Bradley Byrne guest hosted a radio show in Huntsville this week and said something that peaked the interest of one of the other gubernatorial candidates when he was discussing the situation with the pre-paid college tuition program, PACT,

I’m not telling you there’s a legal obligation on behalf of the state to fix this problem.  There’s not.

Rep. Artur Davis issued this statement in response,

Bradley Byrne is wrong about the legal standing of PACT and that’s not just a technicality.  It means that a Byrne administration would be prepared to fight in court against the interests of 48,000 Alabama families who are simply asking the state to keep its word.  As these families can testify, the unmistakable language of the PACT contract ‘guarantees’ that the contributions to PACT would be honored; that is also how the program was marketed for the last two decades to hard-working Alabama families who were trying to ensure their children a college education.

Denying the promises made by PACT is no way to rebuild confidence in state government. It shatters trust as much as the PACT Board’s decision this week to alter the terms of current PACT contracts in a way that will put more debt on the shoulders of thousands of Alabama families.    As a two year member of the PACT board, Mr. Byrne should have met with enough PACT families to understand their anguish.  Unfortunately, his comments yesterday have only made the problem worse.  PACT is a legal as well as a moral obligation and as Governor, I will make the State of Alabama keep its word.

I have several thoughts on this:

I don’t think Congressman Davis does anything wrong by fully backing the irate parents (he’s one of the few candidates who has clean hands on this issue and will continue to revisit it), but I do not believe there is a significant difference between these two candidates on this issue.  And the full quote in context reflects that,

…a lot of good people around this state invested some pretty hard earned money in that program based upon that assurance from them.  Now, I am not telling you there is a legal obligation on behalf of the state to fix this problem.  There’s not.  But there is a moral obligation, and in my judgment, and the way I look at things, a moral obligation is actually a lot more important than a legal obligation.  So, I think the state does have moral obligation to fix this problem.

Having heard Bradley Byrne speak to this in the past, I think both of these candidates believe we should do everything possible to honor the commitments made to PACT enrollees, with the understanding that that moral obligation will cost the state a substantial amount of money that has to come from somewhere.

In addition, I still think it’s a bad idea for the Davis campaign to engage Bradley Byrne this early.  I cringe when I see press releases between these two campaigns, because I think they are the best each side has to offer and I would rather see them focused on winning their primaries than engaging with each other.  I hope there will be plenty of time for that this summer and fall.

I also have mixed feelings about the PACT situation.  I looked at enrolling my child in PACT when she was born in 2004.  But I didn’t enroll.  I read the fine print, and I understood that there was a risk I would not get what was promised, that there was no guarantee (granted, this language was not there when the program first started, but it was when I looked at it).  So, while I certainly have sympathy for those parents who felt like it was marketed as a guaranteed program, I can also see where someone would be technically correct in claiming the state has no legal obligation.

UPDATE:  Byrne campaign spokesperson Marty Sullivan offered the following in response to the charges from Congressman Davis,

Bradley Byrne’s position in regards to PACT has been well reported. He has always maintained that regardless of what a court of law might hold in regards to the state’s legal obligation to PACT contracts, Alabama has a higher, moral obligation to uphold the terms of the agreements. As governor, Bradley will live by that principle, he will uphold the contracts, and he will do the right thing for those families who trusted that their hard-earned dollars would be there when they needed them.

Now that the record has been set straight, on the strength of Bradley’s own words in their entirety, I’d like to wish Artur Davis and his campaign staff a Happy New Year and encourage them to resolve for 2010 to focus on honest debate of the issues and to give up the undignified practice of knowingly misleading Alabamians by taking the statements of those they oppose out of context.

Related posts:

1. TWAY Poll Results: Byrne Running Best Campaign The results are in.  The question was: Who is running...
2. Artur Davis Continues to Ask, “Why Don’t We Do That?” The hits just keep on coming from the Artur Davis...
3. And the Gloves Come Off – Tonight’s Gubernatorial Debate You could feel it building over the last few weeks,...
4. Davis Camp Responds to Sparks Announcement The other candidate in the Democratic race for governor in...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.