Posted by Birmingham News – Birmingham mayor blasts U. S Securities and Exchange Commission, accuses agency of “smear campaign.”
Birmingham News – Senate break logjam, some senators accuse Lt. Governor of violating state law in handling voice vote to carry over Macon County gambling bill.
Birmingham News – New report shows Alabama’s high drop out rate is the state’s biggest economic development problem.
Birmingham News – Plaintiffs decide not pursue appeal, state’s long-running child welfare case ends after 20 years of litigation. ,
Birmingham News – The Birmingham News calls for legislature to strengthen state Ethics Commission.
Mobile Press-Register – Senate Rules Chair, bill sponsor argue over consideration of proposal to provide insurance relief to Mobile and Baldwin county residents.
Huntsville Times – Study shows that earnings are not keeping pace with rising health insurance costs.
Tuscaloosa News – Alabama GOP plans to push for tougher voter ID requirements.
Tuscaloosa News – Travel restrictions placed on Siegelman.
Tuscaloosa News – Summary of yesterday’s legislative action.
Tuscaloosa News – Delaying tactics continue to hold up Education budget in House.
Tuscaloosa News – Judge refuses to delay order that $63 million governor had planned for next year’s General Fund budget must be deposited in Alabama Trust Fund.
Tuscaloosa News – Legislative leadership say chances of special session growing.
Tuscaloosa News – The Tuscaloosa News cautions that state “should be careful with voter ID requirement.”
Gadsden Times – Rep. Craig Ford (D-Gadsden) sponsors bill to raise salaries of governor, appointees.
Montgomery Advertiser – The Montgomery Advertiser warns that legislature may not avoid special session in spite of breaking filibuster in Senate.
Birmingham Business Journal – Nursing home costs rise by double digits.
Senate Sketches – “Senate Sketches,” the weekly column for his constituents from Sen. Hank Sanders (D-Selma).
News link – Air America has hour-long interview with Siegelman.
FROM TODAY’S ANNISTON STAR:
Bills would make state conform to federal law
Captiol Correspondent
MONTGOMERY — A package of bills that would keep businesses from paying an additional $700 million in federal taxes and boost unemployment benefits could get its day in the Senate, but nothing is certain yet.
The Senate, in a contentious voice vote, carried over a gambling bill that had held up other business for a week.
The move freed up the opportunity for languishing legislation such as a bill that makes changes to the State Unemployment Tax Act, which is also known as SUTA.
The bill that makes the changes was added to the Senate’s special calendar after the Macon County gambling bill was disposed of, but a Republican filibuster of the first bill on that calendar held it up.
The SUTA bill was third in line on Tuesday’s calendar, but Republicans objected to which bills were given priority by the Democratic leadership in the Senate.
Craig Donley, director of the Department of Industrial Relations governmental affairs division, said the change the bill makes is a minor technical change that has major implications for state businesses.
“All states pay a federal unemployment tax and if their laws are in conformity with federal law, the employers of those states get a federal tax credit,” he said. “If your law is not in conformity, the employers do not get a tax credit.”
As it stands, Alabama’s law technically doesn’t conform to federal law, and the U.S. Department of Labor wants them to change it this legislative session to avoid penalties.
Under existing law most employers in the state pay $56 in federal unemployment tax per employee per year.
If the Legislature fails to pass the legislation employers will see their payments rise to as much as $434 per employee.
In addition to the federally mandated changes are bills that would increase the unemployment benefit as early as July, and diverts a portion of the taxes paid to the state’s unemployment offices.
Sen. Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, said if the package of bills doesn’t pass it won’t be because labor and business interests in the state killed it.
Bedford is the Senate sponsor of two pieces of legislation in the package of bills.
“The SUTA bill has been number one on the special calendar, and I’ve not been able to get it passed” because of the ongoing contention, he said. “Labor and business agree on this bill.”
They apparently agree on the entire package of bills.
Rosemary Elebash, state director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said that both sides have signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the provisions of the bills and also plan to review Alabama’s unemployment laws at a future date.
“We agree that this is a very fair and balanced approach,” Elebash said.
Marty Sullivan, Business Council of Alabama senior vice president for public affairs, said the package is a win-win for all parties: state, business and employees.
“If lawmakers fail to move this legislation it would have huge implications,” she said.
