TRANSCRIPT: …They are not willing to let you vote yes or no on bingo. If you believe that you should have the right to vote on bingo, please press 1. If not, Press. 2.

No identification of who is conducting the poll in the tail end, but it may have been before my voicemail started recording…the phone number was from the 256 area code, but I was unable to trace it to a source.  Anyone else getting this message and does anyone know how the recorded message starts?

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 What immediately jumps out is the power of incumbency.  Those old hands of the Alabama Senate are at the top of the list, but there are challengers making in-roads.  In open seat races, state representative Billy Beasley had the strongest fundraising total amongst potential newcomers and is just a hair behind Greg Reed in cash-on-hand.  Reed’s primary opponent, Howard Garrison also had a very strong quarter.  Sitting state representatives Cam Ward and Tammy Irons also look to be clearly in command, from a fundraising standpoint, in the races for SD-14 and SD-1, respectively, beginning the new year.

Several sitting state senators look to have real races on their hands.  George Flowers appears to be a strong primary challenge to Sen. Harri-Anne Smith, with his over $100K on hand.  Tony Cochran also had a strong report as his cash-on-hand is ahead of all of his potential opponents, including sitting State Sen. Hinton Mitchem.  Challenger Paul Bussman is also within striking distance of Sen. Zeb Little.

Maybe one of my readers can explain what’s going on with Sen. Phil Poole.  Is he just conceding the race to Rep. Gerald Allen?  He got trounced in fundraising and has a serious shortage of cash-on-hand.  Tom Whatley is also going to need to significantly pick up the pace to stand a chance against Sen. Ted Little, who he now trails in cash-on-hand 5 to 1.

Any other thoughts or observations are welcome below.

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Bradley Byrne  $2,605,011

Artur Davis  $2,174,110

Tim James $1,360,632

Ron Sparks $656,188

Roy Moore $379,880

Robert Bentley $144,067

Kay Ivey $87,019

Bill Johnson $80,405

Another way to look at the numbers is to look at total receipts (this includes loans from the candidate themselves and others):

Bradley Byrne $2,713,474

Artur Davis  $2,182,168

Tim James $2,060,632

Kay Ivey $1,861,105

Ron Sparks $1,264,688

Robert Bentley $931,067

Roy Moore $388,880

Bill Johnson $120,405

And finally the one that most of us agree is the “bottom line” to begin 2010, cash on hand:

Tim James $2,618,733

Bradley Byrne $1,824,610

Kay Ivey $1,560,896

Artur Davis  $1,391,023

Ron Sparks $836,095

Robert Bentley $733,254

Roy Moore $145,068

Bill Johnson $56,895

Here is a graphic representation put together by Stephen Gordon of the second and third numbers for each candidate (except Tim James, where Stephen included the $2 million Tim James loaned himself in 8/2008 in his total raised, if only so that it didn’t look like he had more cash on hand than he raised).

Now there is a good bit of “funny money” in play here.  Almost all of Kay Ivey’s and Robert Bentley’s is their own, almost half of Ron Spark’s and Tim James money as well.  Those dollars do not necessarily demonstrate anything in terms of voter support, but a dollar is a dollar when you need it to run a campaign.  You also have the $1 million that Artur Davis rolled over from his congressional campaign (no differently than then Congressman Bob Riley did when he ran in 2002).

On the Republican side, my overall assessment is that Byrne and James have separated themselves from the pack.  Some folks thought Roy Moore might come out strong, as he did in 2006, but that did not occur and his campaign looks to be DOA, along with that of Bill Johnson.  Robert Bentley and Kay Ivey could still play the role of spoilers, provided they are really willing to spend the dough they put out on the reports.

On the Democratic side of things, it’s a little more complicated.  Ron Sparks did some magical dollar shuffling of his own to appear as strong as possible in this report, while Artur Davis likely still has quite a bit left in the tank in the fundraising department.  However, Davis is also burning through funds at a higher rate than some of the other candidates.  He will have to continue to raise at a substantial clip to keep up with that burn rate.  Still, the numbers Davis posted help strengthen his front-runner status over Sparks.

I’m interested in your take on the numbers below.

