The World Around You

A new blog dedicated to the 2004 election as seen in the blogosphere has done an informal count of the number of times presidential candidates are being mentioned on blogs. The results are not surprising.

This is obviously a response to media pressure, but a needed step nonetheless,

Senate President Pro Tem Lowell Barron on Tuesday appointed a committee to review pay for Senate staff, according to a memo from his office.

Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, will chair the bipartisan five-member committee. It is charged with “address(ing) issues related to compensation of Senate staff.”

Figures could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.

The Mobile Register reported Nov. 9 that some state senators had doled out more than $200,000 in extra pay to certain Senate employees during the last two years. Amid a state financial crisis, payments had ranged from supplements of a few hundred dollars per paycheck to one-time bonuses of several thousand dollars, state payroll records showed.

According to several Senate officials, the extra money is well-deserved by secretaries and clerks with added responsibilities. The officials noted that legislative employees do not qualify for overtime pay despite their long and often unpredictable hours during legislative sessions.

Both sides have a point. The employees did deserve extra pay for the late hours, but theere should be a policy as to what that amount is, rather than leaving it to a chairman’s discretion.

I hope Alabamians remember those who are suffering because of the lack of state funds this holiday season.

Amanda Rickman will put in her last day today as a state-salaried law clerk to Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Caryl Privett. Then she’ll be working without pay.

She’s one of about 400 employees of Alabama trial courts who were notified a few days ago that they’ll have to be laid off as of Nov. 28 because the state can’t pay them.

“What I’m going to do is, I’ll probably keep volunteering here at least through the holidays with no pay, just so I don’t leave my judge and her judicial assistant with no one in the office to help them,” said Rickman.

“It’s going to be hard. I’m fortunate to have caring parents that are going to help me out as much as they can in terms of getting my bills paid,” she said.

Rickman got her law degree in May at Cumberland Law School, passed her bar exam in August and has worked for Privett since then. Now she’s job-hunting, and the prospects don’t look particularly bright.

Happy Holidays!