Senate Sketches # 1077
NOTE: Sen. Hank Sanders has written a weekly column for papers in his legislative district for the past twenty years. These rural, weekly papers lack a web presence, and links to the columns are not typically otherwise available. The column below is provided by Sen. Sanders’ office for inclusion in the Daily News Digest.
Senate Sketches # 1077
By
Senator Hank Sanders
************************
“Save it for a rainy day,” is an old saying that still applies today. It especially applies in budgetary matters. We are now facing a rainy day and more.
Two years ago, Representative Richard Lindsey (House Education Budget Chair) and I were determined to keep something for a rainy day. We had started the year before but this time we had to fight Alabama Governor Bob Riley, school superintendents, and others. We stood strong and prevailed. We were proud then. We are glad now because we now face a rainy day and more.
Governor Riley wanted to use the Proration Prevention Account (our savings account) and all other available funds to do his $500 million Capital Improvement Education Program. We said no because these funds were being saved for a rainy day. We proposed to keep the savings account and do a $1 billion bond issue the following year. We knew a rainy day would come and we wanted to be prepared.
Through these efforts, we put away $434 million in the people’s education savings account for the education of our children. We were sure this sum would be sufficient to meet any unforeseen down turns in revenues. We were wrong because we now have not only a downpour but blowing winds and our children could get soaked.
This week, Joyce Bigbee of the Legislative Fiscal Office (LFO) told us that virtually every penny of our savings account will be required just to complete the current year’s budget (08). That’s a whole lot of rainy day, but at least we will not have proration in the education budget.
Then she told us that the revenues for next year’s education budget will fall short even more – by some $574 million. And there are some mandatory increases. In other words, we will have to cut the education budget by some $630 million. That’s more than a rainy day; it’s a stormy night!
Until now, I felt that Alabama education was moving strongly toward adequate funding. Just a few more years like the last three years and we would be there. Now, not only are we not springing forward to fund education adequately, but we are falling back. The fierce funding forces loosed in this stormy night are sweeping us back. And there are many questions.
First, is there any way to avoid such cuts? Is there a way to secure additional revenues? At best, that is a long, long shot. I think we must come to grips with the reality of cutting the education budget.
It’s always hard to do a budget. It is the least difficult when we have just enough money to hold everything where it is. It is most difficult when we have a good bit of unanticipated revenue. Having to cut the budget falls somewhere in between in difficulty. However, cutting more than $630 million from the education of our children may prove to be our most difficult budgetary challenge yet.
How do we cut $630 million from a $6.7 billion budget? Do we just cut everybody equally? Do we cut some things out and reduce others? Do we cut higher education more than K-12 or k-12 more than higher education? What else can we cut other than k-12 and higher ed? Do we forego expanding any new education programs regardless of how promising they are? How do we know when we are not just cutting flesh, but muscle and bone? What do we do to get through this budgetary storm?
By law, we cannot cut salaries of teachers and other education personnel. Therefore, we have to cut other K-12 items a lot more. Last time we got into serious financial trouble with the education budget, we even cut school books for our children. That was extremely painful. I cannot and will not bear that pain again.
I believe our children must be our first priority. The younger the children, the greater the priority. Their basic education foundation is just being laid. And they must have a solid foundation to make it through the storms they will encounter in life. If we do not lay a good education foundation, our children will pay for the rest of their lives. And so will we.
I know we will get through this budgetary storm. With the help of Representative Barbara Boyd I said the following in concluding a budget presentation: “We will struggle in the spirit of that Rogers and Hammerstein song which says, “When you walk through a storm, keep your head up high and don’t be afraid of the dark. At the end of a storm is a golden sky, and the sweet silver song of a lark. Walk on through the wind, walk on through the rain, though your dreams be tossed and blown. Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart and you’ll never walk alone, you’ll never ever walk alone. Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart.”
I am walking on through the storm with hope in my heart. We must walk together on through the storm with hope in our hearts. We must protect our children.
Now on to the Daily Diary.
Saturday – I handled various matters before traveling to Montgomery for an Alabama New South Coalition (ANSC) Board meeting. I talked with Dr. Paul Hubbert of the Alabama Education Association (AEA). I returned to Selma. I communicated with various persons including the following: Skyla Dewan of the New York Times; Ertarin Cousin of the Obama Campaign; Congressman Artur Davis; ANSC President Robert Avery; Roberta Watts of Gadsden; Carolyn Wheeler of Chattanooga, TN who was injured, but not too bad; and Dr. Carol P. Zippert of ANSC.