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• $399,737 was from individuals, $562,014 was from Political Action Committees (PACs)
• One thing I see as notable in Griffith’s report, is people who have maxed themselves out for both the primary and general election…effectively “frontloading” his receipts.  I counted at least 10 donors who did this in this cycle.  Including candidate for state senate Tom Whatley (here and here).

Notable individual donors also included:

• $2000 from political consultant Joey Ceci
• $2000 from HealthSouth CEO Jay Grinney
• $2000 from the Chairman of the UAH Board of Trustees Sid McDonald
• $1000 from political consultant Joseph Perkins of Matrix LLC
• $500 from Space and Rocket Center Executive Director Larry Capps
• $250 from State School Board Member Mary Jane Caylor

Notable PAC donors included:

• $10,000 (here and here) from Alabama Power Company Employees PAC
• $7500 (here, here and here)from the International Association of Firefighters PAC
• A number of donations for Democratic Representatives, some of which were returned by the end of the year, the rest, I’m sure, will be shown as returned on the next report

Since the party switch happened so close to the filing deadline, we have no way of knowing how many of these donations will likely be refunded, but the report is notable nonetheless for the size and number of contributions he had received prior to the switch and I’m certain all of us will be looking closely at his next filing to see where he stands post-switch.

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Notable donors for Mr. Bonner include:

$10,000 (here and here) from the Alabama Power Employees PAC

$10,000 (here and here)from Employees of Northrup Grumman PAC

$2000 from the President of the University of South Alabama Gordon Moulton

$1550 (here and here) from former 1st district Rep. Sonny Callahan

$1300 (here, here, here and here) from Ray Cole, VP at Van Scoyoc, and former state director for Sen. Shelby

$1000 from former Lt. Gov. Steve Windom

$1000 from University of Alabama President Robert Witt

$1000 from political consultant Dax Swatek

$500 from former U.S. Ambassador Bill Cabaniss

$500 from prominent lobbyist, UA board member and former state senator Joe Fine

$500 from State Treasurer and gubernatorial candidate Kay Ivey

$500 from gubernatorial candidate Tim James

$250 from Alabama State Revenue Commissioner Tim Russell

$250 from State Rep. Paul DeMarco

$250 from State Rep. Jamie Ison

$200 from State Rep. Victor Gaston

The only active candidate for office whose report is showing so far is 2nd District Republican candidate Rick Barber.  Mr. Barber showed a total of $15,308 collected, with $2,400 of that being his own money and $12,494 cash on hand.

Notable contributors to Mr. Barber included:

$2400 from Nadine Sims, a retiree in Ennis, Texas

$2400 from Charles Exley of Grosse Pointe, Michigan

$1500 from Alan and Sarah Walker of Falls Churc, Virginia

$1200 from Dr. Vaughn Mancha of Montgomery

$1000 from Brandy Adams of Arlington, Texas

$1000 from Joe Hudson, owner of Joe Hudson Collission Center in Montgomery, Alabama

Just the first of many financial disclosures to pour over in the coming weeks.  Comments are welcome below.

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So, what have you missed?

