The World Around You

Daily Kos links to a great op-ed by former Senator Max Cleeland in this morning’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Max for VP!

Latest post at Sportsblog

I’m not sure what this says about Alabama’s Department of Human Resources, but the Justice Department has been called in to investigate a case involving a Guatemalan teen mom. AP reports,

ATHENS, Ala. (AP) — The state took an 11-month-old boy away from his teenaged Guatemalan mother without offering an explanation in her native language, advocates for the young woman say.

Dr. Ernie Hendrix, who is trying to help 17-year-old Marta Alonzo, said the Department of Human Resources repeatedly ignored her civil rights and failed to let her know what was going on in a language she could understand.

Alonzo said she wants to regain custody of the boy and return home to Guatemala. The state has indicated it may put the child up for adoption.

“That baby came out of me. I had it. He’s mine and nobody should have taken him from me,” Alonzo said in a story published Thursday in The Birmingham News.

The state denies it did anything wrong, but the Justice Department is investigating.

Alonzo is from the Guatemalan village of Xabaj (pronounced “Shabah”) and speaks K’iche’ Maya, a Mayan language. She is learning Spanish and English.

So did Alabama DHR bother to find out what language she spoke? No, they just assumed she spoke Spanish and conducted the proceedings in that language. Their response when they find out she was not a native Spanish-speaker? “We believe in this case that Spanish was an appropriate language,” said Mike Gibson, a spokesman for the state welfare agency. It’s nice to know they think the wrong language was “appropriate”. Why? Because “everyone knows” they speak spanish in Guatemala? It’s enough that the error was made, but to defend themselves on those grounds is ridiculous.

Just another reason to love blogs. If you want first hand accounts of Isabel as it hits land, check out the Axis of Isabel. Kevin Aylward has links on his page.

Well the budgets have been approved by the appropriate committees, but they did make some changes. Birmingham News reports on the general fund budget,

The committee restored 25 percent of almost all the items Riley proposed erasing. But it did not restore millions of dollars he had cited as pork money for lawmakers’ special projects.

Knight said the 25-percent restoration would give groups time to raise money from other sources or give employees three months’ notice before laying them off. He said the money would be paid by Dec. 31, signaling the groups that they would not be restored to the General Fund in 2005.

The committee also:

Restored $635,000 Riley wanted cut from the state agriculture department. That would reduce its General Fund money by 27 percent next year, not by the 33 percent Riley proposed.

Restored $1.07 million for volunteer fire departments statewide. Riley proposed erasing the entire $2.48 million distributed this year.

Added language to the budget to ban pass-through pork, the transfer of unitemized money from a state agency to a special project.

I’m glad the committee members were able to keep their hands out of the cookie jar and not restore their legislative discretionary money. I agree with giving a little notice to the agencies receiving cuts, but I think 25% for everyone may have been excessive.

The News also reports on the education budget,

The committee narrowly approved the spending plan by an 8-7 vote.

Senators protected the groups by eliminating $36 million Riley wanted to put back in the state’s education rainy day account. Riley’s administration had borrowed $180 million from the account to prevent school budget cuts this year and the administration had proposed repaying that over five years.

Senators also captured money by eliminating Riley’s plan to repay $6 million in debt to an information services account this year.

Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, said the programs needed funding because they provide critical services including programs for at-risk and homeless youth. “We’re dealing with people’s lives. We say it’s a Rainy Day Fund, but (Hurricane) Isabel has already hit us,” Smitherman said.

Not all members agreed.

“I have a real problem giving any money to any non-state agencies and private schools when we’re not giving any money to public school textbooks,” said Sen. Bradley Byrne, R-Mobile.

The entire Senate will consider the altered spending plan this morning.

“I think it’ll be all-out war,” said Sen. Jack Biddle, R-Gardendale.

An all out-war is definitely in the offing. Once again, the legislature is putting off the inevitable by not paying back some of the money to the rainy day fund. Those funds must be restored, so it just makes the burden on next year’s budget that much heavier. We’ll see what happens once the budgets hit the floor today.