Doc's Political Parlor » Legislative Dispatch

Change

Sen. Steve French — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:35:04 +0000

I wish my friend Hinton Mitchem godspeed and good luck after his retirement from public service. Hinton, on Monday, announced what many had suspected — he will not seek re-election. I remember meeting Hinton for the first time while I was a student at Auburn University. He served the people of his district well for a long time but I think he made the correct decision when he decided to hand the reins over to someone else. I have enjoyed serving with him.

As soon as the announcement was official, all eyes turned towards the November election and its outcome. Most observers believe the dems will not be able to hold this seat without Hinton as their nominee. The district has been trending strongly Republican over the last 10-12 years and, if that trend holds, we Republicans ought to enjoy adding an additional member from this district to our Caucus.

To my knowledge, 3 Republican Senators are not seeking re-election (Dixon, Bishop, and Erwin) and 4 democrats are likewise not seeking re-election (Penn, Denton, Benefield, and Mitchem). The Republican-held “open” seats seem safe while 2 of the 4 democrat-held “open” seats are likely pickups for the GOP.

If this picture is accurate, and if nothing else happened in contested races, the GOP would hold at least 16 of the 35 seats which would be a record achievement for the ALGOP.

However, given the mood of the state’s voters and the superb field of challenger candidates that will be offered by GOP, I am looking for a Republican majority when the Legislature convenes for its organizational session next January.

Ten Minutes in the House, Senate Moves On

Rep. Cam Ward — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:55:37 +0000

Here is a quick preview of the upcoming week in Montgomery. This week will be a standard legislative schedule for the House. We will be in session on Tuesday and Thursday with committee meetings scheduled for Wednesday.
The House will take up a ten minute calendar this week. A ten minute calendar is designed to give every member of the House to pass a bill this session. The reason it is called a ten minute calendar is because a member is given a maximum of ten minutes to pass their bill or else it must be carried over. This requires the bill to be non-controversial and also no one comes and objects to the bill. Any member can speak for up to ten minutes on a bill so if one member has a problem with a bill it will be carried over. These calendars often include non-fiscal issues that are agreed to by all parties before ever coming up for a vote.
In addition to the ten minute calendar the House will continue to have short agendas with only five or six bills being debated each day. The membership seems to enjoy the shortened calendars and is in agreement that they do not wish to go back to the days where we just passed every bill that was brought up on any given day.
There are some rumblings that the House will take up the removal of sales taxes on groceries again soon but that appears unlikely considering the fact that the bills seems to have lost votes in the off season. Still expect at least one day soon to be devoted to discussing this issue. Rep. John Knight has made this his passion for quite some time and both parties agree to the need to eliminate the grocery tax but the sticking point is whether small businesses should be required to pay more in taxes to make up for the lost state revenue.
After what seemed like a session long fight over gambling, the Senate now appears poised to move to other issues after the “Sweet Home Alabama” plan failed to get the necessary 21 votes last week for passage. Senator Barron has hinted in news accounts that he plans to bring his road construction bill back up for a vote again soon. It is believed that commitments were secured during the gambling debate that should allow for Barron’s bill to now pass the Senate. If it does pass most observers believe it will have an easier time in the House than it did upstairs.
Finally like everyone else, I have been campaigning on the weekends when we are not in session. My daughter is now old enough where she can join me out on the trail as well which makes for a lot of fun. This past week she seems to have gotten the hang of campaigning better than me. If I just had her energy then I could be everywhere at once. Unfortunately I don’t have her energy so I tend rely on old faithful caffeine to help me keep up!

Riley and her friend Caroline joined Julie on the campaign trail in Isabella this past weekend.

Where are the Budgets?