• Jeremy Walker announced his run for the HD-73 seat held by Rep. David Grimes.  Two days later, the man either Walker or Grimes will likely face in the fall, Montgomery attorney (and grandson of former U.S. Sen. Lister Hill) Joe Hubbard reported raising $50,000 in his first fundraising report.
• The Alabama House has been quite busy passing legislation, including a bill to require P.E. for some students (no waivers as are often used today),   a bill to give subpoena powers to the state ethics commission and a bill to ban PAC-to-PAC transfers.
• Meanwhile the Senate has been gridlocked over a bill from Sen. Lowell Barron that would borrow $1 billion over ten years from the Alabama Trust Fund to do road and bridge work across the state.
• Alabama gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Artur Davis released a new poll by Anzalone-Lizst that indicates he has maintained and even built on the support he was showing last summer.  At the same time, Republican gubernatorial candidate Roy Moore was claiming, based on polling, that he was leading the Republican field.
• There was quite an uproar over the edits that AEA Executive Secretary Paul Hubbert was able to make at the last minute to the states “Race to the Top” application to the federal government.  This is yet another example of why many people feel AEA has too much power.
• Former state treasurer Lucy Baxley publicly stated this week that the language in PACT contracts was changed during the time she was in office and that whatever obligation the state has is moral, not legal.
• There was a lengthy piece of investigative journalism in the Huntsville Times regarding the motivations and reasoning of U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith’s decision to switch from the Democratic Party to the GOP.
• Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim James revealed a six-point plan to save money in state budgets, which basically amounted to stick it to state employees…a reminder of the kind of relationship his father had with those who worked under him.
• Governor Bob Riley continued his crusade against gambling by appointing Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson as the new head of his taskforce on illegal gambling.  The move was viewed by many as another direct poke in the eye to Attorney General Troy King, because Tyson is a Democrat who ran, and almost unseated, King in the last election.  It was then discovered that Tyson took money from gambling interests during his campaign for attorney general.  Of course those who support the gambling operation owners and their supporters had plenty to say about that.  Tyson also announced today he would not seek re-election as district attorney.  The taskforce attempted to raid both Country Crossing and Victoryland this morning, though it appears they were stopped by attorneys in Dothan and by a judge’s order in Macon County.
• Gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne held a press conference this week accusing the AEA of intimidation because of the way they served him with papers regarding a lawsuit from his time as chancellor of the two-year college system.  Byrne was certainly looking for an opportunity to offer an illustration of the opposition he faces, and this gave him a chance to do it.
• Powerful State Sen. Hank Sanders changed his mind and decided to run for re-election to an eighth term in the Alabama Senate.
• Agriculture Commissioner, and candidate for governor, Ron Sparks continued to attempt to stain his opponent in the governor’s race by pointing out that Rep. Artur Davis would not be attending the State of the Union speech on Tuesday night.  Sparks also announced this week the hiring of a new communications director.
• A 30 year-old case involving racial bias in teacher testing was finally closed this week.
• ALFA, the Alabama Farmers Federation, came out with its primary endorsements today, but declined to endorse in either gubernatorial primary or the 5th congressional district race.

I hope to get back to a more regular pattern of reporting and commenting in the next few weeks.  Thank you for continuing to stop by and feel free to offer your comments on these events below.

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Leadership is about building broad support for results.  By that definition, it is increasingly obvious that the political process in Washington has failed to lead on health care reform, and that Americans in every corner of the country want a different approach.

It is clear that Alabamians share the same deep concerns. They believe, as I do, that we need to get on with the essential task of revitalizing this economy and getting Americans and Alabamians back to work. They also agree that instead of trying to do too much, Congress should return to a simple focus: helping individuals and businesses afford the cost of insurance and stopping insurance companies from discriminating against sick people.

Ron Sparks, who supports the flawed health care legislation in Washington, should realize that he is not only out of touch with the state he wants to lead, Ron Sparks would even be out of touch in Massachusetts.

To put Sparks’ position in perspective – he supports new mandates and taxes on businesses during the toughest business climate in a generation; he supports raising income taxes and Medicare taxes while the costs of insurance would still keep rising; and he apparently has no problem with a process that has been corrupted with secret deals that favor some states and make the rest of us pay for their special treatment.

Whatever else you say about Congressman Davis, you cannot say he is afraid to lead.  The question still remains whether there will be enough people willing to follow.  He’s saying the things many Alabamians want to hear, but not necessarily a majority of those in a Democratic primary.  I am extremely interested in how this rhetoric is playing with the electorate, or if they’re even listening at all.

There was also an article today describing comments Rep. Davis made to the District Attorneys Association on Wednesday regarding gambling,

“Gaming, bingo, the degree to which we allow, don’t allow gambling, you recognize that we need practical approaches to those issues,” Davis told the group. Davis said the choice really is not whether the state is going to allow gambling or not, because the Poarch Creeks for years have had gaming operations over which the state has no control.

“The real question is, what are the rules of the road going to be? How do we regulate the gaming we have?” Davis said.

The key words in that quote are “practical approaches”…it’s a phrase you will hear over and over again from Rep. Davis and it’s one of the reasons his message resonates with many Alabamians.  You can have all the high-minded ideals in the world, but the practicality of how government works (or doesn’t work) and the problems we face is going to stare the next governor right in the face.

