7. Bill says Alabama should fund its election process — not private corporations

• An unlikely alliance of activists and Secretary of State John Merrill has been formed to oppose a piece of legislation that would prohibit private corporations from funding certain election-related activities in Alabama that would be carried out by the government.

• The bill proposed by State Representative Wes Allen (R-Troy), a candidate for Secretary of State, would keep money from Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and others out of the process. Merrill and JaTaune Bosby, executive director for ACLU Alabama, say this will undercut voter education while Allen argues the private entities can still spend their money how they want but they cannot partner with elected officials to assist them in their official duties.

6. Oakwood basketball team met with Ivey after the AHSAA screwed them over

• The Oakwood Adventist Academy basketball team that was denied from playing the semifinal game of for the Class 1A Northeast Regional met with Governor Kay Ivey on Tuesday. The story about their forced forfeit gained attention after they forfeited since they can’t play until after sunset in observation of the Sabbath.

• After the meeting, Ivey released a statement saying, “Alabamians and even folks around the country have been in total admiration of the young men on the Oakwood Adventist Academy basketball team. These boys stuck by their convictions, pointing out that sometimes it hurts to obey God. No doubt, these boys are reminding us all that when we work together and do what is right, we will be better off. As one player noted, God challenged them, and they passed the test.”

5. Russia is a No-Fry Zone; Poland’s plan to hand Ukraine plans seems in doubt.

• More major companies, such as Starbucks and Coca-Cola, have started pulling business from Russia, and now, McDonald’s has announced it will close all 850 locations in Russia due to the war with Ukraine. Last year, Russia and Ukraine combined were 9% of revenue for McDonald’s. The company said that they will continue to pay their employees, and they are shutting down the restaurants since they won’t dismiss the “needless human suffering in Ukraine.”

• In actual war news that matters, after rejecting a No-Fly Zone, the United States is now pouring cold water on Poland’s ill-advised gambit to give the Ukrainians planes. The move is meant to avoid direct conflict with Russia, so while we will give Ukraine rifles,  tank-killers and intelligence, the United States believes flying NATO combat aircraft in a war zone “raises serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance.”

4. Brooks likens Putin to Hitler, and this is the one time the comparison might be close to making sense

• U.S. Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) has started comparing Russian President Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler, and he announced that he is co-sponsoring a resolution that would hold Putin responsible through the International Criminal Court for any harm to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

• Brooks said that Putin is “a tyrant akin to the worst in world history such as the murderous Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin, and Pol Pot.” He added, “Putin must face stiff consequences for his diabolical actions or he’ll continue wreaking havoc…Putin has terrorized long enough.”

3. Georgia wants to pause their gas tax — Alabama could follow

• As gas prices increase uncontrollably, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) has started advocating for pausing gas taxes within the state to make prices slightly more manageable. U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) has also advocated for pausing federal gas taxes.

• In Georgia, there is a 29.1 cent per gallon state tax on gas, as well as an 18.4 cent per gallon federal tax, with some additional local taxes. It’s expected that a bill will be introduced in the state legislature today that would halt these taxes for the time being.

2. Alabama representatives call for more done on energy

• Some U.S. Representatives from Alabama reacted to President Joe Biden’s decision to ban Russian oil in the country while the nation is unprepared to deal with the oil deficit this decision would create.

• Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks) said he’s “incredibly concerned about reports that the Biden administration is looking at buying oil from equally evil regimes in Venezuela and Iran.” Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) said the Russian oil “needs to be replaced with American oil from American soil,” adding, “We don’t need to replace oil from one dictator with the oil from another dictator.”

1. Biden says no more Russian oil

• President Joe Biden announced that there will be an official ban on Russian oil in the United States in response to their attack on Ukraine. Biden said that this will lead to higher costs of gasoline, which is already rising and is currently more than $4 per gallon on average in the country.

• Biden said he’s “going to do everything I can to minimize Putin’s price hike here at home in coordination with our partners.” Biden also claimed that his administration is working to find another supplier of oil, like Venezuela, but he has been criticized for not removing some of the energy restrictions within the country that would allow more domestic oil production. In an attempt to enlist Middle Eastern oil producers to produce more oil, Biden called Saudi and UAE leaders, but they did not take the President of the United States’ phone calls.