is diplomatic and disarming with his country charm, but Mac McArthur is not faint-hearted. Prior to becoming head of ASEA, Mac was an Assistant District Attorney and was Executive Director of the State Ethics Commission.
Mac is retiring at a young age. He is only 66. He and his wife, Cheryl, have moved to a home on Logan Martin Lake, near Pell City, to be near their daughter and two grandchildren. They have taken to their new home like a duck to water, probably because they are constantly around the grandkids.
We still have our hour-long political talks by phone, and probably always will. Mac’s protégé, Cameron Espy, has taken Mac’s job as Executive Director of the Alabama State Employees Association. It seems like yesterday Mac hired young Cameron to be his Public Relations Director. However, it was 22 years ago that Cameron began handling marketing, public relations, and events for ASEA. She became Assistant Director and Mac’s Chief Lieutenant several years ago. It was a natural transition for her to replace Mac. He will be hard to replace.
See you next week.
March 12, 2025 - Alabama has a Host of Prominent Political Leaders Under 45
For the casual observer, taking a cursory look at our political leaders reveals that may we have some pretty old folks in positions of power.
Our new President, Donald Trump, is not a spring chicken at 78. Our own Alabama Governor Kay Ivey is 80 and goes by the monicker “Mee Maw.” However, a new generation of Alabama leaders are taking center stage in our state. Most of these leaders are already making their mark. Allow me to share with you a host of Alabama’s most prominent leaders who are 45 or younger. You will be surprised how many of our state’s most prominent leaders fit into this under 45 age group.
The most prominent and promising young leader in our state is our sensational superstar, United States Senator Katie Boyd Britt. As was expected, she hit the ground running when she was elected two years ago. At 43 years old, she is probably Alabama’s most popular political figure. Katie has set the woods on fire in Washington. Her committee assignments reveal that she is considered part of the GOP Senate majority leadership. As a freshman, she serves on the four most prestigious committees – Appropriations, Rules, Banking and Judiciary. She has begun to bring home the bacon through her seat on Appropriations. Shelearned from the best, her mentor, Senator Richard Shelby. Katiehas the making of another Shelby.
Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth is only 44. He is beginning his seventh year in his job. The primary function of the Lt. Governor is to preside over the state senate. He has done an excellent job in this capacity. He won the veteran senators over early with his diligence in learning the intricate rules of the senate and presiding fairly and judiciously. The Republican senators really like him and have delegated some power to him. Ainsworth is currently the favorite to win the upcoming 2026 Governor’s race.
Shomari Figures just became our second Democratic Congressman. Figures, a Mobile native and resident, is only 39. He is the son of legendary Mobile state senators, the late Senator Michael Figures and current veteran, revered Senator Vivian Figures.
Our State Auditor, Andrew Sorrell, is only 39. He is doing a good job in his first term as auditor. He is efficient in a non-flamboyant way. He has a good future in Alabama politics.
There are two state senators that shine as under 45 leaders. Senator Andrew Jones of Cherokee and Etowah Counties is one of the best. He works hard in Montgomery and back home in his district. He just turned 40. Another rising star is Senator Wes Kitchens of Marshall County. He just moved from the House to the Senate. Wes is only 35.
Speaking of the House of Representatives, there are four stars on the rise that deserve mention. Representative Anthony Daniels is one of the most prominent leaders in the House. He effectively works across the aisle. Anthony is only 42 and is the Democratic Leader of the House. Republican James Lomax hails from the Huntsville/Madison area like Anthony Daniels. Lomax was first elected in 2022 and is stellar. Republican Matt Simpson, aBaldwin County Attorney, has already become a go-to leader in the House. Young Sand Mountain Republican Brock Colvin is the new Majority Whip and is only 28 years old.
Paul Shashy has become the most prominent campaign managerguru in the state. He has a brilliant track record. He has managed both of our U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville’s and Katie Britt’s campaigns. His door is being banged on a lot right now as folks are trying to line him up for their 2026 campaigns. Shashy is only 33.
Derek Chen, a young Jefferson County lawyer and businessman, has become the go-to guy for Republican political players throughout the state. I have never seen a 27-year-old be as connected as Derek Chen.
Caroleene Dobson, who is only 37, ran a brilliant campaign for Congress last year. She has a bright future in politics, if she wants it.
Brandon Shouppe is doing an outstanding job as Chairman of the Houston County Commission. He has a bright future in Wiregrass politics.
