legislation

Discriminating against companies contracted to secure border is unacceptable

It has recently been reported that several city and state governments are considering laws and ordinances to blacklist federal contractors because they wish to work on bolstering the infrastructure at the southern border, including construction of a wall. For example, the California State Senate considered legislation that would force the state to drop its investments … Continued

Martha Roby

April 30, 2018

Opinion

The Ivey Plan: do nothing, claim everything

There’s a recipe for being a successful governor of Alabama. Do nothing. Promote no legislation. Take no controversial stands. Avoid debates. Do lots of no-question photo-ops. Just stay out of sight and out of mind. In other words, the Kay Ivey Plan. There has rarely been a governor do less than Kay Ivey, while she … Continued

Josh Moon

April 26, 2018

Lieutenant governor candidate Will Ainsworth makes massive ad buy

In a campaign that has yet to see any massive television ad buys, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor Will Ainsworth is making the first big splash. Ainsworth campaign on Tuesday said it had made a television, digital and social media ad buy that totals in at more than $1 million — the most of any … Continued

Chip Brownlee

April 26, 2018

Opinion

The Republican Party has a problem

Greed is consuming the Republican Party. From top to bottom, state and national, today’s GOP is filled with men and women who will shirk any ideal, sell out any person or group and subvert any ethics laws to enrich themselves and their friends. If you doubt this, do me one favor: Read the New York … Continued

Josh Moon

April 23, 2018

Attorney paid by unnamed client to write, negotiate HB317

Is it appropriate for a lawyer working for an unidentified private client to write laws for a department of state government? Doesn’t the public have a right to know if a private individual pays for a bill to be written? How is it ethical for a piece of legislation to be sponsored by a member … Continued

Bill Britt

April 17, 2018

Sen. Doug Jones introduces legislation to integrate job training into addiction recovery programs

U.S. Sen. Doug Jones is joining another Democrat and a Republican to introduce legislation to establish a pilot program to integrate career training and support services into addiction recovery programs. The Jobs Plus Recover Act, sponsored by Jones, Sen. Tim Kain, D-Virginia, and Sen. Todd Young, R-Indiana, would provide individuals impacted by opioid addiction and … Continued

Chip Brownlee

April 11, 2018

Sponsor says better House leadership could have saved racial profiling bill

A piece of legislation that would have implemented a method to track racial profiling data in police stops didn’t make it out of this year’s legislative session after House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, pronounced the bill dead on a radio show Thursday morning. Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, who sponsored the legislation, said better leadership in … Continued

Chip Brownlee

March 30, 2018

Don’t look away just yet, HB317 is still around

House Bill 317, a controversial piece of legislation that has received pushback from both sides of the aisle and prompted threats of a filibuster, never made it to the Senate floor on Thursday, raising questions about whether the bill was still alive. It is. Even though lawmakers would need to raise to get the bill … Continued

Chip Brownlee

March 23, 2018

Governor signs execution by nitrogen bill into law

Two other states have nitrogen hypoxia listed as a method of execution in the state law books, but Alabama would be the first to offer it as an option to the condemned

Chip Brownlee

March 23, 2018

HB317: The players

Sometime after 10 a.m. today, the Alabama Senate will take up HB317, a bill to exempt a specific class of individuals from the state’s ethics laws. During a hearing on the bill before the Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee, Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh told the committee members that the legislation was, … Continued

Bill Britt

March 22, 2018