Rep. Davis is continuing to hit a strong general election message tone with his statements, it’s a gamble when he is not running unopposed to run this far to the right this early, but it’s also where he is most comfortable.  He has been a moderate voice in Congress and it’s apparent the campaign decided to emphasize that, even in the Democratic primary.  Will those that are more progressive than the congressman put their support behind Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, remain on the sidelines or swallow the bitter pill and acknowledge that, particularly in 2010, a pragmatic moderate governor who leans a little to the left may be the best they can do?

I’m interested in your comments below.

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The House, on the other hand, was extremely busy passing bills.  The PAC-to-PAC ban passed without a single no vote…again.  We all hope that it will finally pass the Senate this time.  There was also a bill approved that would allow TVA money paid to north Alabama counties to remain in north Alabama instead of being re-distributed to “dry” counties. A bill to seize the property of sex offenders was also passed without a dissenting vote.  Finally, the House passed the ban on texting while driving, 95-3.

In other news today, the Governor revealed some additional details about the incident that precipitated the resignation of the head of his illegal gaming taskforce.  Also, about 200 tea party supporters showed up at the State House for a rally, including several Republican gubernatorial hopefuls.

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Overall, I enjoyed the celebration, but I thought some of the statements by Rep. Holmes were inappropriate to the occasion.

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This one is pretty boilerplate, but is a good introduction for people who have never heard of Bradley Byrne to get a first impression that is positive and in-line with many Alabamians.

And the other is called Family Decisions,

This one is a bit different in presentation, while still communicating the kind of message you would expect to hear in a Republican primary.  My impression is that it comes off pretty stilted and isn’t as engaging as it might have been, because of trying to get the whole family involved in a 30 second spot.

Mr. Byrne is certainly trying to put is family out front in these early ads, which is smart, but giving everyone a speaking role may be overdoing it just a bit.  Overall a good introduction and first effort, I’ll be interested to see which candidate comes out of the gates next with TV ads of his/her own.

Your comments are welcome below.

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If you want some background on how all this got started, you can see Jen’s post here.

Please offer feedback below and let us know what you think.

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According to his Linked In public profile, Mr. Howie is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston Law Center.  He also served as chief of staff to a member of the Texas House of Representatives and worked for the League of Conservation Voters early in his career.  He served as a JAG in the Air Force from July 2005-September 2009 and now has hung his own shingle and works as a sports agent as well as an attorney.

I certainly support anyone who is willing to use social media to enhance their campaign and solicit input in making decisions.  I wish Mr. Howie well and hope he continues to be an active member of the online community, particularly if he chooses to become a candidate for Congress.

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An e-mail was distributed today from the same e-mail address that was spreading the flyers, only now the e-mail address (jeffersoncountyvotes at gmail) was identified as belonging to Frank Matthews and contained a letter signed by Mr. Matthews,

Dear Concerned Citizen,

My name is Frank Matthews. As most of you are aware, I am radio talk-show host and former co-director of the Mayor’s Office of Citizen’s Assistance. First, I want to thank you for your prayers and support during the past few weeks, then I want to thank you for taking the time to read this letter. Many in the media criticize my methods, but I have a great love for our city. With that being said, I felt compelled to write this personal letter to you giving you the facts about Patrick Cooper. While this letter is in no way intended to attack his character, as many people accuse me of doing, it is intended to expose how his values will affect our city’s moral fabric.

As a minister, I am compelled to reveal to you Mr. Cooper’s public position concerning a vital moral issue that impacts the foundation of our families, our churches, our schools, and all of society: the issue of homosexuality. It is true “all of us have sinned and fallen short of bringing God glory” as stated in Romans 3:23. It is also true that we must repent for known sins. The Word of God clearly states homosexuality is a sin according to Romans 1:24-32. God loves us as sinners, but He hates our sin. Traditional marriage between a man and a woman has been the foundation of every civilized culture since the beginning of time. The citizens of Alabama understand this and showed their agreement by voting overwhelmingly in 2006 by an 81% to 19% margin in favor of the Sanctity of Marriage Amendment Act defining marriage as between one man and one woman. In October 2007, Birmingham elected the first openly gay man to public office in Alabama as Howard Bayless won a seat on the Birmingham City School Board governing the affairs of almost 30,000 young hearts and minds in our city. He did this with the support of the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender political action committee in the nation along with the very public endorsement of Patrick Cooper standing proudly at Mr. Bayless’ side. It is not my intention to disrespect either of these men, but it is my duty to remind God’s people that this is an abomination and unpleasing in the eyes of our Heavenly Father.