Pell City native Emory Cox, who is only 29, has just been commissioned as Special Assistant to President Trump for International Economic Relations at the White House. He was previously Senator Tommy Tuberville’s Senior Economic Advisor.
Two veteran prominent lobbyists, Taylor Williams of Power South and Houston Smith of Alabama Power, are both under 45.
Hollis and Erin Marshall have quietly become political favorites among Jefferson/Shelby County Republicans. Grayson Everett is an outstanding Editor-in-Chief of the popular leadingconservative online Yellowhammer News. He is very young.Tuscaloosa high schooler Brilyn Hollyhand has an online conservative political podcast that has gone nationwide.
Alabama has a host of political leaders under 45.
See you next week.
March 5, 2025 - Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March
This Sunday leaders from throughout Alabama and the entire country will commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March and the infamous Bloody Sunday on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. It was a momentous occasion and needs memorializing.
Make no mistake about it, this event led to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which gave the vote to Black Americans throughout the country and primarily in the South. It is probably the most important event in the Civil Rights movement. The march on Washington was big and led to the 1964 Civil Rights Bill, but the Bloody Sunday Selma massacre that was seen on television throughout the country was the impetus for the passage of the Voting Rights Act.
The 1964 Civil Rights Bill had just been signed into law. It was a major historic Act. It had been decades in the making. There had been hundreds of marches and murders, with the most horrific being the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, where four little innocent girls were murdered. However, it took the quiet but persistent demands of Dr. Martin Luther King, the hero of the Civil Rights movement, cajoling President Lyndon Johnson to use his legendary legislative prowess and power to pass this monumental 1964 Civil Rights Act. Johnson used all his powers of persuasiveness and political capital to pass the Act.
Johnson felt like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was his mountain on a hill, his coup de gras. He had no appetite for another battle a year later. However, Dr. Martin Luther King was not through. He knew that the Right to Vote was the brass ring. He was persistent with Johnson. LBJ would tell him yes, but he really did not intend to fight another fight. Johnson was foremost a pragmatist and political animal. Johnson was only advocating for Civil Rights for political reasons. Dr. King’s heart and soul were in the battle.
As 1965 dawned, the king of the Civil Rights movement was Dr. Martin Luther King. Alabama’s pugnacious governor, George Wallace, had become the titular symbolic leader of the segregationist white south. They were both astute adversaries. King won in the end.
King and Wallace both knew that if violence occurred on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma that people throughout the country would lean in favor of giving Black people in the souththe right to vote. Wallace had given his Public Safety Director, Al Lingo, direct orders to not allow violence to occur. However, King and his people knew that they had an ace in the hole in the racist vile Dallas County Sheriff Jim Clark. They knew that Clark would ignore Wallace and Lingo. King knew that his people would be beaten. King had already fled to the sanctuary of his Atlanta church out of fear for his safety and life.
The scene that unfolded that day was beyond barbaric. As the Civil Rights leaders advanced peacefully, Clark and his posse of hundreds attacked them, viciously, with billy clubs, guns, and tear gas. They beat everyone, including women, savagely. The first to be attacked was a young leader, John Lewis, who was immediately knocked unconscious by a brutal blow to the head,which most people viewing thought had killed him. He later survived with only a concussion. Clark and his posse continued to beat and maul innocent people in their homes. It was truly a brutal massacre of peaceful Civil Rights marchers. The Wallace-Clark segregationist team may have won the battle by beating innocent people, but they lost the war that day. King and Wallace, both knew it. The entire nation was watching this horrific event on television, including one Lyndon B. Johnson in the White House. The Voting Rights Act passed later that year.
Bloody Sunday was properly named. It was truly that, a Bloody Sunday. Selma was the impetus for passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Law. Bloody Sunday deserves commemorating.
See you next week
February 26, 2025 - Governor Jim Folsom Jr. has a Legacy
Our Alabama Public Television system was one of the first public television networks in the nation. Today it is one of the best. They continue to produce premiere documentaries, especially surrounding Alabama history.
Under the auspices of Director/Producers Pete Conroy and Seth Johnson, they are set to release “A Legacy of Progress. The Jim Folsom Jr. Story.” The premieres of the documentary on Folsom will be February 27 at the Stone Center at Jacksonville State University, Folsom’s alma mater, and a second on March 6 at the Hoover Library. The Folsom documentary will air statewide on APTV those same nights.
Conroy established Longleaf Studios at Jacksonville State in 2009, as a partnership with APTV. He brought in film genius Seth Johnson in 2018. To date, they have produced eight documentaries that have aired statewide. So far, they have earned five Emmy awards. This Folsom documentary is a jewel and well worth watching.
