The World Around You

Latest posts from me at Sports Blog:

Congratulations to Governor Riley, who has been selected as Governing magazine’s Public Official of the Year! Of particular note is the following statement from the magazine’s editor,

“Bob Riley has done something courageous and has taken a great step forward for the state of Alabama. It would be a great day for the state if this amendment passes next week,” Governing Editor Alan Ehrenhalt said. “His bold proposal has attracted the respect and attention of people all over the country, and Alabama is leading, for once, instead of falling behind. Courage such as Gov Riley’s is rare in politics these days.”

In this morning’s Mobile Register there are indications of what the state will be facing if Amendment 1 is defeated. The Legislative Oversight Committee refused to consider any contracts yesterday because some of the agencies requesting approval of contracts may not even exist after the vote.

“From what I saw yesterday,” he said, “there will be a lot of goose eggs where there are numbers now.”

The contracts on hold would be largely state-funded, though some include federal or local dollars. They cover a range of services, from health care for the state’s juvenile offenders, to veterans and indigent tuberculosis patients to hiring a consultant to promote Alabama to out-of-state retirees.

Hiring consultants to plan, study and strategize seemed particularly frivolous when direct medical services to Alabamians are at risk, Butler said. “Planning and studying means you are looking at the future,” he said. “The future in Alabama is bleak.”

And that’s the truth.

I think it’s time to begin the discussion on where Alabama goes from here. Amendment 1 was an excellent plan that just seems to be too much for Alabamians to take in and make an informed decision about. If reports are accurate and the legislature is not interested in taking up any big changes, they just want to get this budget done, I believe this year will be a golden opportunity to illustrate how we have hit rock bottom.

The Governor should commit to illustrating every week the impact of the cuts the legislature is forced to make. He should make some type of appearance every week that illustrates who is suffering because voters rejected his plan. This will bring the naysayers who don’t believe the predicted cuts were actually going to be allowed to happen over to his side of the issue. Then, he should work with the legislature to get each of the accountability provisions of his plan that don’t require a consitutional ammendment passed as early in the next legislative session as possible, including the pass-through pork ban.

The Governor should also work with the legislature to move forward on eliminating the federal tax exemption (I am not certain if this requires a constitutional amendment or not), shifting some of the cost of health insurance to state employees and teachers, and raising the threshold where state income tax begins.

(TO BE CONTINUED)