State Auditor Jim Zeigler

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—A lawsuit was filed late Thursday night in Montgomery Circuit Court, over the $47 million dollar black hole known as STAARS. At the heart of the complaint is the no-bid contract entered into by Governor Robert Bentley and the State Department of Finance. The suit brought by State Auditor … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—After reporting on the troubled eSTART time and attendance system, the Alabama Political Reporter received an email from a Director at the Department of Finance saying, “eSTART is the best thing to happen to state government in years. Ziegler is clueless and needs to fire his staff if they … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—Even though the shoddily implemented STAARS accounting software is still causing major headaches for agencies and vendors, the Department of Finances is doubling down on a troubled new time and attendance system named eSTART. All agencies, major and minor, are reporting unanimously: eSTART doesn’t lives up to the hype. … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—Firebrand Senator Paul Sanford (R-Huntsville) added an amendment to the Gulf State Park Project appropriations bill that sets a deadline for funding. It reads, “If the State of Alabama does not receive or has not been awarded any National Resource Damage Assessment funds or Restore Act funds for the … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—The State can now add another failure, to the growing number of times the STAARS accounting software has proven inadequate to fulfill the promises of Gov. Robert Bentley and Acting Finance Director Bill Newton. The Alabama Political Reporter can now confirm, that this software boondoggle has resulted in the … Continued

By Brandon Moseley Alabama Political Reporter Wednesday, February 10, the Senate Fiscal Responsibility & Economic Development Committee gave a favorable report to Senate Bill 86 to prevent school boards from using the people’s tax dollars to promote voters for ballot initiatives to raise taxes. State Auditor Jim Zeigler (R) was pleased with the passage of … Continued

By Brandon Moseley Alabama Political Reporter Thursday, October 22 Alabama Governor Robert Bentley (R) announced that Alabama has agreed to a settlement with Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling, Inc., which owned the Deepwater Horizon. Alabama will receive $20 million which is all being directed to the state general fund (SGF). Governor Bentley said, “The State of … Continued