Loading ...First, Erin Dixon did a great job of summarizing the day, so I won’t duplicate her efforts.
HIGHLIGHTS: The Alabama Senate voted both to block the employee furlough plan that was approved by the state personnel board and to block a code of ethics that was approved by the state education board. The Senate Finance and Taxation – General Fund committee also approved a $1 billion highway construction program and a bill to ban most no-bid state contracts. The House swore in three new members and approved a resolution honoring the national championship football team at Alabama.
Of course, the primetime event was Governor Riley delivering his final state of the state address this evening. It was my first time attending the speech in person, and I have to admit it was a bit surreal. Having the who’s who of Alabama politics all in that small of a space was very interesting for a politico like me.
Prior to the speech, I spoke with Rep. Cam Ward about his expectations for the coming session. We talked about the budget situation and Rep. Ward’s belief that we are likely going to be forced to look at reforming pension plans and contributions for state employees and teachers, as uncomfortable as that may be in order to balance the budget moving forward.
Rep. Ward also stated that he has not yet seen the charter school legislation the governor announced yesterday and that he was open to the idea. However, he would like to see it done on a pilot basis to see if it works here, and if not then we are able to pull back, rather than “throwing the doors open” and allowing schools all over the state. Also, while touching on education he indicated he may have differences with Governor Riley when it comes to maintaining the Reading Initiative and Math/Science Initiative. Rep. Ward’s belief is that if you end up pitting a program’s where much of the emphasis is on training (and most everyone has already been trained) against increasing classroom sizes all over the state, he would be more inclined to support “pausing” the initiatives for a year rather than increasing classroom size.
Finally we discussed ethics reform, and specifically, Rep. Ward’s proposal to give the ethics commission subpoena power. He is encouraged that Rep. Alvin Holmes (with whom he agrees on almost nothing from a policy standpoint) is also proposing a bill to do the same thing. He is hopeful that there is more support this session for such a provision and said he really doesn’t care who gets the credit, as long as we get a good bill passed.
It was a good discussion to have headed into the governor’s speech that had little that was unexpected, he hit the notes everyone saw coming…the budget, economic development, ethics reform, education, gambling, PACT, the UA national championship. It was all there. The most tense moments, viewing from the gallery, were during the section on gambling, when all eyes turned on Attorney General Troy King and Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks who have been on the opposite side from the governor on issues related to gambling.
And the greatest moment of unity was when the governor acknowledged the Crimson Tide’s national championship, which was the first moment that the entire audience rose and applauded. The governor seemed impressed that the standing ovation included House Minority Leader Mike Hubbard, who represents the Auburn area and runs the Auburn Sports Network. When the ovation was complete, the governor was heard to say “I’m proud of you Mike.”
After the speech, gubernatorial candidate Artur Davis gave me his reaction. Of the governor’s communication style, he said, “I believe Governor Riley has developed into one of the most skilled communicators in southern politics…and I’m glad he isn’t running for a third term.” We also discussed the content of the speech, particularly gambling, where Congressman Davis views himself as somewhere between the current governor and his Democratic opponent in the gubernatorial primary, Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks. He believes Commissioner Sparks wants to “grow gambling” to have more to tax. His position (as he has repeatedly stated) is to tax what we have, but not focus on it as a growth industry.
I certainly think this governor’s final state of the state was memorable and laid out a strong case for why he stands where he does on the issues. It doesn’t change the basic dynamics of the legislature over the his two terms though, and I don’t think anyone is expecting significantly different results on many of his high priority issues.
UPDATE: Rep. Ward released the following statement following the speech,
“I applaud Governor Riley for a bold legislative agenda, and I stand ready to assist his efforts in the House of Representatives,” Rep. Ward said following the State of the State address. “The fact that 2010 is an election year should not impede the passage of meaningful legislation,” Rep. Ward added.
Cam Ward has introduced legislation in past sessions to authorize the Alabama Ethics Commission to have subpoena power to question witnesses and examine documents in proceedings of wrongdoing by public officials, but the bills have failed to pass both houses. Rep. Ward has filed similar legislation this session.
“If ever there was a time for ethics reform in Alabama, it is now,” Rep. Ward stated. “I am on board with this as well as getting Alabamians back to work and jumpstarting our economy,” he added.
Rep. Ward says he also favors offering tax incentives to bring new industry to Alabama and expand existing businesses. In fact, he has filed the “Alabama Job Growth Act” which incorporates some of the Governor’s proposals to rev up the state’s economy.
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