Group Watch Archives
Once monthly and every week while the Alabama Legislature is in session, The Bloom Group publishes a newsletter called “Group Watch” to give our clients up-to-date news and insider information on the issues important to them. Check the archives below to read past issues of “Group Watch.”
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Feb. 2011 Issue
Making a Difference & an Economic Impact
Did you know there are more than 22,000 nonprofit entities registered in Alabama with revenues in excess of $11 billion and assets of more than $30 billion? These nonprofit entities employ more than 125,000 Alabamians with a disposable income of $1.9 billion. Most importantly, they provide critical services through government grants and contracts at the state and local level. In this time of limited public and private resources, it seems essential… Read More
March 4, 2011 Issue
And So It Begins
The 2011 regular session of the Alabama Legislature began at noon on Tuesday. House Speaker Mike Hubbard and Lt. Governor Kay Ivey started the session in the House and Senate respectively. Most Republican lawmakers arrived in the chamber following morning meetings with Republican Governor Robert Bentley to discuss his budget plans for the 2012 fiscal year. The new Republican majority still had to share the news limelight with its traditional nemesis the Alabama Education Association (AEA). The AEA filed a federal lawsuit challenging a Republican-backed law to make it harder for the teacher lobby to collect membership dues. Approved during a December 2010 special session, the new law prohibits… Read More
March 11, 2011 Issue
Republican-Backed Bills Move Forward
Legislators returned to work on Tuesday with Republicans pursuing bills that were part of their “handshake with the voters” pledge. The first bill to make it through the 2011 session of the Alabama Legislature will change how the state’s education budget is written to minimize, if not prevent, mid-year budget crises. The bill by House member Greg Canfield of Vestavia ends the practice of basing the education budget on revenue projections, and they will now be based on revenue trends over the past 15 years instead. The House passed the bill on Tuesday, and final approval by the Senate occurred on Thursday. Read More
March 25, 2011 Issue
Not So Fast
During spring break last week, U. S. District Judge Lynwood Smith in Huntsville blocked the start of a new state law that would restrict the Alabama Education Association from collecting membership dues through payroll deduction. The teachers’ group argued that Republican legislators singled out the organization for political retaliation. This week, attorneys for the State of Alabama announced they would the appeal judge’s order to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Read More
April 1, 2011 Issue
Budget Cuts & More
On Tuesday, The Alabama House voted overwhelmingly in support of a bill proposed by Governor Bentley to spare Medicaid and a few other agencies from the looming effects of additional budget cuts. The measure, which had already passed the Senate, shields Medicaid, Corrections and the Ethics Commission from budget cuts by appropriating additional money equal to the amount of proration. Proration by statute is an across the board reduction in the appropriation to all agencies. Most of the $162 million in the supplemental bill will go to the Medicaid agency. Read More