The House versions of the SUTA bill and the additional enhancements to unemployment compensation have passed that body, but await action by the Senate.
Rep. Jack Page, D-Gadsden, is the House sponsor of a bill that would raise the unemployment compensation, and he said these bills are routine and typically sail through both chambers.
But he’s not sure what’s going to happen this session.
“I guess everything is up for grabs this year,” he said.
Donley said the U.S. Department of Labor gave the state a pass last year when legislation was brought to update the SUTA bill, but died because of a slowdown in the Senate.
So far, the federal agency has been patient, but Donley said he doesn’t want to test them beyond this legislative session.
“They’ve been writing us these letters making it clear they want it passed,” he said. “We’ve explained to them that we’re still having difficulties, and that we’ve been operating in good faith and did all we could do to get the bill passed.
“We’re still in good shape, but we’ve got to do something this session.”
Legislative Dispatch
Purple Dot Connection
2010 Big List
2010 Senate Elections
2010 House Elections
Press Releases
What’s this with SEC and Langford? I’ve never read anything about this here before? What is he complaining about?
The link to the article about the Senate logjam takes a reader to the article about Langford.
Alabama GOP plans to push for tougher voter ID requirements.
I wonder why the GOP would push for a plan that makes it tougher for citizens to vote?
I’ll tell you why Homey, it’s because you and your bretheren cheat like hell at the ballot box.
The move by Folsom (DEMOCRAT) is as atrocious as Speaker Seth Hammett’s (DEMOCRAT) justification for the skulduggery perpetrated over voting on another member’s machine in the House.
The DEMOCRATS have no shame, no ethics, no morality and no regard for our law.
Illegality is simply— and without compunction— a means to justify their leftist ends to them.
Got proof of my “bretheren” cheating like hell at the ballot box Scorpi?
Yeah. Transcripts from trials of voter fraud. See: Green County absentee ballot fraud, Jeffco voter fraud in 2002, and miscellaneous other cases around the state.
I also know for a fact that dead folks miraculously vote in particular districts and that a sizeable number of folks must be Siamese twins since they are allowed to vote more than once.
I was a poll watcher in the Black Belt in the 80’s and 90’s and I witnessed a LOT of irregularities.
Are you going to deny it doesn’t happen???
I want retinal scans, not just photo ID, in every box or precinct in this country.
Craig Ford’s bill is good legislation for the state; the cabinet salaries mess needs to be “fixed.”
Well, well, well.
The former DEMOCRAT state party chairman, Bill Blount, along with former DEMOCRAT executive director, Al LaPierre and current DEMOCRAT mayor of Alabama’s largest, scum-sucking city, have been formally named in a complaint to the SEC.
Check out al.com’s “late-breaking news” to read the 43 page complaint.
Corruption, corruption, corruption!!!!!!!!!!!
Allegations of voter fraud in Hale County, is that all you have Scorpy?
Uh, what proof do you have that dead people voted, other than your “own eyes”?
Why are dead people on the voter rolls in the first place?
I don’t see how Voter ID is going to stop dead people from voting if their names are on the voter rolls. Seems like it would easier and cheaper to just purge the voter rolls of all dead people.
Homboy-
I didn’t say that “allegations” were the proof. I said transcripts of court cases where people were convicted are the proof.
They are all around. Even without the transcripts, I know for myself that it exists, having seen it occur with my own eyes.
I’ve even had threats against my health and welfare made against me because I dared exercise my lawful right to observe, monitor and report all the monkeybusiness going on in places like north and west Birmingham, Selma, Demopolis other rural boxes in out of the way places. That’s despicable and outrageous.
As for the dead people, the corpses don’t vote, numbskull. Family, friends or others in the community do the voting under the assumed name of the deceased. Its like the criminals who cheat the federal government by continuing to receive and cash social security or welfare checks after someone in their family passes away.
If you choose to deny all of this, its okay by me. Your acknowledging it doesn’t matter one way or the other. It exists. It has been documented. Its been prosecuted, and I’m happy steps are being taken to try and prevent it in the future.
Only cheats and thieves would oppose a measure like this which is aimed at protecting the security of our vote and thus, the integrity of the process.
Watch which party opposes it when it comes before our legislature. I’ll give you one guess. Now, wonder why that would be the case….
It would only be easy for an identical twin with their dead siblings photo id to vote in the place of a dead person. Other than that it is pretty hard to vote with a valid photo id of a dead person.