All across the nation, school boards for children at the elementary and kindergarten levels are approving curriculum that promotes the homosexual lifestyle. This is morally wrong, brings confusion about gender identity to our children, condones sexual perversion, and can ultimately have detrimental influence socially. Not only would Patrick Cooper seek to advance this radical agenda upon our matriculating school children, but he wants to eliminate the “Laptops for Kids” program altogether, and replace it with Pre-K programs. These programs would indoctrinate the acceptance of this lifestyle, by our children, at an even earlier age. Within the last two years, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that Jefferson

County had the highest rate of syphilis per 100,000 residents of any county in the nation and warned our citizens about the “epidemic rate” of the growing number of cases. Of course, syphilis is spread through heterosexual as well as homosexual relationships, but we need a leader who will stand for purity and traditional family values.

In conclusion, Patrick Cooper’s anti-traditional family values can only be a detriment to the children of our city. This is not the kind of leadership, vision, and action we want and need in Birmingham. Please get out and vote January 19th for what’s best morally, for Birmingham now and for future generations. Vote William Bell to be the next mayor of our great city!

Brought to you, and paid for, by:

Frank Matthews

I could write all day long about why I disagree with Mr. Matthews on civil rights for gays, lesbians and trans-gendered citizens and why (particularly as we are celebrating the legacy of Dr. King) we still have a long way to go, that is not the only issue here.  Political communication is governed by the Fair Campaign Practices Act, which states,

It shall be unlawful for any person, candidate, principal campaign committee, or other political action committee to publish or distribute or display, or cause to be published or distributed or displayed, any card, pamphlet, circular, poster, or other printed material relating to or concerning any election, which does not contain the identification of the person, candidate, principal campaign committee, or other political action committee responsible for the publication or distribution or display of the same.

The penalty for failing to comply,

The attorney general may prosecute any person who violates the FCPA law. Anyone failing to comply with the advertising requirements would be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor and subject to a fi ne of not more than $2,000 and/or imprisonment of not more than one year.

It even seems Mr. Matthews understands the law now, because of the way he signed the letter.  So I hope he is investigated for the initial distribution of the flyers.  People certainly have the right to communicate their opinions in elections, but in doing so, they also must follow the law.  William Bell’s supporters are playing the same old games in Birmingham, and I hope we don’t see the same kind of result because of it.

UPDATE:  The same e-mail address is now pushing a Powerpoint presentation that supposedly presents “evidence” that Patrick Cooper is gay.  Evidence, like he left his wife left “suddenly” and now she and her new husband are giving money to his campaign (he gets along with his ex!  How outrageous! *rolling eyes*).  Cooper had to expect this kind of thing, but it makes me physically ill.

UPDATE 2: The VP of the Stonewall Democrats has confirmed that a slide in the Power Point presentation I cited that said the Stonewall Democrats had endorsed Cooper was patently false. He stayed both candidates were viewed as “friendly to gay and lesbian issues”. Prior to these most recent underground communications.

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What it shows you is how far each bill that has been introduced has made it through the legislative process.  There has been a bit of a discussion going on at Doc’s Political Parlor about how quickly a bill can move through this process, but we now believe the shortest time is five days.  You can see why that is on the status report.  It spells out each of the steps and when those steps occurred for a bill.  Certainly, since we’re on the 2nd day, the furthest any bill could have made it is to it’s 2nd reading in the house of origin.

I was explaining to someone the other day the importance of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd readings in ensuring that bills can’t be rushed through with no knowledge from anyone.  The readings are not literal readings of the bill, they are simply the bill being highlighted again as one that is moving through the process.  So, it’s also a good idea for observers of the legislature to pay attention to where these bills are in the process, so that we aren’t suprised either.

