In 2013, Arkansas’s then-Governor Mike Beebe (D) pushed a non-traditional Medicaid expansion program that gives low-income individuals subsidies to use toward private coverage, rather than enrolling them into Medicaid. This initiative was marketed as a “state-based” plan for reform and one that inserts flexibility and innovation into expansion as outlined under the Affordable Care Act […]

Alabama’s General Fund budget, which appropriates taxpayer dollars to non-education state agencies like Medicaid, the Department of Corrections, Public Safety, and others, faces an economic crisis not seen since the darkest days of the Great Depression. With historically stagnant revenues, rising Medicaid costs related to ObamaCare, a prison system on the precipice of federal takeover, […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed and Education Budget, which will spend $5.9 billion to fund Alabama’s public k-12 schools, pre-schools, and universities, and other educational programs. Lawmakers are giving partial credit for the budget’s ease of passage and slight bump in spending to the Rolling Reserve Budget Act, passed in […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Senate Education and Youth Affairs Committee voted Wednesday to send a bill repealing the embattled Common Core Standards, known as the College and Career-Ready Standards in Alabama, to the full Senate. The battle over Common Core has pitted conservative groups against each other, with many business organizations, including the Business Council […]

WASHINGTON — Today is the deadline to report first quarter fundraising, and Yellowhammer sources confirm Congresswoman Martha Roby (R-AL2) will report just north of $225k for Q1 with cash on hand just over $661,000. It’s her best fundraising quarter ever, beating her previous best of $213k in the first quarter of 2011, which was right […]

Alabama’s economic incentive programs are slated for reform this legislative session. Such programs cost Alabama taxpayers millions each year so it is certainly important to evaluate whether this money is well spent. That’s the easy part. The hard part is facing reality and taking the uncomfortable steps toward real reform. To realize change, state policy […]

WASHINGTON — Representatives Gary Palmer (R-AL6) and Mo Brooks have signed on to co-sponsor this year’s Fair Tax bill in the U.S. House, signaling even more support from the Alabama congressional delegation for an overhaul of the tax code. “The Fair Tax is a tax that abolishes the income tax, it denies the federal government […]

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) introduced legislation Tuesday that would establish a flat federal tax on income for the first time since the implementation of the IRS. The “Simplified, Manageable, and Responsible Tax (SMART) Act,” would tax income at 17 percent, with significant exemptions. “On Tax Day, the American people are reminded that […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Senate on Tuesday passed the Stolen Valor Act by Representative Steve Clouse (R-Ozark) and Senator Bill Holtzclaw (R-Madison), a retired Marine. The bill imposes a minimum fine of $5,000 and makes it a Class A misdemeanor for a person to falsely represent themselves as a recipient of a military decoration […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Legislative Council, a body made up of representatives from both the Alabama House and Senate, has signaled its disapproval of a rule proposed by the Alabama Department of Revenue, the state’s version of the IRS, that would have levied a tax on films and television shows streamed online. The Legislative […]

WASHINGTON — On the Senate floor Monday evening, Senator Jeff Sessions decried the Medicare “Doc Fix” that is soon to be considered by the Senate, saying House conservatives who voted for the measure were misled by promises it would be paid for by offsets elsewhere. “Not only are we continuing to allow the debt to […]

WASHINGTON, Ala. — Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL1) has been appointed by U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH8) to the powerful House Rules Committee. The Rules Committee is heavily weighted (9 majority members, and 4 minority members) in favor of the party in power, and ultimately decides which bills make it to the House floor, and […]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWogVroFGgE (Above: Richard Tremaine and Rep. Martha Roby interact in a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing) WASHINGTON — Richard Tremaine, associate director of the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System, testified before the House Veterans Affairs Committee Monday about his treatment as a whistleblower in the scandal that rocked the VA last year. Congresswoman Martha […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A debate over future control of Alabama’s water supply will be front and center at the Alabama State House Tuesday as environmental groups plan to make their presence felt during a meeting of the Legislative Committee on Water Policy & Management. The environmental groups have dubbed Tuesday “Rivers of Alabama Day,” according […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A bill sponsored by Alabama Representative Jack Williams (R-Vestavia) that will add a safe harbor provision to Alabama’s laws for children exploited in sexual slavery has gained wide bipartisan support, garnering 61 co-sponsors in the House. HB455, titled the Alabama Human Trafficking Safe Harbor Act, will protect exploited minors from being convicted […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Montgomery Advertiser over the weekend speculated that if Republicans in the Alabama legislature are unable to find consensus on a budget proposal, a smaller bloc of Republicans could break off and join with Democrats to pass a budget that includes Gov. Robert Bentley’s tax increases. “Republicans dominate both chambers of the […]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — When Hillary Clinton formally announced her presidential campaign Sunday, it was inevitable the long-time DC insider would assemble a power-packed, inside-the-beltway team, but you may not have expected the top member of that team to have an interesting — and perhaps infamous — Alabama connection. Clinton’s newly-announced campaign chairman John Podesta is […]

The so-called mainstream media in Alabama is almost over its euphoria sparked by the governor’s “bold” tax hike proposals and the debate, in their minds, has moved on to exactly which taxes should be raised. Most Alabamians, meanwhile, are correctly discussing whether tax increases are necessary at all. But for the sake of argument, let’s […]

Last week, I traveled throughout the Middle East as part of a Congressional Delegation led by the Speaker of the House to evaluate the rising influence of ISIS and Iran, and to examine the potential impacts on U.S. interests at home and abroad. We couldn’t talk about the trip beforehand or during due to security […]

MONTGOMERY, ALa. — Alabama House General Fund Budget chairman Steve Clouse (R-Ozark) has signed on to co-sponsor a bill that would allow a state-wide referendum on a lottery, making him the only Republican so far to officially join forces with House Democrats on one of their signature agenda items. The amendment would need the support […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama House voted down a bill Thursday that would have prohibited teenagers under the age of 18 from riding in the bed of pickup trucks on a state or federal highway after some members raised concern it would legislate away the decision rights of parents. § 32-5-222 of the Code of […]

It is time for an honest discussion of immigration. The first “great wave” of U.S. immigration took place from roughly 1880 to 1930. During this time, according to the Census Bureau, the foreign-born population doubled from about 6.7 million to 14.2 million people. Changes were then made to immigration law to reduce admissions, decreasing the […]

TUSKEGEE, Ala. — Central Alabama’s embattled Veteran’s Affairs hospitals still have some of the longest wait times in the country, according to a report from the AP. The Tuskegee and Montgomery VA hospitals, known as the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System (CAVHCS) had the worst marks for reaching its goals for timely access to […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Thursday morning Governor Robert Bentley (R-AL) signaled he has changed his mind on a way for the state to capture gambling money, the day after the House Democratic Caucus renewed its call for a state lottery and other measures to increase government revenues. House Minority Leader Craig Ford (D-Gadsden) introduced two bills […]