Rep. Cam Ward — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:53:36 +0000

Quietly members of the House are growing more and more concerned about the status of the budgets. Today will be our 16th legislative day out of 30 possible meeting days for this session. Usually by this time the House has passed either one or both of the budgets.
When the Governor presented his universally agreed, overly optimistic budgets in January there was a sign that we had some real teeth gnashing ahead of us. The budgets were based upon the idea that revenue growth would be larger than any independent experts have said and Alabama would receive additional stimulus dollars from Congress to shore up Medicaid. Neither of these has happened yet and the clock is ticking.
Without these additional dollars both budgets will be very difficult for the budget committees to draft. I suspect the higher growth Education Budget can likely weather the storm by slashing away many of the programs that, while popular, can be suspended until the budget makes a recovery. In short the Education Budget can probably survive. The General Fund is where the real mess comes in. Medicaid is by far the largest expense in the budget and because it receives federal matching dollars any cuts to Medicaid mean you are really cutting about 4 dollars for every 1 dollar you cut in state funds. There will need to be some drastic cuts in the General Fund without a doubt but the question for members of the budget committee will be where do you cut? Not an easy answer for sure but time is running out and I certainly do not believe we should put this off until some special session which will cost an even greater amount to the taxpayers.

Gonna Miss You Beck

Rep. Cam Ward — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:39:53 +0000

Before we get into all of the heated debate this week on gambling, budgets, and the likes I wanted to pause for a moment to remember a dear friend. Rep. Warren Beck’s sudden death really hit a lot of people in Montgomery like a lightning bolt.

Warren and I were elected at the same in 2002. While he was 27 years older than I was, we hit it off right away. Of course I think everybody hit it off with “Beck” as we called him. Over the years Beck and I enjoyed joking around and trying to maintain a sense of humor in even some of these most boring settings. Whether it was a contentious caucus meeting or a floor fight that you knew was about to get ugly, his sense of humor provided so much needed relief. That capability to laugh and joke around with anyone in the room was a skill that is sorely lacking in Montgomery today. Too many times we are quick to attack and counter attack without ever taking the time to be serious about our work but not take ourselves so seriously.

Every day that Beck and I would pass in the hall on the 6th floor he would say “Guvnah how are things lookn out there for you today?” In return I would just laugh it off and say “well your honor, I just keep working at it.” He would always laugh back and remind me to enjoy every day of it. When I left the State House on Wednesday after hearing about his death I was saddened that not only had I lost a good friend but also because our State lost a personality that it can sorely use during a time when hyper-partisan anger seems to be the norm.

We are all going to miss you Beck. Thanks for making the Legislature a better place to work and serve.

Session at Halfway Point

Rep. Cam Ward — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 20:20:16 +0000

We are now at the halfway point of this legislative session in Montgomery. The much anticipated debate over gambling never materialized in the Senate last week despite the loud protests from both pro and anti-gambling forces on the front steps of the State House. As many of us suspected, the proponents of gambling just did not have the votes to push for a vote in the Senate.
Rumblings are starting to swirl through the State House that the proponents of the gambling legislation, also known as the “Sweet Home Alabama” bill, have finally negotiated the inclusion of several other potential sites for gambling in the state. This is a crucial breakthrough for the advocates of gambling. While all Republicans, save two, have been adamantly opposed to the “Sweet Home Alabama” bill the real reason proponents kept falling short of the magical 21 votes necessary to pass the constitutional amendment was because of Democrat defections. The bulk of these defections were from legislators who wanted the bill to allow for potential gambling locations in their area of the state as well. If in fact some additional locations have been added to the legislation then it is very likely that the necessary 21 votes will be in place on Tuesday for final passage in the Senate.
Another telling sign that the long anticipated showdown may come Tuesday is the fact that the Senate is going into session at 10:00 am as opposed to 1:00 pm which is highly unusual for a start of the week in the upper chamber. By adding a few extra hours to the day it appears that there is a desire to have as much time as possible to nail this deal down and get it out of the Senate. If it were to clear that body on Tuesday it would mark one of the biggest victories ever for the proponents of gambling in Alabama. Never has a statewide bill made it this far before and it widely believed that the momentum of passing the Senate would greatly enhance its chances of passing the House.
The House will take up a series of bills on Tuesday dealing with a range of issues. Rep. Randy Hinshaw and Sen. Tom Butler have a largely local piece of legislation with statewide implications that would provide for tax increment districts in the new BRAC developments locating in Huntsville. Also, a Senate bill by Rep. Marc Keahey will be before the House that will deal with the Alabama Residential Energy Code. When this bill originally came through House it was quite controversial because it prohibits local governments from mandating residential sprinkler units in homes. It promises to be another hot topic when we see it again on Monday.