The film, “A Legacy of Progress. The Jim Folsom Jr. Story,” highlights Jim Folsom being the Father of Automobile manufacturing in our state. Indeed, Governor Jim Folsom Jr. has a very definitive legacy as a Governor due to his being the impetus in bringing Mercedes to Alabama.
Folsom had been Governor for less than a year when he spearheaded the Mercedes coup. He had ascended to Governor from Lt. Governor in 1992, after the removal of Guy Hunt from office. In early 1993, Mercedes announced that they were going to build their first plant outside Germany, and it was going to be in the United States. Rumor had it that the world’s premier automaker was looking at the south for a conservative non-union environment.
Folsom seized on the opportunity and went after Mercedes with a determined focus. He was going to bring Mercedes toAlabama at all costs, and that’s exactly what he did. He put together an incentive package that was extremely generous. Other states followed suit. We would counter.
I was a Folsom floor leader in the House of Representatives and a co-sponsor of the Mercedes incentive package. We had to come back and rewrite it several times to sweeten the pot. We were starting to get strong pushback from the state’s most powerful lobbyist – The King of Goat Hill, Dr. Paul Hubbert. The tremendous incentives we were offering were going to be taken from his Education Trust Fund. Finally, we offered the Germans such a generous package of incentives, they could not turn it down. Folsom had landed the Big Fish.
The Mercedes victory for Alabama was chronicled in every major national business periodical. Fortune magazine lambasted us and said we bought the Mercedes plant. They were right, we did. However, as you look back 30 years later, it was probably the best economic development win in Alabama history. Alabama landing the largest Mercedes plant in the world was the lynchpin and impetus to enable Alabama to bring Honda and Hyundai to our state.
The incentive package we offered these manufacturers has paid dividends in spades for Alabama. Automobile manufacturing has become our largest economic engine. With these major plants, come spinoff subsidiary auto parts manufacturers. We are now the second largest automobile manufacturing state in America and poised to soon surpass Michigan as number one.
Representative Chris Pringle, the Speaker Pro Tem of the Houseof Representatives and longtime Mobile Representative, recently told me that the incentive package we offered to Mercedes in 1993 was used and was the reason Airbus came to Mobile. Airbus is now Mobile’s future economic allure and king.
We may have been laughed at by Fortune magazine, but we have had the last laugh. We are laughing all the way to the bank.
Jim Folsom, Jr. was born to be Governor. He was the first-bornchild of Legendary Governor, “Big Jim” Folsom and First Lady Jamelle. Little Jim was born in a Montgomery hospital in 1949,while Big Jim was Governor, but they brought Little Jim home to Perry Street to the Governor’s Mansion. Therefore, he grew up in the Governor’s Mansion.
Little Jim has movie star good looks as does his brilliant wife, Marsha Guthrie Folsom. Both are from Cullman. Jim Folsom, Jr. was first elected to the Alabama Public Service Commission while in his twenties, undoubtedly helped by having the same name as his father, Big Jim. He had a prolific career. He was elected to the PSC three times and served two terms as Lt. Governor. However, his legacy was built during his two and half years as governor, 1992-1994.
Not every Governor has a legacy. However, Jim Folsom, Jr. definitely has a legacy as the Governor who brought Mercedes to Alabama and built the foundation for Alabama to be the Automobile Manufacturing Capital of America.
See you next week.
February 19, 2025 - Legislator Votes to Abolish His Own County
Our Alabama Constitution is very antiquated. One of the flaws inherent in the document is that it does not allow local county governments much authority or power.
Therefore, the county governments must channel most changes or actions into local acts, which must be advertised in their local paper for four weeks and then taken to the State Legislature to be enacted. Thus, the entire state legislature has to act on a localbill for Fayette County that might involve something as mundane as to whether to pave a road or buy a tractor.
As a legislator I dreaded this procedure because it took most of every legislative day. We would sit for hours every morning and vote on these local bills from all over the state, which had nothing to do with state government.
Furthermore, these local acts were not noncontroversial, either for those of us from rural counties or from urban areas of Jefferson, Mobile or Madison. In fact, the Jefferson County delegation could be embroiled for hours if not days on local issues that should have been determined back home in the Birmingham City Hall or among Jefferson County commissioners.
Those of us from rural counties were often the only resident legislators from our county. In essence, if you wanted the power, you could become the czar of your local county government. Ifyou did not want some act to pass, all you had to do was not sign it out of committee, because you were the committee.