Any thoughts you have on the legislative process or how the first week of the 2010 Regular Session went, please offer them below.

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Governor Riley’s budget was the main topic of discussion yesterday, as he revealed the details of his proposal.  Patrick Hickerson from The Birmingham News has a very good analysis this morning of what’s in the bill and reaction from several legislators to the proposals.  The governor is counting on additional federal stimulus dollars that have not yet been approved by Congress, and are not certain to be coming.  So, the debate is now between those who believe it’s “crazy” to budget money you don’t know you’ll have and the governor who believes it’s “asinine” to NOT budget money you think you’re going to get.  It appears that the budgets will be set to the side, for the most part, until we know the status of the second stimulus.

That brings gambling, ethics reform, charter schools and PACT front and center as the issues the legislature will be facing.  There is a charter school bill in each chamber of the legislature and there are a number of bills dealing with gambling and PACT.  Relgious groups held a rally yesterday opposing gambling and declaring it an evil, much like the governor did in his state of the state address.

The State Board of Education will vote today on it’s formal position regarding charter schools.  Governor Riley and State Superintendent of Education Joe Morton are both supportive of the resolution, but it will be interesting to watch what the board does.  I saw some interesting analysis yesterday of the bill yesterday that pointed out the legislation includes provision not just for K-12 schools, but also for career-tech and adult community education and adult continuing education.  That is just one of a number of provisions that will be questioned as the bill moves through the committee process.

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The House has many committee hearings today, with the highlights being:

• Public Safety committee taking up HB35, the text messaging ban bill
• Constitution and Elections committee looking at HB30, the overseas voting act, and PAC-to-PAC transfers (HB85)
• Judiciary committee looking at bills regarding school employees who engage in sex acts with minors
• Government Operations committee will be looking at a bill to a transportation commission (HB70)

Also, the governor’s office will brief the media on the governor’s budget, which he described last night as providing at least level funding for state agencies and containing no layoffs.

NEWS AND OPINION TO START DAY 2:

Dothan Eagle: Culver says Riley’s Speech targeted him

Gadsden Times (AP): Legislator: “Riley writing a check that may not be good”

Gadsden Times(AP): Riley sets big agenda for last year in office

Montgomery Advertiser: Riley Tells Legislators There’s No Financial Crisis in Alabama

Montgomery Advertiser (Editorial): Riley Less Pessimistic on Funding

Decatur Daily (Editorial): Highway Bill Paved with Pork

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HIGHLIGHTS:   The Alabama Senate voted both to block the employee furlough plan that was approved by the state personnel board and to block a code of ethics that was approved by the state education board.  The Senate Finance and Taxation – General Fund committee also approved a $1 billion highway construction program and a bill to ban most no-bid state contracts.  The House swore in three new members and approved a resolution honoring the national championship football team at Alabama.

Of course, the primetime event was  Governor Riley delivering his final state of the state address this evening.  It was my first time attending the speech in person, and I have to admit it was a bit surreal.  Having the who’s who of Alabama politics all in that small of a space was very interesting for a politico like me.

Prior to the speech, I spoke with Rep. Cam Ward about his expectations for the coming session.  We talked about the budget situation and Rep. Ward’s belief that we are likely going to be forced to look at reforming pension plans and contributions for state employees and teachers, as uncomfortable as that may be in order to balance the budget moving forward.

Rep. Ward also stated that he has not yet seen the charter school legislation the governor announced yesterday and that he was open to the idea.  However, he would like to see it done on a pilot basis to see if it works here, and if not then we are able to pull back, rather than “throwing the doors open” and allowing schools all over the state.  Also, while touching on education he indicated he may have differences with Governor Riley when it comes to maintaining the Reading Initiative and Math/Science Initiative.  Rep. Ward’s belief is that if you end up pitting a program’s where much of the emphasis is on training (and most everyone has already been trained) against increasing classroom sizes all over the state, he would be more inclined to support “pausing” the initiatives for a year rather than increasing classroom size.

