AfRR - Legislative Update 10-20-05
5-19-05
Greetings!
The Regular Session has ended with Gov. Riley taking a stand by vetoing the Education Budget.
Some stand. He makes sure to do this with plenty of time (7 hours!) for the Democrats (I should say The AEA) to override the veto. Paul Hubbert said Riley's strategy was "well-timed to avoid political fallout from school employees and students' parents." What about the fallout from the rest of us who aren't members of The AEA? That fallout will come next year when the Governor falls out of the mansion. He must really think Alabamians are stupid enough to fall for this blatant pandering. Then again, he thought we were stupid enough to vote for Amendment One. Wrong once again, Governor.
Hats off to the Republicans who voted against the override, futile as it was. The following Republicans voted FOR the override of the Governor's veto, thus siding with the Democrats/ and The AEA. Remember this in 2006...
In the House
Dr. Robert Bentley - Tuscaloosa County
Joe Faust - Baldwin County
Lynn Greer - Lauderdale County
Todd Greeson - DeKalb County
Ronald Johnson - Talladega County
Jeremy Oden - Cullman and Morgan Counties
Arthur Payne - Jefferson County
Elwyn Thomas - Blount County
And in the Senate, only Jack Biddle - Jefferson, Blount, and St. Clair Counties.
Even after the Governor's Amendment One debacle, we gave him a chance to redeem his Conservative credentials. Then, despite evidence to the contrary from courts all over the country, he looked me in the eye and told me that Amendment Two would not result in the same thing happening in Alabama. That's when I gave up on him.
Someone once said that Bob Riley is either the stupidest man in Alabama, or a liar. Take your pick, but let's face facts - In the 2006 Primary, how many of you are going to vote for Billion Dollar Bob against anyone, short of a dead German named Adolf?
The press asked me on two separate occasions what I thought had produced the turnaround from his days of "never voting for a tax increase." Both times I said that either he is either in someone's pocket, or aliens took his brain. (In both instances the paper left out my first option, and picked Aliens.)
In all fairness to the Governor, by law, his General Fund Budget is based on Prior Year Revenue, and the reason it didn't pass is because the Democrat/AEA/SEA controlled legislature wants to spend more than what they already took from us. They say they need to "Raise Revenue." That means they want to Raise Your Taxes. Watch out for the Special Session.
http://www.AfRR.us has been updated with dozens of new Editorials and News articles, like the one about...
. the $717,000 our legislators paid out in bonuses to employees, at a time when they need to "Raise Revenue."
. and this one... The 2005-06 Education Budget is up 13% from this year. How long are these increases supposed to keep up? Remember: The AEA's Health Benefits are almost a Billion Dollars a year and increasing by 10-15% every year! And this is after the Governor's plan to reduce the costs - a plan he had Paul Hubbert's approval on.
. and... Mac McArthur, the head of the State Employees Union (SEA) is screaming for a Special Session immediately. Which brings up an old and very sore point: The state of Alabama ranks 23rd in population, and we rank 11th in the number of government employees. The state should not be a jobs bank. When will someone propose a hiring freeze? When hell freezes first.
. and how about the 21.8% pay raise for the Chancellor?! Only State School Board Members Betty Peters and Stephanie Bell are on record as opposing the "generous" raise. Republican (and I'm being very generous
here) Randy McKinney from Baldwin County enthusiastically supports the raise. Go to http://www.AfRR.us and read Mrs. Peters' Editorial on the matter, and then give Mr. McKinney (334-242-9700) and the Governor (who has a vote on the raise) (334-242-7100) a call and tell them to OPPOSE this extravagance.
As I've said many times, 2006 is going to be very interesting. The legal battle has already begun over gerrymandering. The case is being handled by the same law firm that successfully defeated it in Georgia, leading to a GOP takeover of the Georgia statehouse. Now it's coming to Alabama folks, and all RINOs need to be on their toes. Or start typing up a resume.
The next battle will be over Double-Dipping - the legislators practice of trying to serve two masters - usually The AEA/SEA and the taxpayers. The record shows who the winner is - The AEA and The SEA every time. The GOP/RINO legislators who have voted in line with Paul Hubbert in the past, are going to find themselves opposed next year.
And, despite a promise from the League of Municipalities, we still have seen no rewrite of HB118, Representative McMillan's Pre-Zoning bill. It's been over two months. When we asked you folks to call your legislators about a Public Hearing, we were contacted by the League's attorney in three hours! And they aren't even on our mail list. That shows you all how valuable your participation is. Thank you for your efforts on behalf of the State of Alabama!.
And we STILL want to know why the State of Alabama is in the Liquor Business?!
Now...
Go to http://www.AfRR.us and read up on the latest, and get ready for the Special Session.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
Michael Mastro
Chairman, Alabamians for Real Reform
Working for Reform in State Government based upon Limited Government and Limited Taxation