Legislators, out of what is known as local courtesy, would not vote on another county’s local legislation. So, in essence a legislator from a rural county could often thwart road paving or whatever local matter they objected to. Invariably, a disgruntled county commissioner, who was not getting his way, would come to me to kill his rival county commissioner’s bill to get a new road. However, early in my legislative career I made an ironclad policy that I would not be involved in local county business. I insisted that all local bills be voted on in public by all county commissioners in their open meetings before being presented for passage. The recorded vote would have to be attached to the bill before I got it. Therefore, my only participation would be as a perfunctory messenger or a conduit for the local issue.
A legendary dirty trick played on a legislator by a fellow legislator still reverberates over 60 years later. It occurred during the second Folsom administration in the late fifties. Legislators Emmett Oden of Franklin County and Jack Huddleston of Colbert County despised each other. These two counties adjoin each other in northwest Alabama. These two men were constantly at odds.
Oden introduced a local bill for Franklin County that repealed another local bill passed in December of 1869. His brief explanation to the House of Representatives when the measure came up for a vote was that it was simply a “housekeeping bill…It corrects an error made when the original bill was passed.” Through the custom of local courtesy, the local bill passed unanimously. Even Representative Jack Huddleston voted for the bill.
After the passage of the measure, Representative Oden told the Press what the bill actually did. The 1869 law, which he was repealing, was the law that had created Colbert County out of part of Franklin County. Representative Huddleston had just voted to abolish his own county. That one vote ended Huddleston’s career. His constituents in Colbert County could not forgive that he had voted to abolish his own county.
There have been some legislative changes and additions within the past year. When Senator Clay Scofield left to go with the Business Council of Alabama, there was an open Senate seat in the Sand Mountain/Marshall County area. Wes Kitchens won this Senate seat in a contested primary special election and moved from the House to the Senate. Jeanna Ross won Kitchens’ House seat in a special election.
Tuscaloosa attorney Bryan Brinyark won an open seat in the House when popular representative Kyle South took a job in economic development. Brinyark is poised to have a lengthy tenure. He is very well thought of in his area.
Marilyn Lands, a Huntsville Democrat, won one of the few swing seats in the legislature. She flipped the seat from Republican to Democratic.
Travis Hendrix was elected to House District 55 in Jefferson County.
Kelvin Datcher was elected to take the Jefferson County seat of veteran John Rogers, who served over 40 years in the House.
State Representative Matt Woods of Jasper is expected to ascend to the State Senate in March. Woods is running unopposed for this Republican seat being vacated by Senator Greg Reed, who is joining Governor Ivey’s cabinet.
See you next week.
February 12, 2025 - The Big Blue Bully
A bit of country wisdom came to mind, recently, as I watched the news about a high-roller insurance giant. The old saying goes, “Pigs get fat, and hogs get slaughtered.” This adage, of course, speaks to the consequences of excessive greed.
Recent news, which most of you might have missed, likelybecause it was suppressed, is that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama was part of a $2.8 billion settlement in a lawsuit brought by the insurance company’s customers. That settlement is the largest health-related antitrust case in history. Of course, Big Blue never admitted to any bad behavior, which is par for the course when a case settles, but $2.8 billion is a lot to pay if you are innocent.
It is a safe bet that most of you reading this column are insured under a BCBS policy. That is because this insurance behemoth has 95% of Alabama’s individual and group health insurance market. It is also a safe bet that about one-third of you with BCBS policies have had at least one claim rejected.
When a company has cornered almost the entire health insurance market and is rolling in enough cash to pay a huge settlement in a lawsuit brought by its own customers, why in the world would it fight a proposal to provide health insurance coverage to farmers and small businesses? A proposal that, if entirely successful, would not make a dent in your insurance business.
BCBS premium costs for policies under the Affordable Care Act have doubled since 2015. Yet, Big Blue is fighting tooth and nail to stop a legislative proposal allowing Alfa and Alabama Farm Bureau to offer healthcare coverage to families and small businesses that would save these folks 30% to 60% on insurance premiums. That could result in as much as $1,500 a month back in a family’s pocket.
It is no surprise that Big Blue is running ads and lobbying the legislature with horror stories about what will happen if the Alfa plan becomes a reality. However, legislators and the public should consider the source.
