I’m hearing some Newt news that will excite his Alabama supporters. Waiting for confirmation, an announcement is forthcoming. – @Cliff_Sims — Yellow Hammer (@YHPolitics) February 24, 2012 I’ve been sitting on this news for the last week or so and was glad to see the Gingrich Team release the following statement today: “Alabama Newt2012 Team […]

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Representative Martha Roby appeared on Fox Business News today discussing her legislation, the Honest Budget Act, H.R. 3844. Roby talked about her legislation that addresses nine commonly used budget gimmicks and accounting tricks Washington relies on to conceal or enable deficit spending. Excerpts from Roby’s interview are provided below: “My bill […]

MONTGOMERY — State Senator Cam Ward and Representative Paul DeMarco announced that they will introduce legislation today to overhaul the criminal code in Alabama as it pertains to criminal activity committed online and through the internet.  The bill, known as the Alabama Digital Crime Act, was the result of work carried out by the Alabama District […]

MONTGOMERY — Lt. Governor Kay Ivey, Chairman of Mitt Romney’s Campaign in Alabama released the following statement this evening: “Governor Romney’s wins in Michigan and Arizona tonight punctuate his ability to lead the Republican Party to victory in November. Governor Romney has now collected more votes and delegates than any other candidate in the race. […]

Tuesday morning I had the opportunity to jump on a call with Huntsville radio personality Dale Jackson of WVNN. We had a good conversation about the Power & Influence 40. You can hear most of the interview below. I come on about 18 minutes in. Thanks to Dale for inviting me on and for the […]

MONTGOMERY – The Alabama House of Representatives will take up a bill aimed to grow the state’s film production industry and boost job growth when lawmakers return for the eighth day of the 2012 legislative session Tuesday. House Speaker Mike Hubbard said Alabama has a real opportunity to expand its presence in the film and […]

Two weeks of the 2012 legislative session are now behind us and it is becoming increasingly clear that we in Montgomery really have our work cut out for us. The shortfalls in the state’s general fund and education trust fund budgets create significant challenges. Resolving them could consume a substantial amount of time and effort […]

What to look for in the House: Alabama Film Incentive Enhancement Act, House Bill 243 sponsored by Rep. Terri Collins (R-Decatur) What you should know: Alabama has been behind the curve in the film and television production industry because we lack the incentives other states have to help attract these job-creating productions. Movies like “Forrest […]

America’s education system needs to be reformed. The current federal limitations placed on teachers, parents, and students in local classrooms and schools are hindering academic success. A quality education is the springboard from which our children may pursue their highest dreams. As a mother of a child in public school, I know local teachers are […]

The Yellow Hammer 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. For names 31-40 click here. For names 21-30 click here. For names 11-20 click here. For names 6-10 click […]

I dropped the ball on last week’s top tweets so this edition includes posts from the past two weeks. Enjoy. @georgetalbot: AL Democrats host dinner with Bill MaherJust in case any of y’all ever believe that AL Dems are different than nat’l Dems. — Stephanie Smith (@StephHoldSmith) February 14, 2012 It appears the fear mongering […]

The ways in which people utilize social media are extremely diverse. Some people post every minute detail of their lives online (please stop), some people use Facebook to keep up with friends from all over the world, others use Twitter and Facebook as their daily source of news and info. Whether it’s a viral video, […]

The Yellow Hammer 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. For names 31-40 click here. For names 21-30 click here. For names 11-20 click here. The top 5 will […]

MONTGOMERY – Today the Alabama Senate passed a bill that will enhance the state’s ability to recruit coal mining companies by allowing them to qualify for certain existing tax incentives currently available to manufacturers and other businesses. House Bill 144, sponsored by Representative Bill Roberts, has the short-term potential to create more than 500 new […]

MONTGOMERY – Legislation passed in the senate today that would add certain chemical compounds of synthetic cannabinoid and other controlled substance analogs (commonly known as “spice”) to schedule 1 of the controlled substances list. Possesion, distribution and trafficking of these substances would become illegal. The legislation will be sent to the house for passage. The […]

MONTGOMERY- The Senate passed major legislation showing their continued support of education in Alabama, and more specifically, state educators. The bill, SB 143, allows for a supplemental appropriation from the education trust fund to the State Department of Education to pay the $5000 salary supplement to teachers that are certified by the National Board of […]

The Yellow Hammer 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. For names 31-40 click here. For names 21-30 click here. Names 10-6 will be released Friday and the top […]

One of my favorite things about running Yellow Hammer is getting emails through our contact page. Most of the time the email submissions are from people asking me to write about something or from folks saying positive things about the site…Of course I appreciate those emails. However, nothing compares to a good piece of hate […]

MONTGOMERY— BCA President and CEO William J. Canary released the following statement today regarding HB 88, more commonly referred to as the Pseudoephedrine Bill. “The proposed legislation (HB 88) would require individuals to obtain a prescription for products containing common cold and allergy remedies such as pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, and phenylpropamine, in an effort to combat […]

We’re taking a mid-week break from the Power & Influence 40 to give you a peek at the future. The people listed below are some of the brightest up-and-comers in Alabama state politics. They are listed in alphabetical order. Is there a future Governor or Speaker on this list? It’s impossible to say for sure. […]

MONTGOMERY – The Alabama Senate today passed a measure that would stop convicted public officials and public employees from receiving taxpayer-funded pension benefits. Senate Bill 213, sponsored by Senator Orr, requires public employees who plead guilty or are convicted of a felony offense related to the performance of duties in office to forfeit the taxpayer-funded […]

When will conservatives learn that being right doesn’t matter? Having the correct answer to a philosophical problem is gratifying on a chalkboard, but it means little in political confrontations. The left learned this lesson a long time ago. The right needs to catch up. In his 2007 opus “Politics Lost,” liberal scribe Joe Klein examined […]

House of Representatives: The House spent the last couple of weeks cranking out legislation aimed at sparking private sector job growth. This week, they will be bringing up legislation that will protect Alabama families by making our highways safer and cracking down on synthetic drugs. Marquee bills in the House this week include a ban […]

The Yellow Hammer 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. The Top 5 will be announced live on the Matt Murphy show the morning of Monday, Feb. 27. If […]