Bhmhomboy, you forget purging the voter rolls and ensuring only eligible voters are on it is a trick of those dastardly vote suppressing Others. Study your history.
Here’s proof for Homey. Check out the Democracy Defense League’s website.
MONTGOMERY | A Montgomery judge on Monday declared Vanessa Hill the winner of the 2004 Greensboro mayor’s race by 50 votes over Mayor Johnnie Washington, who has been serving for more than a year.
“The election of J.B. (Johnny [sic]) Washington is set aside and Vanessa Hill is declared the winner of the election for mayor of Greensboro held on September 14, 2004,” Montgomery County Circuit Judge William Shashy’s order said.
Hill, who filed suit alleging illegal votes, reacted to Shashy’s decision.
“It has been a long time coming, and I feel good for the people of Greensboro,” she said. “Tell the people of Greensboro congratulations, and here’s to their future.”
Here’s the website (if I got it right.)
thedemocracydefenseleague.com
The Democracy Defense League? Is that all you’ve got Maggy?
The truth of the matter there have been very FEW cases of proven voter fraud.
If dead people’s names weren’t on the voter rolls, their relavatives couldn’t vote for them even with ID.
So, now you have to pay to be able to vote in AMERICA.
Lord help us.
Actually, bhmhomeboy, Indiana’s Voter ID Act offered free picture IDs to those who wanted them. So, no, one would not have to pay to vote.
Homey, You asked for proof that voter fraud exists in Alabama. I gave you that. I don’t understand why you belittle this evidence.
Maybe you missed by post #14. It was an article from the Tuscaloosa paper about voter fraud in Greensboro. If you go to the Democracy Defense League’s Website, click on news, then click on the article about Hill, you’ll find it. (I would post the link, but my computer won’t let me.) You might also find the links to articles about a couple of people down there voting for people in the nursing home.
A post about voter fraud in Greensboro? Is that all you have Maggy? Like I said there have been very FEW cases of proven Voter Fraud. Lots of cases of voter suppression and election fraud though.
Free Picture ID’s for every voter in the state? I wonder how much that’s going to cost tax payers and who will get the contract?
No, most folks will already have a driver’s license, Homer. The only free picture IDs will be for the DEMOCRATs who continue to sponge off of the rest of the productive citizens in the state, like they do for every other service they expect Leviathan to provide for them (food vouchers, housing credits, free bus rides, free computers, free birth control, free life insurance, free health care, free college, free legal services for them to sue their benefactors, etc.).
Margaret, you can forget trying to persuade Homboy. He’s an idiot, and not worth the wasted energy you expend at the keyboard trying to convince him otherwise.
Homey,I wish you would stop calling me Maggy. That is name name of my mother’s-in-law dog.
Anyway, you asked for evidence. I gave it.
Now that I think of it, Bhmhomeboy, can you provide proof of voter suppression in the state of Alabama? And don’t post that stuff where Holmes tried to get the home addresses of ASU students changed so they could influence the Montgomery elections. Students have always voted at their home addresses, not with their dorm room addresses.
So if most voters already have a drivers licsense why make them have a government issued Voter ID card? Why aren’t the drivers liscense enough?
Do you have proof that only Democrats are “sponging” of the state for food vouchers, housing credits, free bus rides, free computers, free birth control, free life insurance, free health care, free college, free legal services? I’m a Democrat, where are they handing out all this free stuff? I want my Democratic free stuff!
I’ll bet you do.
A great place to start is:
710 20th St. N, B’ham, AL 35203.
205-254-2000, ask for Larry. He’s an expert whose been gettin’ it all for 20 years now.
bhmhomeboy, people would not be required to have a Voter ID card, merely a government issued photo ID. This would of course include driver’s license. Free photo IDs would be offered to those who do not have a driver’s license. Sounds pretty fair to me.
I’m still waiting for proof of voter suppression in this state.
You sure about that Will? It is my understanding that is a specific Voter ID card and there will be a fee. Drivers License don’t count.
bhmhomeboy, I am just going by the law in question. I would be interested in knowing where you got the information that a driver’s license would not be considered a valid government issued photo ID under this law.
I used to live in a state with voter ID laws and was allowed to use my driver’s license. I think the person telling you they won’t be allowed is mistaken.