The truth is these Farm Bureau health insurance plans have been around since 1947, and today, 10 states have passed similar legislation. The horror stories just do not exist in these states. The only story that is consistent is these plans provide big savings for people who cannot afford insurance or who are paying more for health insurance than for their mortgage.
Ironically, Blue Cross Blue Shield actually partners with Farm Bureau in three of the states that offer these more economical Farm Bureau plans. Despite this partnership in other states, BCBS of Alabama is fighting this health care benefit in our state. Most of you are probably thinking, isn’t that hypocritical? Well, folks, it seems 95% of the market is not enough for this insurance giant.
Big Blue is using one of the oldest tactics in the political toolbox to attempt to kill the Alfa plan – they are trying to amend it to death. A kind of death through a thousand cuts.
One amendment is the very picture of the big hog at the trough. Big Blue is trying to make it a crime for a family to cancel a BCBS policy to enroll in the Alfa program. At some point, arrogance begins to feed the appetite. Surely, a Republican-led legislature is not going to make it a crime for consumers to choose the product they think is best for their families.
This year’s legislative session is just underway, and there will be a lot of drama and political theater to entertain us. However, the spectacle of Blue Cross Blue Shield pretending it is defending working families, when in reality it is defending a 95% monopoly, will be something to watch.
To the average Alabamian, it seems untenable and almost absurd for BCBS to attempt to thwart the farmers in Alabama from having their own health plan. Young farmers in this state are striving to keep their family farms afloat and the high cost of health insurance is hurting them. All these farmers are asking is to be given a fair shot at bringing down their families’ health insurance costs and getting out from under the thumb of the Big Blue bully.
See you next week.
February 5, 2024 - Garlan Gudger – New Leader of the Alabama State Senate
As the Alabama Legislature convenes for their 2025 Regular Legislative Session this week, the State Senate will have a new President Pro Tem. Forty-nine year old State Senator Garlan Gudger of Cullman will ascend to the top leadership post in the Alabama Senate.
He will succeed Senator Greg Reed of Jasper, who has moved into Governor Kay Ivey’s Cabinet as head of the new Department of Workforce Development. The State Senate has a solid super Republican majority. There are 27 Republicans and only eight Democrats in the 35-member upper chamber.
Senator Gudger was chosen by the Republican caucus in a December meeting and will be affirmed and elected officially this week. He is a solid Republican but is liked by the Democrats. They believe that he will be as fair as Greg Reed.
Garlan Gudger is a well-liked young Senator, he is very gregarious, welcoming, and sincere. He has been a superstar since his arrival in the Senate in the 2018 class. His 2018 class isspecial. Included in that class were two other superstar Senators, Will Barfoot (R-Pike Road) and Dan Roberts (R-Jefferson). Gudger and Barfoot bonded and were suitemates. Three other veterans came to the Senate after successful tenures in the House of Representatives, Senator Donnie Chesteen (R-Geneva/Houston), Senator David Sessions (R-Mobile), and Senator April Weaver (R-Bibb/Shelby). Former successful State Senator Tom Butler (R-Madison/Limestone) came back to the Senate after a leave of absence and has added a lot. Also in the class is Senator Sam Givhan (R-Huntsville), who is a State Senate legacy. His grandfather, Walter Givhan, was a legendary Black Belt Senator from Dallas County. There are several other sterling Senators who were in that 2018 class, Senator Andrew Jones (R-Cherokee/Etowah), Senator Chris Elliott (R-Baldwin), Senator Randy Price (R-Lee), and Senator Jack Williams (R-Mobile). They are outstanding and seemed to be bonded and stick together.
Gudger is young enough to be a lifetime Republican. He is a solid mainstream Republican and not relegated to a right-wingcorner, which bodes well with working with the eight Democrats. He represents the counties of Cullman, Marion, and Winston. It is one of the most Republican areas of the state. In fact, one of his counties, the “Free State of Winston,” was Republican when the other 66 counties in the state were voting Democratic. Garlan is close with his popular conservative Congressman, Robert Aderholt, who represents this same neck of the woods in Washington. These two gentlemen work well together for their constituents. You could say these counties are well represented in Montgomery and Washington, especially Cullman.
Garlan Gudger is Cullman through and through. He was born and raised in Cullman. His daddy passed away seven years ago and was Dean of Students at Wallace College in Cullman. His mom, Dot, is beloved in the county and is a big influence in Garlan’s life. She is a pillar of the First Baptist Church and remembers the days when legendary Governor “Big Jim” Folsom, who was from Cullman, would attend First Baptist. He had gotten old and deaf and would talk aloud during the sermon over the preacher talking to his wife, Mrs. Jamelle.
