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Alabama Democratic Executive Committee members vote on new delegate selection procedures

The Alabama Democratic Party is in the midst of an unprecedented time of change. At the urging of U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, D-Alabama, the Democratic National Committee is pressing the Alabama State Democratic Executive Committee to make substantive changes in how the ADP is governed and in the selection process for the SDEC. The DNC … Continued
July 16, 2019

Introduction: Impact of climate change on Alabama

Professor James McClintock knows that some might never believe the science behind climate change, which shows that fossil fuel use is causing dramatic changes in our weather.  But McClintock, a professor of polar and marine biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who has spent decades researching sea life and how climate change affects … Continued
July 9, 2019

Alabama Democrats eye sexual harassment statute overhaul

Democrats in the Alabama Legislature plan to push for several changes to sexual harassment statutes to be part of a potential fall special session aimed at addressing state prison issues. The potential special session has not been called by Gov. Kay Ivey, but leadership in the state Legislature has asked Ivey to call one so … Continued
May 31, 2019

A good solution to the two-tier retirement system

Unintended consequences are a common problem when it comes to making laws and government policy. A good example of this is the changes lawmakers made in 2012 to the retirement systems for education and state employees. The economic recession that began in 2008 had severely hurt the Retirement Systems of Alabama’s investments. The slowness of … Continued
April 11, 2019

New ethics law: A brief analysis

An initial analysis of Senate Bill 230, which repeals and replaces sections of the Alabama Ethics Act as adopted in the 2010 special legislative session, finds that it makes two radical changes. First, it removes the section of code that governs using a public office for personal gain, and secondly, it essentially turns the Alabama … Continued
April 8, 2019

Infrastructure: Alabama needs a road program. Wallace and Big Jim knew this.

One of the obvious political changes in Alabama government over the last decades with the Republican takeover of the Legislature has been the reluctance to raise new revenue to fund state government.  Many of the current Republican legislators came to Montgomery in 2010 with a no new tax pledge.  Voting for any kind of tax … Continued
March 27, 2019

ALGOP House rule changes eliminate democracy

Elections have consequences. In Alabama, the consequence is the death of democracy. Or, at least, it will be if the Republicans who increased their supermajority stronghold in the state Legislature in November have their way. On Monday, APR received a copy of Republicans’ proposed rules changes for the upcoming 2019 legislative session. The changes are … Continued
January 8, 2019

DAs can make the difference

Alabamians are ready to see a broken criminal justice system fixed, and it’s time to let those sitting in the most powerful position know it — our District Attorneys (DAs). District Attorneys are the lead prosecutors in counties across the state, but what voters may not realize is that the District Attorney wields an incredible … Continued
November 1, 2018

Lies and half-truths won’t save Montgomery’s schools, only planning can

Last week, new state superintendent Eric Mackey brought the lumber when talking about the Montgomery Public School system and its recent accreditation review from AdvancEd. According to the Montgomery Advertiser, Mackey told business leaders and the Chamber of Commerce that unless changes on the board were made, accreditation would surely be lost. And with that … Continued
June 5, 2018