Katherine Green Robertson

Freedom From Morality Makes Us Less Free

By Katherine Green Robertson July 4, 2016, A recent poll conducted by Dr. George Barna systematically explored America’s “shift in values.” Predictably, those polled value comfort, happiness, and acceptance, but they also claim to value independence, control, and freedom. These same respondents–including six out of seven “born again Christians”–professed a “personalized moral code,” that is, … Continued

July 4, 2016

Alabama’s Shrinking Sovereignty

By Katherine Green Robertson On Friday, the omnipotent U.S. Department of Education threatened to pull federal funding from public school districts that refuse to fall in line over transgender bathrooms. Many school districts will submit, knowing that they cannot afford to jeopardize their federal cash flow. Setting aside for a moment the broader social debate … Continued

May 17, 2016

The Fight for Pension Reform in Alabama

By Representative Lynn Greer & Katherine Green Robertson Like many pension funds across the country, the State of Alabama’s public pension system faces significant funding challenges. Alabama’s pension costs have doubled over the last ten years, despite the fact that the legislature has never missed paying the steadily increasing annual required contribution. In the past, … Continued

April 27, 2016

A Sad State of Affairs

By Katherine Green Robertson Alabama, is once again, making national news for all the wrong reasons. In this modern political era, our State has seen two governors face criminal convictions, one of whom remains in prison. Now, our Governor has been caught on tape confirming year-long rumors that he was unfaithful to his wife of … Continued

March 25, 2016

Legislative Session Postmortem: Three Themes

by Katherine Green Robertson It’s only been a few days since Governor Bentley signed the General Fund budget for fiscal year 2016 into law. We don’t yet know what the fallout, if any, will be from the cuts, taxes, and transfers that were made to make up the revenue shortfall. What we can identify … Continued

September 25, 2015

The Empty Promise of No New Taxes

by Katherine Green Robertson Beginning early in the regular legislative session, Democrats laughingly claimed that Republicans were stealing their agenda, namely on tax increases. Various Republicans from the top down who ran on promises of no new taxes are now exerting substantial energy to convince both their colleagues and the general public that state government … Continued

September 4, 2015

78/22 Revenue Split Deserves Consideration

by Katherine Green Robertson Special session No. 1 wound down in essentially the same posture as the regular session did. The governor still wants tax increases. House members tried to raise taxes, while senators opted to cut their way to the $200 million needed to close the General Fund shortfall. It’s clear that what has … Continued

August 18, 2015

The Legislature Can Still Finish Strong

by Katherine Green Robertson The Alabama Legislature caught its share of grief after adjourning from the regular session without passing a budget. The alleged infighting between the House and Senate and the bickering over how to solve the shortfall dominated the headlines in early June as the session wrapped up. Yet, nearly eight weeks later, … Continued

July 30, 2015

Reflections on Freedom as Independence Day Approaches

by Katherine Green Robertson Raised to love my country and our flag, and because it’s reserved for time with my family, the Fourth of July is a day that I look forward to from the very first signs of summer. For me, at least, I sense that this year will somewhat bittersweet. When we celebrate … Continued

June 30, 2015

If Everything is a Priority, Then Nothing Is a Priority

by Katherine Green Robertson As the debate over Alabama’s General Fund budget shortfall continues, four schools of thought have emerged on how to solve this problem: a) tax increases, b) gambling revenue, c) unearmarking, d) and across-the-board cuts. Each one of these proposals has been deemed the obvious, simple solution to the problem, but none … Continued

May 20, 2015