In 2004, Garlan Gudger became the youngest member in the history of the City of Cullman to be elected to the Cullman City Council. He served on the Council for 14 years and was elected to serve as President of the Council for the last ten years. He was elected to the State Senate in 2018.
In 1999, Senator Gudger became the second-generation owner of the architectural salvage business that was established out of a garage in 1969. Since that time, Southern Accents ArchitecturalAntiques has grown into one of the top five architectural salvage companies in the nation. Southern Accents was awarded “Best Antique Store” in Alabama by Alabama Magazine in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
Garlan is a graduate of Cullman High School. He played football awhile at Samford University before transferring to Auburn. He graduated from Auburn with a BA in Building Science. Senator Gudger is married to Heather Pierce Gudger of Cullman. They have two sons, Tripp and Pierce.
Garlan Gudger will make a good President Pro Tem of the Alabama State Senate.
See you next week.
January 29, 2025 - Alabama Has a Premier Prison Education Program
It is no secret that Alabama’s Correctional system is a nightmare, especially when it comes to our disregard for civil and human rights of the incarcerated felons in our state prisons. That is why we have been under the wrath of the federal court system. A new mega prison is being currently constructed, which will help to comply with the federal mandates.
What many Alabamians do not realize is how successful our Alabama Community College System (ACCS) has become over the last decade under the guidance and leadership of Chancellor Jimmy Baker. Most state colleges and junior colleges have seen the numbers of enrollees decline in recent years; however, not in Alabama. Our Alabama Community College system has seen analmost double digit increase in enrollment. This is primarilybecause the Chancellor and system have adopted a modern-dayapproach to teaching Alabamians skills and crafts that lead to their graduates attaining high paying jobs in Alabama, which are in demand in today’s workforce. Ninety-seven percent of all Alabama Community College attendees and graduates are from Alabama and almost all graduates have jobs awaiting them in our state. The much-heralded Working for Alabama program, advanced by the legislature last year, would not have been possible without the Community College system. It was the integral ingredient. There is no question that the funds appropriated by the legislature to the Community College system are the most valuable investment made with higher education dollars in our state.
These education trust fund dollars are not only the best and most valuable funds for Alabamian’s future and job growth in our state, these education expenditures are helping the state general fund extensively. The best example is in the area of prison education. Alabama had one of the first prison education programs in the country. Today, Alabama’s prison education program is one of the most premier and successful in the nation.
J.F. Ingram State Technical College and Skills Training Center is the ACCS affiliate that provides prison education in Alabama.Ingram State is headquartered in Deatsville but has locations all over Alabama where there is a prison. Annette Funderburk is President of Ingram State, and she is doing an outstanding job. She is devoted and passionate about her role spearheading prison education.
J.F. Ingram State Technical College offers 21 different programs. The highest demand and most degrees are forklift operator, cabinet making, carpentry, horticulture, HVAC, masonry, plumbing, tree trimming, automotive repair, automotive and diesel mechanics, welding, and barbering and cosmetology. Twenty-seven hundred students are served, annually, with six hundred and sixty-six graduates last year. The highest enrollment is welding with the highest retention being barbering. It is estimated that for every dollar spent on correctional education, there is a four-to-five-dollar savings in correctional costs. The most impressive statistic and most important for Alabamians is that offenders, who participate in correctional education, are 48% less likely to return to prison.
The Community College system has recently initiated a correctional officer training school. It is documented in all of the federal court intervention decrees that the lack of correctional officers or prison guards is the reason for rampant crime in the system. Chancellor Baker and Adult Education Vice Chancellor David Walters have joined with Prison Commissioner John Hamm to create a program to train and educate correctional officers.
ACTIVATE is a joint initiative between the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) and the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) that offers a no-cost pathway to a career as a correctional officer. This program helps individuals meet the physical and educational standards necessary to join the profession.
The program is part of ADOC’s larger recruitment efforts which has bolstered starting salaries for correctional officers from $52,000 to $58,200 annually plus benefits. The program is based out of Jefferson State Community College in Birmingham and Reid State Technical College in Evergreen. Twenty-three Alabama residents took advantage and graduated from the first classes last year.
John Hamm is doing a good job as ADOC Commissioner. He is a lifelong Alabamian and former Sheriff of Barbour County. He understands Alabama law enforcement and the Alabama Penal System.
The ACCS-ADOC prison education partnership is paying dividends for Alabamians.
See you next week.