“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 of action in the 2013 legislative session. Every bill on the House GOP’s agenda passed out of committee this week, and the full House voted to repay the $437 million moved from ATF last year to shore up the state’s General Fund budget.

Of particular note was The Local Control School Flexibility Act (HB 84 Sponsored by Rep. Chad Fincher). Governor Bentley praised the bill in his State of the State address on Tuesday night, and it ultimately passed out of Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin’s House Education Policy Committee. The committee room was packed as they considered the bill, and it passed in spite of heavy opposition from the usual suspects.

Alabama Education Association

The AEA has made it clear that The Local Control School Flexibility Act is their number one target this session. They tried to stop it from passing out of committee in the House this week but their efforts were to no avail. The AEA had some success last year in fracturing Republicans when it came to education policy. Early indications this year are that they will have a tougher time blocking what Republicans want to do. Several members of the Senate expressed to Yellowhammer this week their eagerness to allow local school systems to innovate and break the status quo for which the AEA continues to advocate.

The teachers’ union won’t give up easily though and their propaganda machine is just starting to get cranked up. Yellowhammer has already received multiple emails and comments this week from AEA members claiming the School Flex bill will “end education in Alabama as we know it.”

“Best and Worst Week in Montgomery” is a weekly feature on Yellowhammer Politics in which we recognize the people or organizations who had the BEST week or WORST week in town.

This was a fairly slow week in Montgomery. The atmosphere in the usual lunch hotspots was decidedly more casual and the pace slowed to a crawl compared to the sprint of the legislative session. But while the lawmakers, lobbyists, and activists were enjoying some down-time, those who cover their every move were in the middle of one of their most hectic weeks in memory.

Late last week, print media in Alabama was dealt a tough blow:

Mobile, Huntsville and Birmingham papers going to 3 days a week (Wed, Fri and Sun).

— George Talbot (@georgetalbot) May 24, 2012

Today’s front page twitter.com/georgetalbot/s…

— George Talbot (@georgetalbot) May 25, 2012

In a matter of seconds, print media in Alabama locked-up the worst week in Montgomery.

And the first domino fell…

RT @BhamNewsBiz: Birmingham News Editor Tom Scarritt stepping down this fall bit.ly/LOk9oo

— Robin DeMonia (@rdemonia) May 25, 2012

Birmingham News Editor Tom Scarritt will step down this fall. The best journalist I ever worked for and a man of the highest integrity.

— Barnett Wright (@BarnettWright) May 26, 2012

Tom Scarritt, a great newspaper man, colleague & friend is calling it a career. #alpolitics twitter.com/rdemonia/statu…

— Chuck Dean (@BhamnewsDean) May 26, 2012

Props to retiring editor Tom Scarritt. When he made me columnist he said my job was to make him “uncomfortable.” I did. He didn’t complain.

— John Archibald (@JohnArchibald) May 26, 2012

A fine journalist, mentor and, above all, friend. Birmingham News Editor Tom Scarritt stepping down this fall bit.ly/KA6NJi

— Marie Leech (@MarieLeech_news) May 26, 2012

And as the week went on, some of the state’s most influential voices tried to make sense of it all…

I am awake at 3 a.m., worrying about the future of the newspaper and checking Twitter for latest updates. #irony

— Robin DeMonia (@rdemonia) May 25, 2012

Deeply saddened for my friends at the Press-Register.Great reporters facing an uncertain future.

— Brian Lyman (@lyman_brian) May 24, 2012

I’m excited about the future. Andscared to death. #change. #lovejournalism

— Joey Kennedy (@joeykennedy) May 25, 2012

For all the great friends and journalists not specifically named here, I mean you too. bit.ly/Kvj01o

— John Archibald (@JohnArchibald) May 27, 2012

With all that’s going on at the newspaper, I’m going to Afghanistan for some stability!

— Michael Tomberlin (@MAJ_Chicken) May 26, 2012

My column on the Alabama newspaper shakeup: No News is bad news. weldbham.com/secondfront/20… Everything you didn’t want to know about CPMs!

