7. The new Alabama ethics bill is not dead and the sponsor doesn’t like Alabama’s attorney general’s suggestion for changes
— State Sen. Greg Albritton (R-Atmore) continues to make the argument for his new ethics proposal, although most expect it to have little chance of passing. A new hang up between Attorney General Steve Marshall and the senator’s proposal is that Marshall wants the standard of proof for an ethics violation to be “reasonable doubt” and the senator prefers a stricter bar of “intentional wrongdoing.” Any attempt to change the ethics law to weaken it, regardless of if that is needed or not, will be met with claims of corruption, which makes the task even more of a long-shot. One piece of ethics legislation passed the Alabama Senate 31-0 and the House 94-4. It creates a permanent exemption to the ethics law for those working on site selection for economic development from lobbying requirements.
6. Alabama House passes a bill that requires schools to conduct the pledge of allegiance but kids don’t have to participate
— The bill would require all K-12 public schools to hold the pledge of allegiance at the beginning of every school day. House Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) sponsored the bill, saying that he was surprised to find out that his grandchildren’s school didn’t conduct the pledge of allegiance in the morning, despite the state Board of Education requirement. The bill gives students the opportunity to voluntarily recite the pledge every morning. The bill passed with a 101-0 vote.
5. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) claims that only a few people are on board with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is false
— Pelosi previously said that there are only “like five people” that fall in line with AOC, but there have actually been 68 Democrats voting alone with AOC. Since January, the 68 lawmakers voted with AOC at least 95 percent of the time, which includes presidential candidates such as Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), as well as House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff (D-CA). Democratic leaders like Pelosi continue to try and say that the majority of Democrats don’t support the same line of thinking as AOC, but that has continued to be proven as false. Also, Pelosi wants everyone to know that Democrats aren’t anti-Semitic because Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) keeps being anti-Semitic. She argued, “We have no taint of that in the Democratic Party.”
4. State Senator Chris Elliot (R-Spanish Fort) wants harsher penalties on people who commit acts of violence against law enforcement officers
— The legislation that Elliot has introduced would basically make law enforcement officers a protected class, similar to race, religion, national origin, ethnicity or physical or mental disability, which could make targeted violence against officers a hate crime. On Tuesday, Elliot said in a statement, “Every day, our law enforcement risk their lives to serve and protect Alabamians. It is vital that we do everything we can to ensure their safety and to punish, to the fullest extent of the law, those who target them. This bill extends that justice even further, and hits even harder, the criminals who attempt to do harm to police officers and sheriffs.” The bill is scheduled for consideration by the Senate Judiciary Committee this week.
3. New polling roils the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in 2020
— The Yellowhammer News headline accurately hit the point that white voters in Alabama do not like U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) and only 20 percent of them want him re-elected. The numbers inside the latest poll say more about the Republican battle brewing to take on Jones, who has a one-point favorability edge (45-44). The opponent Jones already vanquished is leading the pack but the poll, which was conducted April 9 -11, ignores the fact that former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville announced days before the poll started; so many are dismissing the results. Pollster Jim McLaughlin noted that while Moore is leading the poll, it doesn’t really look that good for him with 96 percent name identification but only 27 percent supporting him. It’s worse for Jones, though. Bottom line: “Jones appears to be a goner against any Republican unless Roy Moore became the nominee, which doesn’t seem likely.”
2. Alabama abortion ban bill gets a hearing
— The bill would ban almost all abortions. Performing an abortion would be a felony, punishable by 10-99 years in prison, but women would not be charged for having the procedure. The only exemption allowed in the bill is if the health of the mother is at risk, but there are no exemptions for rape or incest. The legislation has been criticized for being in direct conflict with Roe v. Wade, but this is not the first time a state has considered legislation that bans abortion. The public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
1. President Donald Trump anticipates that the Muller report will vindicate him, but reports indicate some White House officials are dreading the report
— According to CNN, for some former and current White House officials, the release of the Mueller report isn’t a rosy moment. Some are even dreading the publication of the 300+ page report that is set to be released on Thursday. Despite this, though, President Trump is eager to see his name cleared and believes that the report will fully vindicate him. Trump was quick to speak out when many Democrats demanded the full release, saying that he was fine with a complete release of the Mueller report. Trump has maintained throughout the whole process that he is innocent and the overall vindication has already come. Meanwhile, Democrats have signed a “secret letter” to continue pursuing the president at all cost.
