WASHINGTON — Congressman Gary Palmer (R-AL6) introduced legislation in the U.S. House Thursday that would ensure physicians who serve Medicaid and Medicare patients continue to be reimbursed while they are switching over to a new federally-mandated medical coding system. The 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) is […]

(Video Above: Congressman Mo Brooks introduces an amendment to end subsidies to Amtrak) WASHINGTON — Congressman Mo Brooks (R-AL5) on Thursday urged Congress to end subsidies to publicly-owned and operated Amtrak, delivering a speech on the House floor saying, “It is time for Amtrak passengers to quit riding on the backs of other taxpayers.” Between […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama’s District Attorneys are balking at budget cuts, but reforms to a controversial program could save the DAs, and taxpayers, millions a year. Of Alabama’s 42 circuits represented by DAs, 34 of them also have what are called “Supernumerary District Attorneys,” or retired DAs who will practice in place of the circuit’s […]

Across East Alabama, many of you may agree with me that the United States’ participation with the United Nations (U.N.) should end immediately. The U.N. continues to prove it’s an inefficient bureaucracy and a complete waste of American tax dollars. Although the United States makes up almost a quarter of the U.N.’s annual budget, the […]

In what has become a Groundhog Day scenario, federal legislators will likely grant approval to raise the federal debt limit — again. This will be the 79th time that Congress will raise the debt limit. With an $18.2 trillion national debt, amounting to nearly $57,000 per citizen, every American should find this fiscal irresponsibility disconcerting. […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Legislature, including a majority of Republicans, on Thursday gave final passage to a bill that will allow state agencies to increase their own fees without a vote of the legislature. The Senate concurred with House changes first thing Thursday morning, and the bill will now head to the Governor’s desk. […]

(Video Above: Rep. Gary Palmer questions journalists at a Oversight and Government Reform committee meeting) WASHINGTON — Congressman Gary Palmer heard testimony Tuesday from investigative journalists, including former CBS journalist Sharyl Attkisson, on the importance of protecting the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in order to hold the federal government accountable. Created in 1966, FOIA […]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azMo8Vo_icw (Video Above: Rep. Roby delivers a speech on the House floor) WASHINGTON — Congresswoman Martha Roby took to the U.S. House floor Wednesday day to continue her push to give Veterans Affairs administrators the authority to come in and take over substandard VA facilities, after a year of revelations finding the agency has placed […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama House on Wednesday passed SB21, sponsored by Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster), ensuring the public has access to government and board meetings. The legislation passed the House 91-4 after it unanimously passed the Senate on March 18, and now awaits Governor Bentley’s signature. “Government should be open, transparent, accountable, and its […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Senate on Wednesday approved a resolution to rename the Edmund Pettus Bridge, which was famously crossed by civil rights activists on “Bloody Sunday” in 1965, the “Journey to Freedom Bridge.” When protesters, including Martin Luther King, Jr. came back despite the violence, crossing the bridge, named for Edmund Pettus, a […]

(Video Above: Rep. Bradley Byrne introduces an amendment to cut the ATF by $250 million) WASHINGTON — Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL1) introduced an amendment to the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act Tuesday which would have cut the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) by 20 percent, saving taxpayers approximately $250 […]

(Image above: A visual illustration of America’s debt piled up around the Statue of Liberty. The full visualization can be found here.) There are few things as outrageous to Americans as taxation without representation; it started a war. But it is a fact that our children and grandchildren will be taxed for most of our […]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabama health insurance providers who offer plans on the ObamaCare exchange are seeking significant price increases this year, after healthcare costs took a sharp upward turn. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama is reportedly requesting an average of a 28 percent increase for its individual plans, as well as a 73 percent […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Yellowhammer learned Tuesday morning that the Alabama Education Association (AEA), whose precipitous fall from power over the last few years has shocked many longtime observers of Alabama politics, has been placed under trusteeship by the teachers’ union’s national umbrella organization. After spending roughly $20 million in the 2014 election cycle with little […]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House passed Tuesday reforms to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, including the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act sponsored by Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL1). Among the changes proposed by Rep. Byrne, provisions included in the bill would repeal the inflexible quotas for the Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper fishery, […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Federal District Judge Mark fuller, who was accused of domestic abuse last fall, delivered his resignation letter to President Obama Friday, effective August 1st. A report by Atlanta-based legal blog The Daily Report surfaced shortly thereafter indicating that Fuller’s resignation may have been an effort to avoid impeachment from the 11th Circuit […]

(Video Above: SECPrimary.com’s hype video for the upcoming presidential primary) MONTGOMERY, Ala. — After Alabama passed its bill moving primaries up to March 1st last week, joining Arkansas and four other Southern states, the “SEC Primary,” appears to be ready to make waves during the 2016 presidential race. The Yellowhammer State will join Arkansas, Georgia, […]

Just over a month after being sworn in for a second term, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley rolled out the details of his long-rumored $541 million tax increase package. It marked the first time in a dozen years — since former Gov. Bob Riley’s ill-fated 2003 tax hike plan — that a Republican leader so openly […]

The city of Ramadi is the capital of the Anbar province in Iraq and serves as a strategic location on the Euphrates river. In 2006, Ramadi was the home to a critical battle between United States forces and Al-Qaeda. Ultimately, the U.S. forces prevailed. Now, almost nine years later, Ramadi has fallen into the hands […]

WASHINGTON — Congressman Gary Palmer spoke out this week against the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) latest major regulation, which opponents say is a significant overreach of the bureaucracy’s power. Along with the Army Corps of Engineers, the EPA is seeking to redefine “Waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act to include small […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama House on Thursday unanimously passed major reforms to the state’s Medicaid program that are estimated to save the state $1.5 billion over the next 10 years. The bill now goes to the governor’s desk to be signed into law. Medicaid currently comprises 37 percent of the state’s ailing general fund […]

FAYETTE, Ala. — The former manager of the Fayette water board was reportedly indicted by a grand jury this week for allegedly spending $25,000 in city funds on strip clubs, dating websites, and lingerie. Scotty Allen Moore, 54, retired from his position at the Fayette water board in March 2014, after 17 years of employment […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama legislature gave final passage Thursday to the “Gabe’s Right to Try” law, inspired by 10-year-old Gabe Griffin, an Alabama boy with Duchenne’s muscle-wasting disease. The right to try legislation will allow new medications already in the human trial portion of FDA approval to be tried by patients with terminal, life-threatening […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — During a radio interview last week with Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore called on U.S. Supreme Court justices who have performed same-sex marriages and not recused themselves from the impending gay marriage decision to be impeached. Federal judge Callie “Ginny” Granade, who made the […]