These desks won’t be empty for much longer! The 2015 Regular Session of the Alabama Legislature starts on March 3 this year (instead of in February) as this is the first year of the Governor’s new four-year term. Watch your inbox for weekly issues of Group Watch with updates on all the happenings at the State House.
U.S. Representative Terri Sewell, a Democrat from Selma, and Representative Martha Roby, a Republican from Montgomery, recently teamed up for a bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the foot soldiers who took part in the March 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery. Sewell introduced the bill, Roby served as an original sponsor, and all the members of the Alabama delegation served as co-sponsors. Sewell, the lone Democrat in Alabama’s delegation said the support for the legislation, both by the delegation and the House, where the bill passed unanimously, was a tribute to all those who marched.
Winton Blount III, the son of the late Montgomery philanthropist Winton “Red” Blount and a 1998 candidate for governor recently died of natural causes. The former businessman and chairman of the Alabama Republican Party was 71. He will be remembered as a great visionary and strategist. Blount was a former chairman of the Business Council of Alabama and served as its acting president.
The 2015 Organizational Session of the Alabama Legislature started last week. Leadership roles were filled and budget discussions began.
Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange recently issued a memorandum to state prosecutors and law enforcement officials reminding them that electronic bingo machines are illegal, and state law, as settled by the Alabama Supreme Court, is “absolutely clear” on the issue. Strange said the Alabama Supreme Court upheld that bingo cannot be played with machines, and no local rule can override state law. He is encouraging local law enforcement and prosecutors to go after electronic bingo operators. Strange noted in the memo that his office can assist, as can the newly consolidated Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
Governor Robert Bentley recently gathered his cabinet to discuss their first-term accomplishments. Bentley said the state announced 63,00o jobs during the last four years, including Airbus, Remington Arms Company and Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group. He said that that size of state government has been reduced by not replacing state workers who retired. He also pointed to the soon-to-be completed consolidation of Information Technology services and the consolidation of state law enforcement under one umbrella. In addition, the governor said his cabinet saved money by negotiating interest rates on loans, cutting one loan’s rate from 4.2 percent to 1.7 percent. His office released a booklet that lists his accomplishments.
Several bits of Alabama education news came out recently.
It’s the time of year to give and get gifts, and we here at The Bloom Group would like to thank all of our clients for the gift of trusting us to help you reach your goals. Our gift to you is our continued promise to serve you with the professionalism, integrity and effectiveness you’ve come to expect. We wish you and yours a happy and safe holiday season, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, and we look forward to continuing our prosperous and productive partnerships with clients, colleagues and legislators in the coming year.
Alabama Republican Party Chair Bill Armistead recently announced he will not seek a third term as party chair. He was first elected 2011, and Armistead’s tenure saw continued electoral success for Alabama Republicans. The outgoing chairman inherited a party that under Hubbard’s leadership had just won control of state government. Armistead made a priority of working to build the Republican Party in local counties, hoping to break the Democrats’ control over local offices. The party will choose a new chair in February 2015, a process Armstead says he will stay out of and “let the chips fall where they may.” Former state Representative Mary Sue McClurkin announced that she will run for the position. Read more here.
Alabama has done a better job than all of its Southern neighbors and ranks fifth in the nation in providing health insurance to children, according to a recent study by Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute. The report found that the steady decline in the children’s uninsured rate across the country since Congress created the Children’s Health Insurance Program in 1997 has slowed. Alabama stands out among Southern states. The 48,181 residents younger than 18 who had no health insurance in 2013 represented just 4.3 percent of all children. This is the 10th lowest rate in the country, well below the national average. Alabama moved up eight places from 2011, when it ranked 18th.