Gambling and PACT Program on Deck this Week

Rep. Cam Ward — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:03:25 +0000

We are now about to begin another week in Montgomery. The much anticipated debate over gambling never materialized in the Senate last week. As many of us suspected, the proponents of gambling just did not have the votes to push for a vote in the Senate so it was delayed until further notice. I do suspect that the Senate will take up the legislation this week. A strange coalition of proponents and opponents, have kept the likelihood of this bill passing in limbo. Two Republicans, who have Country Crossing Entertainment Center in their district have come out in favor of the Sweet Home Alabama bill but on the flip side several Democrat senators have come out in opposition because their districts are excluded from having any gambling under this bill. Unless some miracle negotiation breakthrough occurs I would be willing to predict that by the end of this week the bill still will not have the necessary 21 votes to end the filibuster in the Senate led in part by Senator Hank Erwin.
Beginning Tuesday the House will take up the Sunset legislation sponsored by Sunset Committee Vice-Chairman Howard Sanderford. These 14 bills must be dealt with tomorrow under state statute. Usually debate on sunset is pretty quick and I expect that we will dispense with them rather quickly before moving on to a backup special order calendar that was approved by the House Rules Committee last week. The calendar will include Rep. Paul DeMarco’s bills to begin a re-write of the state constitution one article at a time beginning with the article on banking. Rep. DeMarco has championed this effort for several years now and he is determined to take another crack at it this year. On Thursday the House is expected to take up the three bills dealing with the troubled State PACT program. Two bills by Rep. Greg Wren and one bill by Rep. Craig Ford will deal with the structure and funding of the PACT program. Rep. Wren’s bills should not have much opposition because they merely say that the State of Alabama will honor all PACT contracts as well as restructure the governing board for the PACT. The bill being handled by Rep. Craig Ford will be a little more controversial because it has a direct impact on higher education in how to fund PACT. Rep. Ford’s bill, which will cap tuition increases, is likely to still pass the House but I would not be surprised to see amendments offered by those who have higher education institutions in their districts.
All in all an interesting week lies ahead in Montgomery.

The American Village

Rep. Cam Ward — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:53:22 +0000

Often times the legislative session seems to dominate all the headlines in our state political talks. Taking a bit of a break away from the session I had a great opportunity to enjoy the American Village’s 10th Anniversary celebration on Monday. The American Village is one of those rare places in Alabama that, if you have never been there before you just need to go see it in order to fully grasp its inspiration. As a history buff I am always amazed at the wisdom this place shines onto our nation’s history. During the 10th Anniversary celebration hundreds of people were treated to an inspiring speech from Lt. General Hal Moore, who is better known from the movie “We were soldiers.” General Moore gave a moving account of his service in the military as well as the importance of leadership development among our youth. It was fitting that the American Village also named its new leadership program for youth after him. Congratulations to the American Village on this historic anniversary.

Lt. General Hal Moore & Cam Ward

This event has a way of reminding everyone in politics of what public service is really about.

Senate democrat leaders don’t have gambling votes

Sen. Steve French — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 22:17:29 +0000

On Thursday, Republicans tried unsuccessfully to get the gambling issue brought to the Senate floor for quick debate and for certain action. Using the “let’s vote on the issue” mantra, the surprise tactic by the Republicans forced democrat leaders to show that gambling forces don’t have the votes for their proposed constitutional amendment in the Alabama Senate.

An astute vote counter and longtime Senate observer later shared with me that gambling only has about 13 or 14 votes of the 21 votes they need. In fact, while Republicans are overwhelmingly opposed to the proposed legislation, the democrat leadership can barely muster a simple majority among their caucus members.