Sunday – I did Radio Sunday School with Dr. Margaret Hardy, Radio Education with Perry County School Superintendent John Heard; and Sunday Review. I participated in Sunday School and Church, and communicated with the following: J.L. Chestnut, Jr., who was in the hospital; Representative Richard Lindsey; Robert Avery; and Yvette Patterson of the Lowndes County Board of Education. I discussed various issues over Sunday Dinner with Fannie and Bobby McKenzie and Kindaka Jamal Sanders. I had a 2 ½ hour meeting entitled “Taking what we have and making what we need.” We were first assessing “what we have.” I worked into the night.
Monday – I communicated with the following: Eddie Hill of the State Department of Education; Julie Howell of the Selma City Board of Education; Felecia Jones of the Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF); Lester Brown of the Greene County Board of Education; Mayor Fletcher Fountain of Fort Deposit; Lowndes County Commissioner Dixon Farrior; Judy Cumbee of ANSC; Sherrie Wilson of Birmingham; John Zippert of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives; Senator Pat Lindsey; Senator Wendell Mitchell; and Frank Kummell of Lowndes County. I had two conference calls –one about black farmers legislation and another with several senators. I traveled to Lowndes County and returned to Selma.
Tuesday – I communicated with the following: Queen Hadijah of Atlanta; Lobbyist Tom Coker; Bob Johnson and Phil Rawls of the Associated Press; Dr. Aaron McCall of Lowndes County; Perry County School Superintendent John Heard; and Principal Edward Dial. I spoke at the Albert Turner, Sr. Elementary School on the theme, Dr. Martin Luther King’s Dream is Marching On. I traveled on to Greene County where I met at the Greene County Democrat Newspaper with several leaders prior to another meeting. I returned to Selma to work into the night.
Wednesday – I talked with Dr. Rhoda Johnson of Tuscaloosa whose husband just died. I talked with several citizens before traveling to Montgomery for the following: two (2) sessions of Joint Legislative Budget Hearings; a Senate Caucus meeting; and a Caucus dinner. I communicated with the following: Joyce Bigbee of LFO; reporter M. J. Ellington of the Decatur Daily newspaper; Senator Myron Penn; Senator Quinton Ross; Lobbyists Don Gilbert, Crum Foshee and Jim Gray; Senator Roger Bedford; Consultant Rick Dent; Mary Ann Flowers of Uniontown; Senator Pat Lindsey; Senator Lowell Barron; and President Pro Tem Hinton Mitchem. I had lunch with Representative John Knight and returned for more budget hearings. I began writing Sketches and returned to Selma.
Thursday – I met with Colonel Chris Murphy of the Alabama State Troopers and others. I communicated with the following: Erica Williams of BBCF; Tom Whatley of the Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice’s staff; George McMillan, President of BBCF; Julian McPhillips of Montgomery; Sharon Calhoun of Montgomery; Dave White of the Birmingham News; and Robert Utsey of the Alabama Farmers’ Federation. I continued editing Sketches. I traveled to Prattville where I made a budget presentation at the Alabama Legislative Black Caucus in Prattville. I talked with various leaders and returned to Selma.
Friday – I traveled to Tuscaloosa for the Ruffer Johnson Family Hour and on to Eutaw to speak at the St. Paul United Methodist Church Commitment Week Closing Services. I then traveled to Birmingham for the Education Symposium. During the day I talked with the following: White Hall Mayor Johnny Jackson; Joann Shum of HIPPY; Dr. Rhoda Johnson of Tuscaloosa; former Supreme Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice John England; Dr. Carol P. Zippert of Eutaw; Sharon Wheeler of Senate President Pro Tem Hinton Mitchem’s staff; Carol Vandiver of AEA; Reverend Joseph Mason; and the Morrows of Greene County.
EPILOGUE – No matter how well we plan, we will always encounter unexpected challenges. Some of those challenges will be storms. The attitude with which we meet challenges, especially storms, will make all the difference. If we have determination and hope, we weather the storms better.
Index of Sanders' Senate Sketches