— The Second Front (@SecondFront) May 29, 2012

Dear Warren Buffett. @W_Buffett You are my new hero. If you get a chance, take a look at Alabama and New Orleans. dataomaha.com/documents/warr…

— Tommy Hicks (@TommyHicksPR) May 25, 2012

I’m not personal friends with many of the folks at the state’s big newspapers — and a handfull of them aren’t big fans of Yellowhammer because I give them a hard time when their left-leaning political ideology gets in the way of the facts.

The Montgomery Advertiser (D – Montgomery) #alpolitics

— Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) May 29, 2012

But I do believe journalists hold a special place in the American political system. Now maybe more than ever, we need their watchful eyes holding our elected officials accountable.

The only winners today in Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile and New Orleans are people who are scared of local watchdog journalism.

— Alan Blinder (@alanblinder) May 24, 2012

Have I ever tried to take a vacation at the right time? No. Heads up guys. We do what we do because it matters. No matter what or how.

— John Archibald (@JohnArchibald) May 24, 2012

No one knows for sure how things will shake out. Staff reductions are inevitable — and old media companies will have to figure out how to survive in the new media world. But in the mean time, the news won’t stop…and I don’t expect those who report it will either.

Grim day in the newsroom. Many unanswered questions. What next? Put out the Friday edition.

— George Talbot (@georgetalbot) May 24, 2012

“Best and Worst Week in Montgomery” is a weekly feature on Yellowhammer Politics in which we recognize the people or organizations who had the BEST week or WORST week in town. You can view last week’s edition here. If you would like to nominate someone for this feature in the future, send us an email through our contact page.

Best Week in Montgomery: Representative Jay Love

The skyrocketing cost of benefits continues to eat into state funding for education. This year alone, Alabama will pay more than $1 BILLION out of the state budgets to pay for retirement costs. In spite of the state’s dire financial situation, Chairman Love put together a budget that makes the most of the available resources. His budget provides $300 for every classroom teacher to spend on supplies or materials and provides a $5,000 bonus to teachers that are certified by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. It also funds innovative programs like the Alabama Reading Initiative, the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative, ACCESS Distance Learning and First Class Pre-K.

But Chairman Love’s most important contributions this week were largely behind-the-scenes as a conferee during tense budget negotiations. There is a $200mm shortfall in the general fund. Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Roger Bedford, were angling to fully fund the Medicaid entitlement program rather than the already underfunded prison system. Bedford’s plan would have caused thousands of criminals to be released out onto the streets. Politically Bedford was maneuvering to force Republicans into two bad votes: 1. a vote to release prisoners, and 2. a vote to raise taxes if a proposed constitutional amendment to borrow money from the Alabama Trust Fund to cover the deficit didn’t pass.

Love, General Fund Chairman Barton, Leadership and the Governor’s Office came up with a good-government solution to the crisis by spreading cuts out across all agencies. Instead of decimating one agency or program, every agency will just tighten their belt a little to get through the lean times. Love took the lead and his fellow legislators were impressed with his willingness to stand up for conservative principles against Bedford & co. “Jay was the House hero last night,” said one legislator. “He really delivered under pressure.”

For consistently coming through in the clutch, Jay Love had the best week in Montgomery.

Worst Week in Montgomery: Illegal Immigration Advocates

Tweaks to Alabama’s toughest-in-the-nation immigration law have been one of the 2012 regular session’s most contentious issues. Democrat Senator Bill Beasley offered a bill this week that would have repealed HB56. Once it failed, the open borders advocates had nothing left to root for. However, that didn’t stop them from jamming up the halls of the State House and loudly singing and chanting. A few protestors who were bent on getting some press coverage (the Montgomery Advertiser obliged, of course) blocked the entrances to the House and Senate floors and were detained and escorted out. In the end, HB 658 (which combined Beason & Hammon tweaks) passed on the final day of the session.

Rumors were flying the morning after Sine Die about whether or not Gov. Bentley would veto HB 658. But the illegal immigration supporters lose either way. If the Governor vetoed HB 658, the original law would still be in place. But Sen. Beason and Rep. Hammond both submitted immigration bills for the special session, just in case.

For STILL not understanding the denotation of “illegal,” and for being completely oblivious to the fact they had lost…again… Illegal Immigration Advocates had the Worst Week in Montgomery.

“Best and Worst Week in Montgomery” is a weekly feature on Yellowhammer Politics in which we recognize the people or organizations who had the BEST week or WORST week in town. You can view last week’s addition here. If you would like to nominate someone for this feature in the future, send us an email through our contact page.

