Sunday 4/27/2008 DAILY NEWS DIGEST

Birmingham News State Ethics Commission struggles with avalanche of paperwork, no technology and limited staff.

Birmingham News – State Supreme Court considering fewer cases, taking longer to render decisions.

Birmingham News – Proposed bill would make it harder for immigrants not in the country legally to get bond for felony offenses.

Birmingham News – The Birmingham News comments on the announcement that Alabama is in the running for proposed VW facility.

Birmingham News – Commentary says proposed bill would “make the VictoryLand gambling facility in Macon County an unregulated Mecca for gambling.”

Birmingham News – Commentary by Sen. Hank Sanders (D-Selma) contends that ongoing battle in Senate reflects strength of gambling interests in legislature.

Birmingham News – Commentary says that eminent domain has historically been used against minority landowners.

AL.com – Robin DeMonia says that those accused in probe of postsecondary system are following strategy of former Governor in claiming politics are behind criminal investigations.

Mobile Press-Register – Airbus CEO says that planned facility “will transform Mobile.”

Mobile Press-Register – Commentary by Attorney General Troy King defends his actions in filing suit against the Department of the Interior, stating he  ” will not allow Alabama’s sovereignty to be diminished by anyone not the federal government and not the Indians.”

Montgomery Advertiser – Senate stalemate likely to continue.

Montgomery Advertiser – The Montgomery Advertiser says legislature should act in final days of session to exempt federal economic stimulus checks for state income tax.

Montgomery Advertiser – State Board of Education member Randy McKinney uses the case of  Rep. Yvonne Kennedy (D-Mobile) as an example of why “double-dipping” is harmful to postsecondary system.

Tuscaloosa News – New report shows Alabama taxes businesses at rates lower than most states.

Tuscaloosa News – The Tuscaloosa News says that state lawmakers “act like children” while pressing issues pile up.

Tuscaloosa News – The Tuscaloosa News comments on continuing battle between state superintendents and Senate Majority Leader Ken Guin (D-Carbon Hill).

Tuscaloosa News – “Alabama Exposure,” Dana Beyerle’s weekly political roundup for readers of the NYTimes regional papers.

Tuscaloosa News – Tommy Stevenson looks at Siegelman’s continuing efforts to clear his name.

Decatur Daily – The Decatur Daily says opposition to gambling measure is “irrational.”

Times Daily – The Times Daily  calls for bingo proponents to admit defeat, allow Senate to move on to other issues.

Daily Home – The Daily Home says that congress should reject proposal by Bush administration to cut Medicaid spending.

FROM TODAY’S ANNISTON STAR:

Stalled Senate could make work of House ‘academic’

MONTGOMERY — Speaker of the House Seth Hammett, D-Andalusia, is not a happy camper.

He runs a tight ship called the Alabama House of Representatives, and he’s worked to keep that ship from dashing itself on the rocks of partisanship.

So far, he’s been successful.

In marked contrast to the upper chamber, the House has passed hundreds of bills this session, including one that would remove the state portion of the sales tax on food.

For the most part, the House has gotten along while passing those bills — until now.

For its last two meeting days, the House has stalled on a bill that would force a handful of companies to pay state corporate income taxes they don’t currently pay, generating $67 million.

The House has already sent the General Fund budget, which pays for all of the state’s non-education expenses, to the Senate.

Hammett said with six meeting days left, he’s hopeful that the Legislature will get the budgets out at the last minute, as it often does.

But he admits that the ongoing stalemate in the Senate makes that less likely with each passing day.

“This could all end up being just an academic exercise,” he said.

Education Appropriation Committee Chairman Rep. Richard Lindsey, D-Centre, has prepared the amendment that cuts $67 million from the proposed $6.3 billion education budget for next year, which is already $375 million lighter than this year’s budget.

Gov. Bob Riley has been involved in the education budget negotiations with Lindsey and the Republican Caucus, which is pushing to have a tax credit for small businesses and their employees passed this year.

Jeff Emerson, communications director for Riley, said the governor believes a bipartisan agreement can be reached, but pointed out that the governor’s budget had no $67 million hole to fill.

He said the original intent of the bill that the House is stalled on, which requires 44 companies to pay the state corporate income taxes, was to fund the tax credit for small businesses and ensure that out-of-state corporations pay their taxes.

“The hole was created by the committee after decoupling the tax incentives and using the revenue from the add-back legislation to add more spending to the budget,” Emerson said.

Emerson said if the Legislature ultimately fails to pass one or both budgets, a special session will be necessary.

“Gov. Riley hopes that’s not necessary and he has been encouraging legislators to move off the gambling bill that has tied up so much of this session,” he said.

Lindsey said if the House moves on without passing the $67 million revenue measure, there isn’t another one to replace it.

Higher education, work force development in the two-year college system, and even Riley’s pre-K program all would take hits.

Jacksonville State University would lose nearly $875,000, in addition to cuts already proposed in the budget.

The bigger issue, however, is that the longer the House fights over the $67 million, the longer local school systems have to go on guessing about their budgets for the next school year.

Eric Mackey, superintendent of Jacksonville City Schools, said with roughly on month to go before the last day of school, he still doesn’t know how he’s going to handle rehires for the next school year.

Some teachers will leave because of retirement and others will just leave, but Mackey said filling those vacancies could be difficult.

“What is really affecting our ability to hire personnel is our transportation costs,” he said. “The proposed budget cuts transportation by about $7 million, but our costs have gone up 25 percent since this time last year.”

Though the proposed budget doesn’t meet all the needs, Mackey said a budget-focused special session is not desirable.

“We don’t know when it would be called, and it could be called as late as September,” he said. “Starting the school year without a budget is not good.”

Mackey said it also opens the door for a budget that is greatly altered from the one that will be up for consideration during the current session.

Jeff Goodwin, superintendent of Oxford City Schools, said because of the economic success of Oxford, his schools are a bit more insulated, but are not immune from a shaky state budget.

“Like most school systems around the state, we’re still hoping that in the very near future we will get some kind of information and a budget of some kind will be passed,” he said. “We are deep in our time of planning for next year, and a lot of what we’re doing is playing ‘what if’ games.”

With senators contesting all the local bills in the upper chamber, there could be plenty of state agencies and schools playing the “what if” game.

“I just don’t see an end in sight,” Hammett said.