 Posted by Joe Hubbard, on March 11th, 2011, at 10:00 am Yesterday marked a microcosm of how the next four years could be. We took up a very difficult issue on the House floor with the repeal of the DROP program. At the heart of the controversy was the balance between fiscal responsibility and sound legislative policy. While these two principles should not be mutually exclusive, yesterday’s debate showed that they could sometimes be at odds in the legislative process.
DROP was passed in 2002 with bipartisan support as a mechanism to retain our quality, experienced state employees, particularly our educators in the areas of math, science, and technology. As with any program, it became outdated, and it needed to be revamped to carry out its purpose at little to no cost to the State coffers. The advocates for fiscal responsibility called for wholesale repeal of the program. The advocates for responsible policy proposed modifications to the program that would bring DROP back to its intended purpose and make it revenue neutral. My friend Barry Mask, the sponsor of the bill, even agreed that these modifications were good and should be put into the program. But DROP couldn’t be modified until it was killed, they said.
Initially, no amendments were allowed on the bill. In fact, a bi-partisan amendment put on the bill by Republican Representative Harry Shiver was stripped off by the majority’s leadership. After hours of negotiation, however, sound policy prevailed. Representative Mac McCutcheon proposed an amendment to create a bi-partisan study commission on DROP that would take up many of these proposals to modify the program. By the fifth legislative day of the 2012 Session, the Commission would present a report to the Legislature recommending how to reconstitute DROP to carry out its intended purpose in a fiscally responsible way. This amendment passed with overwhelming bi-partisan support. Yes, DROP will be put on the shelf for a year, but I believe that it will come back better than before. The Speaker has given me his commitment to working with the entire body to rebuild DROP so that it can fulfill its intended purpose. And, in its new form, DROP will carry out that purpose in a fiscally responsible way.
If we continue to work together, not as proponents for our parties, but as advocates for the people we represent, fiscal responsibility and sound policy can coexist. My grandfather always said that in every challenge lies an opportunity waiting to be discovered. Working together, we can tackle the challenges that face our State knowing that we will seize the opportunities that lie beneath. That is our charge.
Posted by Brian, on October 20th, 2010, at 2:23 pm  Golfers shake hands after one makes a putt. ABC has run an investigative story titled, “Caught on Camera: Legislators Behaving Badly”. The story highlights state legislators from all over taking part in the 2010 National Conference of State Legislators in Louisville, Kentucky July 25-28th. ABC sent five graduate school journalists to the conference to investigate what type of activities took place at such an event.
ABC says, “Over the course of four days, it was one blowout party after another; put on by lobbyists for big companies eager to seek influence.”
Just after the two minute mark of the piece, Alabama legislators are highlighted for skipping out on an ethics panel to play golf “hosted by a lobbyist for the state’s gambling and bingo interests.”
 McCampbell responds to ABC reporter's questions Representative A.J. McCampbell (D – Demopolis) even threatens a reporter asking him why he was playing golf instead of attending the conference: “If you don’t want me to take this to you, gentleman, leave!” The “this” was a golf club in his hand. McCampbell is running for reelection unopposed on November 2nd.
Four other men are shown playing golf in the video, one of which I assume is the lobbyist mentioned. I cannot say for certain who each person is, but I’m sure some readers might recognize them.
Update: Thanks Anon, for the link in the comments identifying the other members of the group: Greg Jones (lobbyist), Representative Oliver Robinson (D – Birmingham), Representative Harry Shiver (R – Bay Minette), and State Senator Bobby Singleton (D – Greensboro).
I’ve asked for a full list of attendees from the National Conference of State Legislators, and will update if they respond.
No matter who all of the attendees were at the golf outing, it is disturbing to me, even if not surprising, that some of our legislators are taking state money for conferences to skip them and play golf with lobbyists. And to skip an ethics forum at that…
Perhaps our representatives would think twice about these sorts of decisions if they were required to report expenditures directed toward them less than the current limit of $250 per day.
See the full video from ABC below:
Posted by Danny, on June 16th, 2006, at 7:53 am Finishing up the review of the Top 10 Most Interesting Questions to Be Answered by the Primary Elections…
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Who is “one and done?” |
Let’s review the first-term legislators we mentioned in the original post as candidates to be “one and done.”
The political insiders helping me with the question when we originally asked it believed that Democrat Merika Coleman would not be back for a second term in House District 57. Either they had it flat-out wrong or afterward she cranked up her campaign in a big way to finish stronger than expected. She beat a strong field of four other candidates in impressive fashion without a run-off. She faces no Republican opposition in the fall.
Republican Hank Erwin did look vulnerable in Senate District 14, but in the end prevailed over hard-charging Jon Parker. No Democrat will be on the ballot for SD 14 in the fall.
Republican Ray Garner will not be returning to the House after his one term representing District 25. Mac McCutcheon had ALFA and AEA backing and won the primary handily, 58% to 42%. He too will face no Democratic opposition in the fall.
We did not talk about Greg Albritton in our original post, but he also is “one and done.” He lost by 52 votes to former Democrat Harry Shiver in the Republican primary for House District 64. Shiver will face Democrat Dick Weaver in the fall race.
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Legislative DispatchBy Joe Hubbard on June 8, 2011 This Thursday will mark the last day of the legislative Session. For some, it was a Session that seemed would never end. For others, it was one that ended much too quickly. It may be early, yet, to write an obit on this Session, but as we approach the finish line, some perspective may be in order.
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AL House, AL Senate, Legislative Dispatch, Uncategorized | By John Merrill on May 24, 2011 As you know, a very important piece of legislation will be presented for our consideration in the House tomorrow in Montgomery – Senate Bill 310 – the “Students First” tenure and fair dismissal reform bill. Like me, many House members have been inundated with phone calls and emails from opponents of this bill, and some have been [...]
Legislative Dispatch | By Cam Ward on May 17, 2011 There are a lot of issues to debate before we begin the final days of this session. In fact, I am quite certain there will be some comments on this post debating many of them. Before we get into the last seven day of the session I wanted to bring up a topic that [...]
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