Regardless of the large deficit in their vote count, democrat leaders insist the Senate will waste 3 days beginning Tuesday on this issue as they attempt to twist arms. Republicans want to get to jobs-creating bills that have a chance to pass. Democrats, though, hear their masters voice so we will waste days on gambling.

After the promised 3 days killed on gambling, there will only be 16 days left to pass the budgets and to pass meaningful legislation that will create jobs. Maybe that’s enough time but from where I stand it’s an unwise gamble.

Legislative Recap- Committee Action Tells All

Rep. Cam Ward — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:47:28 +0000

This week in the legislature has been somewhat uneventful with the exception of some committee activity on high profile bills.
In the Senate, the gambling legislation started to make its way into position for a vote by blazing through committee. Not that this bill was ever going to die in a pro-gambling stacked committee but, it did indicate that proponents are getting into a position to move for a final passage of the bill in the Senate. This won’t occur though until proponents of the bill are certain they have the filibuster proof 21 votes that they need. Right now I hear they are about 2 short.

In the House, Charter Schools met the same fate I predicted they would in one of my earlier blogs. Despite a passionate plea from Governor Riley and the State Board of Education, in the end Custer had a better chance of surviving Little Big Horn than this bill did of coming out committee. With a committee dominated by strong AEA supporters the bill was barely explained before being defeated 13-2 as several Republicans joined Democrats in defeating the proposal. Ironically the best compromise to the issue was offered by Rep. Robert Bentley. He suggested implementing a pilot program for Charter Schools in Alabama where certain select areas would be allowed to create the schools. Then it could be determined how effective they were before moving forward and having them locate all across the state. This issue is dead for the session however.

Budget hearings finally got under way in the House. General Fund Committee Chairman Rep. John Knight is in the unenviable position of having to deal with rising Medicaid costs and dwindling state tax revenue. Several groups including mental health advocates spoke about the feared cuts they faced. They said additional cuts to those who rely on mental health services would send thousands of Alabama citizens into the cold. In the end however, cuts will have to be made to services all across the board. While the committee was sympathetic to those making their case the biggest question asked by members was “where do you want me to take the money from to fund your program?” It will be an ugly budget whatever it turns out to be.

After we adjourn today I (and I imagine most other members) will be heading back out to the campaign trail. One of the biggest issues I am hearing about from the public is the disgust with the continuing gambling debate. While many people have expressed opposition to gambling in my district some of those have said they are not happy with the spectacle of state troopers conducting raids on television all over the state. I expect I will hear some more about it this weekend.

Week Starts with Gambling Debate

Rep. Cam Ward — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:31:17 +0000

Spent some time campaigning this weekend before heading back into session again

After a weekend of campaigning it is back to work in Montgomery again. As I have been moving around my district I am getting more and more questions about the gambling debate.

It appears that I spoke too soon last week when I said the legislature had not seen any sign of gambling legislation yet. Today the House and Senate Tourism & Travel Committees held public hearings on the proposed “Sweet Home Alabama” constitutional amendment. This amendment would allow gambling at certain locations in Alabama and have them taxed at a certain amount. It now appears that this issue is going to start moving more and more into the discussions held in the State House over the next couple of months. While there are strong passions on both side of this issue, I think I speak for many legislators when I say that we cannot allow this one issue to push so many other important subjects off the legislative calendar altogether.

The gambling issue deserves the proper debate that both sides are seeking but it cannot be allowed to paralyze state government for the next several months. I am also hearing this same sentiment from the voters back home. More and more people are telling me that they are sick of hearing about this issue. If it does we will surely see our budget crisis, the PACT program insolvency and other reform related issues fall by the way side.

On to some other subjects…..

On tap for the House today is another short special order calendar dealing with various bills which are being pushed by different constituencies. The House will continue to have short special order of about 4 to 5 bills each day. This will inevitably lead to less legislation being enacted but will ensure a more appropriate amount of deliberation on each subject.

