WASHINGTON — Earlier this year year Scott and Traci Griffin whose 10 year-old-son, Gabe, suffers from an extremely rare form of Muscular Dystrophy, made history when they successfully lobbied for “Gabe’s Right to Try Law.” Now the family is teaming up with Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Congressman Gary Palmer (R-AL6) to ensure the family […]

The House of Representatives may be in recess until September 8, but that certainly does not mean I will be taking time off. In fact, the August District Work Period is about meeting with people from all across the First Congressional District. From the Iran nuclear deal to illegal immigration, there are many critical issues […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — After months of debates over tax increases, gambling, and budget cuts, the Alabama Legislature appears poised to pass essentially the exact same budget they approved in the Regular Session—one based solely on across the board, prioritized cuts. In a Senate Ways and Means-General Fund committee meeting Friday, the House-passed budget cutting Medicaid […]

This week, President Obama announced his “Clean Power Plan” and with it a costly national energy tax that will negatively impact American families and jobs. Of course, the Administration touts the plan as “the single most important step America has ever taken in the fight against global climate change.” But what you didn’t hear the […]

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A Tuscaloosa attorney is challenging the city’s ability to charge residents with traffic tickets using red light cameras, saying they violate the U.S. Constitution. Tuscaloosa-based lawyer Stuart Albea said his client Tim Burch, a 44-year-old Northport resident, was ticketed after turning left through a red light at a major Tuscaloosa intersection. Albea […]

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions (R) told Breitbart News in an interview Wednesday that he hopes the ten Republicans taking the stage Thursday night for the first presidential debate focus on immigration and trade policy. “There’s no issue that will bring in more new voters to the Republican side than immigration,” Sessions opined. […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A bill being considered by the Alabama Senate would require any corporation doing business in Alabama to file a “unitary” tax return with the state. Here’s how current Alabama law works: If a company based in another state does business in Alabama they file and pay taxes only on the income earned […]

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank based out of Washington, D.C., is taking a closer look at the positive effects of criminal justice reform in Alabama. This week, their news website, The Daily Signal, spotlighted the use of community corrections programs. The Alabama Legislature passed sweeping prison reform with only 5 dissenting votes during this […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Fifty years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law which outlawed discriminatory voting practices, such as literacy tests and poll taxes, which were adopted after the Civil War to prevent African-Americans from registering and exercising their right to vote. It also established new legal protections for […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama House Wednesday evening approved a General Fund budget cutting $156 million from Medicaid. After an initial vote of 45-46, a second vote flipped enough members to provide an outcome of 46-44. Every yes vote was made by a Republican member. Sixteen Republicans joined with every Democrat to vote against the […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Dr. Don Williamson, longtime head of the Alabama Department of Public Health, announced on Wednesday that he will be leaving his current office to become the president of the Alabama Hospital Association. The Alabama Hospital Association says Williamson will take over as president of the private organization sometime this November. Williamson had […]

MONGTOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama House Wednesday passed a bill removing earmarks from 30 state agencies and revenue streams in the General Fund, giving lawmakers more room to prioritize during the budgeting process. The bill, HB46 passed on a wide bipartisan vote of 83-13, and will go into effect during the 2017 fiscal year, meaning […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Senate Judicial Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, chaired by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), released this week the text and charts of a report concerning America’s ongoing policy of massive legal immigration. While much political attention has been paid to the issue of illegal aliens entering the country, […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A surprise move in the Alabama Legislature Tuesday afternoon has seemingly left the state’s lawmakers with the choice to vote for either tax increases or a massive cut to Medicaid. Alabama is one of only three states that budgets education separately from Medicaid, corrections, law enforcement, and other non-education programs. Coupled with […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A memo being circulated by Alabama State Superintendent Tommy Bice Tuesday is drawing the criticism of conservative lawmakers who say Bice’s characterization of legislation before the State Senate is untruthful. The bill in contention is Senate Bill 30, which moves $225 million in Use Tax revenue from the Education Trust Fund to […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama State legislature began day three of its Special Session Tuesday to fill the $250 million hole in the state’s General Fund and pass a constitutionally required balanced budget. Here are some of the highlights of the dramatic day’s activities at the State House: Taxes out, Medicaid cut in after House […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Among the tax increases initially considered most politically palatable by members of the Alabama Legislature has been a 25 cent-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax—a proposal which prompted a dramatic series of events in a House committee meeting Tuesday and ultimately failed. A tobacco tax increase is a major part of both […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — State Rep. Jack Williams (R-Vestavia Hills) has proposed a 40 percent sales tax on “receipts from the sale of sexually oriented materials” to help fill the $250+ million hole in Alabama’s General Fund budget. “Sexually oriented materials” are described in the bill as “any book, magazine, newspaper, printed or written matter, writing, […]

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama released the finalized version of the EPA’s power plant rule Monday and many Alabama lawmakers are outraged. The new regulation is over 1500 pages in length and will have a significant economic impact on businesses. The final rule mandates that power plants cut an average of 32 percent of their […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — On the second day of the Alabama Legislature’s Special Session, Rep. Jack Williams (R-Vestavia Hills) and Sen. Bill Hightower (R-Mobile) introduced identical bills Monday that would make it a Class B felony to offer or accept money for aborted babies or parts of aborted babies. A Class B felony is punishable by […]

President Obama just announced the latest step in a radical environmentalist agenda that has already given us the Solyndra boondoggle, wasted billions on green energy projects that do not work, and threatened the jobs of everyone who relies on the coal industry. But his Environmental Protection Agency’s newest raft of top-down regulations is the worst […]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Monday failed to get the 60 votes necessary to overcome a procedural hurdle to block all federal funding to Planned Parenthood. The effort, dubbed “Defund Planned Parenthood,” received 53 votes, seven short of the 60 needed to end a Democratic filibuster and begin debate on the bill. The abortion provider […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh (R-Anniston) told Yellowhammer Monday afternoon that Governor Bentley’s (R-AL) more than $300 million in proposed tax increases only have 8 Republican votes in the Senate, rendering them effectively dead-on-arrival. “I just don’t see the body as warm enough toward any new taxes,” Sen. Marsh said. […]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The White House, through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is releasing Monday a detailed update to the Obama administration’s power plan, including what the Associated Press calls “unprecedented” limits on emissions at electricity plants. The AP reports the plan will make consumers huge “losers,” increasing electricity rates as power providers spend billions […]