February 19, 2015
The legislature and the governor are preparing for the first Regular Session of the quadrennium. The Session will begin March 3.
Legislators need to arrive in Montgomery with their lunch pails and sleeves rolled up ready to go to work because the proverbial chickens have come home to roost. They are facing a gargantuan budget crisis in the State General Fund. They cannot spend this four years cussing Obama Care and passing unconstitutional and meaningless bills dealing with federal issues like immigration and abortion.Read more
February 12, 2015
As the legislature and governor prepare for the upcoming initial legislative session of the quadrennium, they are facing ominous and obvious problems. The General Fund is in dire straits, primarily due to the escalating costs of Medicaid and prisons.
The problems in the Prison System may be even more acute than with Medicaid. The reason is that our prison population is well in excess of what federal courts have determined is constitutional. There are federal judicial standards of humane care for prisoners and we currently are not within these guidelines. Therefore, we are on thin ice and shaky ground if our prison problems come before a federal judge.
The remedy they might adjudicate could be more expensive than our fixing the problem ourselves. History has a way of repeating itself. We have been dealt this card before in the Heart of Dixie.Read more
February 05, 2015
The legislature completed their week long organizational session last month with very little fanfare or controversy. They will get to work on substantive issues beginning with the Regular Session in March. Their work will be cut out for them. They are facing a General Fund Budget that has at least a $250 million deficit.
The legislature that organized for the quadrennium is overwhelmingly Republican. The House has 72 Republicans and 33 Democrats. The State Senate is even more dominated by Republicans. Three-fourths of the Senators are Republican. The numbers are 26 to 8. This gives the GOP a carte blanche path to pass anything they desire with little or no opposition.Read more
January 29, 2015
The most pressing problem facing the governor and legislature as they enter this new quadrennium is the financial shortfall in the General Fund Budget.
Last year the governor floated a trial balloon to see if there was any traction to combine the two state budgets in order to give more wiggle room in the budgeting of limited state dollars. It was quickly shot down.
We are one of only a handful of states that have two state budgets. We have a special Education Trust Fund Budget and a General Fund Budget. The Education Budget now dwarfs the State General Fund Budget simply because all of our growth taxes, like income and sales tax, are earmarked for education. Thus, the General Fund is left broke and barren of hope for new revenue.Read more
January 22, 2015
Dr. Robert Bentley was inaugurated Monday as our governor for the second time. He and his lovely wife, Diane, are good people. When you get to be my age, four years goes by in a hurry. It seems like only yesterday that Gov. Bentley was enjoying his first inauguration.
I recall walking down Dexter Avenue toward my perch as a commentator for one of the Montgomery television stations, when I stopped and visited briefly with Gov. Bentley and Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey, then ran into a host of Shelby County folks.Read more
January 15, 2014
Throughout Alabama political history, certain cities, counties and enclaves have had a proclivity for having an inordinate number of their citizenry serve in Alabama politics. The most dominant example is the unbelievable number of governors produced by Barbour County. It is referred to as the Home of Governors.
However, currently we have a remarkable occurrence that will probably never happen again in Alabama politics. Tuscaloosa County’s prominence and representation on the Alabama political stage in the year 2015 is unparalleled.Read more
January 08, 2014
During the 2010 Governor’s Race, I continuously made the statement that whomever won the 2010 Governor’s Race would be a one-term governor. My prophecy was based on the fact that the state was flat broke and it would take a lot of tough decisions and probably tax increases to fix the mess.
Former Gov. Bob Riley was not helping his successor any either in a concerted mission to spend every cent in an already barren cupboard. There was nothing in the state rainy day funds and all the federal stimulus money from Washington was gone. Unlike the federal government that can just print money, the state constitutionally has to live within its means.Read more
January 01, 2014
As is the custom with my year end column, we will take note of the passing away of notable Alabama political personalities during the year. Some legendary Alabama political icons passed away in 2014.
Former U.S. Senator Jeremiah Denton died in March at age 89. Denton was born in Mobile. He served one six-year term in the Senate from 1981-1987. He was elected with Ronald Reagan in 1980. He was one of Reagan’s most loyal and staunchest supporters in the Senate.
However, Denton was not a politician but a career soldier and war hero. He spent over seven years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. During a television interview arranged by the North Vietnamese, Denton blinked his eyes in Morse code repeatedly spelling the word T-O-R-T-U-R-E. He came home to a hero’s welcome as one of America’s most famous patriots. When he was elected in 1980, he became Alabama’s first Republican Senator since Reconstruction.Read more
December 24, 2014
Paul Ray Hubbert was born on Christmas Day in 1935 in the small rural crossroads of Hubbertville in Fayette County. The community was named for his family, who were the original and primary settlers. He died in October in Montgomery.
Dr. Hubbert left an indelible mark on Alabama political history. The most enduring political giant in Alabama political history in my lifetime was George Wallace. Next to Wallace would be Senator Richard Shelby and Dr. Paul Hubbert.
Ironically, Dr. Hubbert made his mark as a political icon by defeating George Wallace in a pivotal legislative battle at the height of Wallace’s power and popularity. Wallace was asking his legislature to divert education retirement dollars to mental health to avoid a federal takeover. Wallace called the young head of the AEA to his office to inform him of his plans. Hubbert looked Wallace directly in the eye and told him over my dead body you will.Read more
December 18, 2014
As we approach the end of the political year, a few thoughts and observations on 2014 political happenings in the Heart of Dixie.
Jim Sumner retired as Executive Director of the Alabama Ethics Commission in October. He had been Ethics Commission Chairman for 16 years. Jim had an outstanding career in state public service that spanned 35 years. Prior to heading the Ethics Commission, he worked as an Administrative Assistant to Bill Baxley, while Baxley was Attorney General and Lt. Governor. He also lobbied for the University of Alabama. The only other person in state politics as meticulous and detail oriented as Sumner is Seth Hammett. Jim’s proudest accomplishment as Ethics Chairman was his success in 2010-2012, in garnering more power for the commission by allowing them subpoena power.Read more