Thank you to the Birmingham News for their support for more ballot access bill. While I know this is not always a popular issue with either party it does deserve the attention of the legislature. The ability to sign up and run for office should be easier and not harder in Alabama.

Senate Passes Ban on No-Bid Contracts–Makes State Government More Accountable

Sen. Zeb Little — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 03:09:27 +0000

I am very pleased that Senate Republicans joined with the Senate Democratic Caucus this week to pass a major piece of our legislative agenda. SB 52, sponsored by Senator Lowell Barron, will end the abuse that we have seen of the awarding of no-bid contracts. During Governor Riley’s seven years in office, he has awarded more than $2.5 billion dollars in no-bid contracts–more than any other administration in the history of this State. Late last year, despite the objections of the Contract Review Committee, Governor Riley gave a $13 million dollar no-bid contract to a company that has no office, no phone, no website and apparently no employees. This bill will finally bring real accountability and transparency to state government by ending this abuse. Taxpayer money is sacred and we can easily save 10 percent by bidding all contracts, just like Alabama families save when they shop around. That’s how families handle their money and that’s how the state of Alabama should handle taxpayer money. I offered an amendment that makes the state re-bid any contract that is less than 50% complete. After a spirited debate, I was very pleased that the most of the Republican Senators agreed with me and my amendment was passed by a 22 to 1 margin. Not even Senate Republicans could defend Governor Riley’s record on no-bid contracts and this bill passed by a 30 to zero vote.

***Senator Zeb Little is an Attorney from Cullman, Alabama. He serves as the Senate Majority Leader. To learn more about Senator Zeb Little, go to: http://www.ZebLittle.com

Working in the Bubble

Rep. Cam Ward — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:59:02 +0000

I often hear a lot of talk about the bubble of Montgomery. From time to time I am reminded about this and it could never be more glaring than the current debate regarding gambling. As the news media and political ads have taken to the air debating Governor Riley’s raid on Victory Land and Country Crossing the legislature continues to slog along with our various legislative items. Interestingly if you were not in the State House you would think that everything being debated down here right now is gambling 24/7. The fact of the matter is that while I anticipate some gambling legislation to reach the floor of both chambers at some point, so far it just has not been an issue in the legislature. It could be because neither side really has the votes to prevail or maybe with so many other issues there just has not been an opportunity to address it yet. I suspect everyone knows that it will be a show stopper in the process and therefore people want to clear other issues off the table first. So while the media wars continue between pro-gambling folks and Gov. Riley throughout the state, the legislative process is still dealing with various issues ranging from ethics reform, unemployment compensation, and bonds for road construction. One thing I know for sure, if you have not had your particular agenda or issue addressed by the time the gambling legislation does appear then it will likely not be addressed in this session.

Sprinting Through the Process

Rep. Cam Ward — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:23:22 +0000

During each my last eight years in the House I have a routine where I like to move all of my bills early in the session. My reasoning for this is that somewhere around midway through the session the process gets snagged on some issue like gambling, sales tax on groceries or some proposed tax increase. When that snag does occur everything else usually grinds to a halt. This session, once again I am running around like crazy trying to get my legislative issues pushed out of the House quickly so that I am not stuck behind what hang ups await us. Many of my colleagues look at me as if I am crazy moving between two or three committee meetings at the same time. I probably don’t have many more bills than a lot of my fellow lawmakers but I am big believer in getting my bills moving now rather than later.

In the last two weeks I have passed 5 bills out of the House and a few more out of committee. Now granted some of these bills are minor issues which are not noteworthy but nonetheless need to be corrected or addressed. I am also not always successful in my efforts. Today was a good example of when you try to do too much at once. My legislation to reduce the requirements for ballot access for third parties and independents in Alabama was defeated by a 6-5 vote in the House Constitution and Elections Committee. Alabama has terrible ballot access laws (we are the third worse in the country) and I have always just felt that this personally needed to be fixed. I am not going to give up on this one. At the same meeting however I did pass legislation out of committee that would begin the process of having campaign disclosure forms submitted through the internet so that the public could further have access and searchable insight into who funds Alabama elections.

