Billy Canary

News / Elections

King leads April fundraising, but elites allied with Canary double down on Marshall

In what may be the most consequential political race of 2018, interim Attorney General Steve Marshall was bested in fundraising in April. According to the latest campaign finance reports, former Attorney General Troy King raised around $500,000 to end the month while Marshall received just under $250,000 during the same period. Of the four Republican … Continued

Bill Britt

May 7, 2018

Steve Marshall is slowly dismantling the Special Prosecutions Division

Since his appointment by disgraced former Gov. Robert Bentley, Attorney General Steve Marshall has slowly and deliberately undermined the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Division established by his predecessor, Luther Strange. By withholding funds and not replacing staff, he has destroyed morale, fostered discontent and generally worked to disrupt the efforts of the elite public corruption … Continued

Bill Britt

May 1, 2018

Canary’s survival at BCA seen as a growing threat to infrastructure plan success

There may have been a time when the Business Council of Alabama was a cohesive organization dedicated to growth opportunities for all its members, but those days are in the distant past due to the failed leadership of its embattled CEO, Billy Canary. “Canary is not a bridge builder. He builds walls that divide, not … Continued

Bill Britt

April 30, 2018

Email acknowledges it’s time for Canary to go

As discussion continues to heat up over embattled Business Council of Alabama’s C.E.O. Billy Canary’s future desperation, deception and political wrangling are playing out in real-time. In hopes of saving his position, Canary is even misleading the committee about his relationship with Alabama’s senior U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, suggesting he has Shelby’s support to remain … Continued

Bill Britt

April 26, 2018

Canary-Hand dumpster fire leads to emergency conference call; PAC plan revealed

A scramble to save embattled Business Council of Alabama C.E.O. Billy Canary led to an emergency conference call with the group’s executive committee early Monday morning. Organized by Canary and current BCA Chairman Perry Hand, the call was to “dispel” inaccurate reports about Canary’s status at BCA, even though it was acknowledged that Canary would … Continued

Bill Britt

April 24, 2018

Does Volkert chairman have millions of reasons to support Canary at BCA?

Perry Hand, the chairman of Mobile-based Volkert Inc., is standing behind the Business Council of Alabama’s besieged CEO Billy Canary, while his company has seen a dramatic rise in state business that roughly coincides with his tenure on the association’s board. Could it be that Hand’s dogged support of Canary is tied to the engineering … Continued

Bill Britt

April 23, 2018

Opinion

The black hand behind Perry Hand

Shortly after the Alabama Political Reporter made it known that the Business Council of Alabama’s Executive Board had voted on April 10 to terminate Billy Canary from his position as CEO, nearly a dozen Republican lawmakers were burning-up their mobile phones, trying to find out who Perry Hand is and who could convince him to … Continued

Bill Britt

April 19, 2018

Billy Canary out at BCA, sort of

The long-anticipated exit of the Business Council of Alabama’s C.E.O. Billy Canary was agreed upon at a recent meeting of the association’s executive board. There’s one catch — current BCA Chairman Perry Hand is fighting to keep Canary around as long as possible in hopes the storms pass and Canary lives to fight another day. … Continued

Bill Britt

April 18, 2018

Opinion

Bentley left office one year ago today. Still, rogues and scoundrels remain

Today marks one year since Alabama’s 53rd governor, Robert Bentley, left office in disgrace. In just the last two decades, two Republican and one Democrat governor of Alabama were proven crooks. Many more were no doubt rogues and scoundrels, but unlike Bentley, Guy Hunt or Don Siegelman, they never were convicted of their crimes. Of … Continued

Bill Britt

April 10, 2018

Opinion

Will Gov. Ivey unmuzzle Hart and Albritton?

Despite the Ivey Administration’s push to pass questionable ethics-busting bill HB317 or her public praise for its passage, the governor is now being counseled not to sign the legislation into law before hearing from those individuals muzzled during legislative debate. There is little doubt that Gov. Kay Ivey’s commerce secretary and the state’s attorney general, … Continued

Bill Britt

April 3, 2018