“Rumors and Rumblings” is a weekly feature that runs each Wednesday. It includes short nuggets of information that we glean from conversations throughout the week. Have a tip? Send it here. All sources remain confidential. Regular readers will know that we usually put together a more extensive list of what people are buzzing about, but […]

The Yellowhammer Power & Influence 40 is a list of the 40 most powerful and influential players in Alabama politics. For a more in-depth explanation of the list and how it was compiled, click HERE. To see last year’s list click HERE. Here’s the schedule of when the names will be released: Monday, Feb. 18: […]

As America celebrated President’s Day, Billy Graham released a picture gallery illustrating his relationships with decades of U.S. Presidents. Graham has met with — or ministered to — every President since Harry Truman in 1950. Although the policies of the Obama administration have grown increasingly hostile toward Christians, President Obama even made the trek to […]

The Yellowhammer Power & Influence 40 is a list of the 40 most powerful and influential players in Alabama politics. For a more in-depth explanation of the list and how it was compiled, click HERE. To see last year’s list click HERE. Here’s the schedule of when the names will be released: Monday, Feb. 18: […]

Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh announced Friday that Senator Paul Bussman (R-Cullman) will serve as his designee on the Senate’s influential Rules Committee, which sets the daily agenda for the Senate and determines what legislation will go before the full chamber. According to the Senate’s governing rules, the President Pro Tem is a member […]

The Yellowhammer Power & Influence 40 is a list of the 40 most powerful and influential players in Alabama politics. For a more in-depth explanation of the list and how it was compiled, click here. To see last year’s list click HERE. Here’s the schedule of when the names will be released: Monday, Feb. 18: […]

Representative Martha Roby has been tapped to give the Weekly Republican Address, in which she will discuss the looming “sequester” military cuts and call on President Obama and the Senate to join House efforts to replace the sequester with more reasonable spending reductions. Rep. Roby’s comments will broadcast nationally over the weekend. The Weekly Republican […]

Representative Chad Fincher Rep. Fincher, a Mobile-area Republican, was the eye of the School Flex storm this week. “Leadership relied on him to stay steady throughout the process,” one House insider told Yellowhammer Friday morning. “He really delivered.” “I’m very excited about it,” Fincher told the Montgomery Advertiser. “I really feel like we broke the […]

By Cameron Smith, Alabama Policy Institute In his recent State of the Union address, President Obama stated that “[i]t is our generation’s task…to reignite the true engine of America’s economic growth – a rising, thriving middle class.” For many of us, that idea seems reasonable. The President told us that we will not be able […]

According to Dale Peterson, in October of last year he was wrongly accused of steeling two cases of beer and as a result was arrested by the Hoover Police Department. Peterson became internet famous in 2009 when he ran for Alabama Agriculture Commissioner and one of his campaign videos went viral. In the video Peterson […]

“Rumors and Rumblings” is a weekly feature that runs each Wednesday. It includes short nuggets of information that we glean from conversations throughout the week. Have a tip? Send it here. All sources remain confidential. 1. Shedd v. Alldredge runoff: The special election in House District 11 is heading to a runoff between Randall Shedd […]

MONTGOMERY – Two bills that streamline the state’s IT functions passed the Alabama Senate today. The proposals are part of the Legislature’s 2013 agenda aimed at reducing the size and cost of state government and could potentially save $30 to $60 million a year. Senate Bills 116 and 117, sponsored by Senator Phil Williams (R-Gadsden), […]

I guest hosted on WAPI this past week and had the opportunity to speak with Senator Jeff Sessions who I think is one of the few rock solid guys in Washington, D.C., working to defend the Constitution and advance conservative reforms. In our 10 minute talk, which you can hear below, Senator Sessions discusses Senate […]

Inside baseball is a new tag on Yellowhammer Politics that will accompany posts that deal with issues that are probably of more concern to inside Montgomery types than they are to the public at large. Wikipedia says “the phrase ‘inside baseball’ refers to a detail-oriented approach to the minutiae of a subject, which in turn […]

Governor Robert Bentley on Monday announced that Alabama exports closed out calendar year 2012 at a record-breaking total of $19.5 billion in the value of goods exported, an increase of 9.36 percent from the 2011 total. The State moved to 22nd in the nation for total dollar exports during 2012 while ranking 25th in 2011. […]

The first week of the 2013 legislative session saw the House Republicans walk away with “Best Week in Montgomery” honors due to their fast start in passing out of committee every one of the “We Dare Defend Our Rights” (WDDOR) agenda bills. Democrats’ strategy, especially in the Senate, appears to be to just slow down […]

By Gary Palmer, Alabama Policy Institute As the 2013 Legislative Session gets under way, Alabama Republican legislators will be dealing with a lot of facts and figures as they try to pass sensible budgets, eliminate wasteful and inefficient spending, and pay back the money being taken from the Alabama Trust Fund. If the Republican Legislative […]

“Best and Worst Week in Montgomery” is a weekly feature on Yellowhammer Politics when the legislature is in session. We recognize the people or organizations who had the BEST week or WORST week in town. House Republicans House Republicans wasted no time in advancing their “We Dare Defend Our Rights” agenda in the first week […]

“Rumors and Rumblings” is a weekly feature that runs each Wednesday. It includes short nuggets of information that we glean from conversations throughout the week. Have a tip? Send it here. All sources remain confidential. 1. AEA already at it on day 1 of the session Montgomery insiders were chirping on the first day of […]

Is it appropriate to reference campaign contributions your lobbying organization gave an elected official when trying to influence their vote? Apparently a representative of the Alabama Education Association (AEA – teachers union) thinks it is. Representative Allen Farley is a supporter of the Local Control School Flexibility Act. According to AL.com, the “school flex” bill […]

By Elizabeth Robinson, Alabama Policy Institute Alabama is a beautiful state with many attractions, both in its natural beauty and in the slower pace of living our hospitable people prefer. While our drawls and small towns are a quaint reminder of our heritage, the refusal of state policymakers to implement the educational reforms necessary to […]

According to a Gallup poll released late last week, Alabama was the most conservative state in America in 2012, and the only the state in the country where over 50% of voters identified themselves as conservative. Wyoming and North Dakota tied for second with 48.6% of their population identifying as conservative. And here’s a real […]

Alabama Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead surprised many onlookers Saturday morning (including me!) by winning re-election by a comfortable margin of 221 – 159. One longtime ALGOP executive committee member told Yellowhammer several weeks ago that every single contested Party election he’d ever seen included two candidates who genuinely thought they were going to run […]

Cliff Sims: Let’s start with the question that immediately jumped to my mind when you told me you were considering running for Secretary of State, why do you want to leave the legislature after only one term? John Merrill: I love serving in the State House more than anything I’ve ever done in public or […]