Finally we discussed ethics reform, and specifically, Rep. Ward’s proposal to give the ethics commission subpoena power.  He is encouraged that Rep. Alvin Holmes (with whom he agrees on almost nothing from a policy standpoint) is also proposing a bill to do the same thing.  He is hopeful that there is more support this session for such a provision and said he really doesn’t care who gets the credit, as long as we get a good bill passed.

It was a good discussion to have headed into the governor’s speech that had little that was unexpected, he hit the notes everyone saw coming…the budget, economic development, ethics reform, education, gambling, PACT, the UA national championship.  It was all there.  The most tense moments, viewing from the gallery, were during the section on gambling, when all eyes turned on Attorney General Troy King and Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks who have been on the opposite side from the governor on issues related to gambling.

And the greatest moment of unity was when the governor acknowledged the Crimson Tide’s national championship, which was the first moment that the entire audience rose and applauded.  The governor seemed impressed that the standing ovation included House Minority Leader Mike Hubbard, who represents the Auburn area and runs the Auburn Sports Network.  When the ovation was complete, the governor was heard to say “I’m proud of you Mike.”

After the speech, gubernatorial candidate Artur Davis gave me his reaction.  Of the governor’s communication style, he said, “I believe Governor Riley has developed into one of the most skilled communicators in southern politics…and I’m glad he isn’t running for a third term.”  We also discussed the content of the speech, particularly gambling, where Congressman Davis views himself as somewhere between the current governor and his Democratic opponent in the gubernatorial primary, Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks.  He believes Commissioner Sparks wants to “grow gambling” to have more to tax.  His position (as he has repeatedly stated) is to tax what we have, but not focus on it as a growth industry.

I certainly think this governor’s final state of the state was memorable and laid out a strong case for why he stands where he does on the issues.  It doesn’t change the basic dynamics of the legislature over the his two terms though, and I don’t think anyone is expecting significantly different results on many of his high priority issues.

UPDATE:  Rep. Ward released the following statement following the speech,

“I applaud Governor Riley for a bold legislative agenda, and I stand ready to assist his efforts in the House of Representatives,” Rep. Ward said following the State of the State address. “The fact that 2010 is an election year should not impede the passage of meaningful legislation,” Rep. Ward added.

Cam Ward has introduced legislation in past sessions to authorize the Alabama Ethics Commission to have subpoena power to question witnesses and examine documents in proceedings of wrongdoing by public officials, but the bills have failed to pass both houses. Rep. Ward has filed similar legislation this session.

“If ever there was a time for ethics reform in Alabama, it is now,” Rep. Ward stated. “I am on board with this as well as getting Alabamians back to work and jumpstarting our economy,” he added.

Rep. Ward says he also favors offering tax incentives to bring new industry to Alabama and expand existing businesses. In fact, he has filed the “Alabama Job Growth Act” which incorporates some of the Governor’s proposals to rev up the state’s economy.

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You can listen to the House Live Audio Feed here.

You can listen to the Senate Live Feed here.

I am going to try some different things in covering this year’s session of the legislature.  Hopefully, it will be informative and useful to you.  I will attempt to offer an end-of-day recap for each day of the legislative session, as well as posting relevant information for the bills discussed.  Things tend to be fast-moving in the short time frames we have, but we’ll see how this goes.

And to start off each legislative day, what’s going on in news and opinion…

NEWS AND OPINION ON THE 1ST DAY OF THE SESSION:

Birmingham News: Alabama candidates for governor to discuss education as session kicks off 

Tuscaloosa News: Legislature faces deep budget cuts

Tuscaloosa News: Judge asked to drop “double dipping” rule

Montgomery Advertiser: Bill would make good on PACT promises

Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama officials push charter school proposal

Mobile Press-Register: PACT advocates to converge on Alabama legislature seeking pre-paid tution program rescue

Mobile Press-Register: The Political Skinny

Dothan Eagle: Legal battle results in new Country Crossing hearing next week

Montgomery Advertiser (Editorial): PACT issue divides legislature

State Sen. Lowell Barron in the Montgomery Advertiser : Invest in Jobs

I also hope this will be a place where people can come to discuss the events of the day in the comment section below.  Your feedback and information is always welcome.

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http://theworldaroundyou.com/podcasts/Jan10-2010%20Podcast.mp3

Please offer feedback below and let us know what you think.

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