Best Week in Montgomery: Henry Mabry and the AEA

Last week the AEA had The Worst Week in Montgomery…or so it seemed. After pulling out all the stops to prevent the passage of any form of charter schools legislation, the Senate squeaked out a watered down charters bill that would hopefully give the House something to build on. We summed it up by saying, “For laying down on the train track to stop charter schools, only to be run over by the school choice locomotive — the AEA had the Worst Week in Montgomery.”

Things changed this week as a House panel concluded that the Senate charters bill was too far gone to save. The House abandoned charters for this session and the AEA had a victory over one the the GOP’s biggest priorities.

The AEA also received some help from a couple of unlikely GOP allies in the Senate who joined the Democrats and usual AEA lackeys to prevent HB 160, one of the GOP’s top jobs bills, from gaining enough votes to pass a BIR.

It wasn’t long ago that many were trumpeting the impending death of the AEA. Henry Mabry’s job was constantly in question. Not anymore. For the unfortunate success of their all-out assault on education progress and job creation — the AEA had the best week in Montgomery.

The tax & spend contingent has been cranking out the talking points over the last couple of weeks as Alabama’s financial crisis reached a fevered pitch. A $200 million Medicaid shortfall put the state’s healthcare system in jeopardy and the fact that states must pass a balanced budget left many wondering how the Governor and legislative leaders would stick to their no-new-taxes-pledge.

In the end, the GOP leadership put their foot down and repeatedly said that taxpayers believe the state already takes enough of their hard-earned money. Rather than put a greater burden on the shoulders of the taxpayers, the GOP made the tough decisions and proved you can pass a balanced budget even in times of financial crisis.

For claiming it was impossible to approach this financial crisis without raising taxes, only to be proven wrong in the end — Tax & Spend Liberals had The Worst Week in Montgomery.

“Best and Worst Week in Montgomery” is a weekly feature on Yellowhammer Politics in which we recognize the people or organizations who had the BEST week or WORST week in town. You can view last week’s debut edition here. If you would like to nominate someone for this feature in the future, send us an email through our contact page.

Best Week in Montgomery: Business Council of Alabama

I saw both BCA President & CEO Billy Canary and Senior VP Anita Archie in the halls of the State House this week. They were all smiles — and for good reason. A slew of BCA supported legislation passed this week including charter schools, the taxpayer bill of rights, single point business tax filing, and a bill that lowered the school start age to 6. In addition to that, BCA member companies announced 1,400 new jobs this week.

However, the toughest fight may have been over a bill the BCA was opposed to. An NRA-backed/BCA-opposed bill that would allow employees to bring their guns with them to work (oversimplification but that’s the general idea) was killed Thursday evening right at the close of business. Thursday was the last day for bills that originated in the Senate to pass without unanimous consent. So the BCA closed out the week with yet another victory.

For racking up win after win in the legislature — The Business Council of Alabama had the Best Week in Montgomery.

Worst Week in Montgomery: The Alabama Education Association

AEA Chief Henry Mabry has spent most of the 2012 session shooting at the Education Options Act, commonly known as the Charter Schools Bill. We’ve grown accustomed to “creative tactics” from the AEA over the years. However, trying to convince folks that charter schools would usher in a new era of muslim control in Alabama under sharia law was extra impressive — even by AEA standards. But when the dust settled on Thursday, the Senate had passed a charter schools bill.

Passage of Sen. Brewbaker’s Education Options Act sparked a flurry of activity on social networks by both liberals and conservatives. Liberals were screaming that the sky was falling and conservatives were concerned that the bill didn’t create a clear enough path for charter schools to be formed. What everyone needs to remember though is that the process is not over. The bill is now headed to more-charter-friendly-territory in the House and this bill will undoubtedly end the session in different shape than it is in right now.

As I mentioned in the BCA post above, Thursday was the last day that a Senate-originated bill could pass without unanimous consent. So if the Education Options Act had not passed today, it would have been dead. The only thing school choice advocates needed was a vehicle for charter schools to get out of the Senate. To the AEA’s dismay, that’s exactly what they got.

For laying down on the train track to stop charter schools, only to be run over by the school choice locomotive — the AEA had the Worst Week in Montgomery.