I mention these couple of examples to highlight how I often begin my legislative sessions in a full sprint. Every legislator has a different way they handle their legislation and I think an early spring out of the gate is how I like to do it. You have to be ready for some legislative setbacks along the way but cannot get thrown of stride too early in the session.

Debate on Road Bill ties up Senate

Sen. Steve French — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:17:07 +0000

Thursday, the Senate will begin its 4th day of debate on a road construction bill that proposes to spend $100 million a year for 10 years in addition to the regular road program and any federal stimulus plans. The billion dollars for this extra road program would come from the state’s savings account which is the Alabama Trust Fund.

Proponents say this bill will create either 3500 jobs or 30,000 jobs (depending on who is citing the numbers) but have failed to cite any study supporting either number.

Opponents contend this is a “pork” bill that is designed to reward political allies who make big contributions and that this raid on the savings account is more democrat runaway spending. Opponents point to the wide discrepancy in the estimates of the number of jobs the bill will create and are quick to point out the parallels between these estimates and the unfulfilled promises of job creation made by the Obama Administration in selling their “stimulus” package in Washington, D.C.

Industry supporters have long held they aren’t about partisan politics; rather, they strongly believe this issue is good for the state. I believe their bill has become a victim of partisanship.

Therefore, I have suggested to the Alabama Roadbuilders and to the other business associations that are supporting this bill that they ask the bill to be pulled off the floor until a bi-partisan solution can be achieved. I firmly believe a bi-partisan approach in Montgomery is necessary if the industry hopes to get a majority of voters to approve this issue in November.

If this logjam is removed, the Senate would be free to introduce bills, to have committees report, and to work on other important issues. As the sponsor is also the Senate Rules Chairman, (if the bill was carried over) there is no doubt an improved bill would be able to get back before the Senate in a timely fashion for debate and passage.

The current logjam in the Senate could be easily resolved if the sponsor will agree to putting together a compromise bill off the Senate floor. Such an action would help the bill both in Montgomery and at the ballot box.

But, maybe there’s another agenda at work here.

Filibusters in the Senate

Sen. Zeb Little — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:52:20 +0000

One of the differences between the Alabama Senate and House are in the Rules regarding debate and the ending of debate. The Senate is regarded as a more deliberative body and allows unlimited debate. Senate Rule 39 provides: ”No member shall speak more than twice on any question under debate and none shall, without leave of the Senate, speak for more than one hour at each time on motions for the adoption of an amendment to a bill or substitute, a substitute to a bill, the bill itself, motions to concur or nonconcur, or motions to adopt a resolution to confirm an appointment.” This means that each Senator can talk for up to 2 hours on any bill, or amendment, before the body. Currently, Senate Bill 121 (the Democrats’ Highway Jobs Bill) is up for debate. There is one committee amendment pending. This means that all 14 Republican Senators can talk for 2 hours each on both the committee amendment and the the bill for a total of 56 hours. Any Senator can also offer as many amendments as he or she desires as long as there are no more than two before the Senate at any one time. This guarantees that as few as 2 crafty Senators can effectively shut the Senate down for the entire session ensuring that nothing passes.

The only way to break a filibuster is for a supermajority (three-fifths or 21) of Senators to vote to end debate by voting “cloture.” Cloture is defined as the ending of debate. Senate Rule 20 provides that there are 2 ways to end the debate. The first way is for the Rules Committee to “report a special rule that debate on any measure shall cease at a certain hour and a vote be taken on the measure.” If three-fifths (21) of the Senators vote to adopt the special rule (it only takes 18 on budgets, appropriations and reapportionment plans), then the filibuster is over and the vote is taken. The second way for cloture is through a petition signed by 21 or more Senators that debate end on a matter.

Senate Rules can be found online at: http://www.legislature.state.al.us/senate/senaterules/senaterulesindex.html.

***Senator Zeb Little is an Attorney from Cullman, Alabama. To find more information about Senator Zeb Litte please go to: www.ZebLittle.com.