Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse - ACCS is just what the doctor ordered for Alabama jobs

  The recently completed 2025 Alabama Legislative Regular Session has concluded successfully. Any time you record solid balanced budgets, you have succeeded.

  Both the Education Budget and General Fund Budget are sound, thanks to the good work of the budget chairmen. Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), Rep. Danny Garrett (R-Trussville), Sen. Greg Albritton (R-Escambia), and Rep. Rex Reynolds (R-Huntsville) have done yeoman work. Legislative leaders, like Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) and Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman), have provided outstanding leadership.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse - Attorney general’s race will be a good one in 2026

  Folks, 2026 is shaping up as one of the best political years in memory in Alabama.

  The governor’s, lieutenant governor’s, and attorney general’s offices - and maybe one of our U.S. Senate seats - are up for grabs with no incumbent. The jockeying has begun in earnest for all these posts.

A giveaway to the rich, disguised as school choice

  Our leaders call Alabama’s effective voucher program the CHOOSE Act. There’s some grim irony in that.

  Of course, you can choose to pay for private school tuition, whatever your reasons may be.

  But it’s not my choice. Or what the families of 730,000 Alabama students want. We pay taxes to support the teachers educating our children in public schools. And we want teachers and staff to have the resources they need to help students thrive.

  Yet our leaders plan to divert that money from classrooms into the pockets of wealthy families, in the form of $7,000 tax breaks. More if they have more than one kid enrolled in a private school.

The danger of mixing law and religion, in two Alabama bills

  We reap bitter fruit when lawmakers cross-pollinate religion and law.

  It’s not just a question of elevating one belief over others. The law at its best gives fair treatment to competing interests and keeps them on the same path through the world. When one version of what lies beyond this reality gets into the law, the people clinging to that vision enjoy a privilege over any other need or desire in the broader community.

  Two bills pending before the Alabama Legislature put particular beliefs on a pedestal. And in the process, they could subject public education and the health of our children to the schemes of zealots.

Managing Alabama’s school funding problems isn’t fixing them

  There’s a pamphlet in the Alabama Department of Archives and History written by Booker T. Washington. It’s called “How To Build Up A Good School in the South” and dates from the first decade of the 20th century.

  Washington was trying to address a practical problem for Black Alabamians: how to keep their schools open. Because Alabama’s Jim Crow government had segregated the system and was doing all it could to destroy Black education.

In the Alabama Legislature, it’s culture wars first, retirees second

  As lawmakers locked in $12 billion in spending late in the recently-concluded legislative session, they discovered education retirees.

  These are the teachers and support staff who spent 20 or 30 years or more educating you and your children. They ensured the kids in their charge were fed, sheltered, and taught as best as local resources allowed.

  They haven’t seen a cost-of-living increase in their benefits since 2007.

Why did Alabama ban ranked choice voting?

  Republican lawmakers this spring approved SB 186, sponsored by Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), prohibiting ranked choice voting in the state. Gov. Kay Ivey signed it a few weeks ago.

  But outside civilians and military residents living overseas, no local government in Alabama uses ranked choice voting.

  No county uses ranked choice voting, according to the Association of County Commissions of Alabama. No city does, either, said the Alabama League of Municipalities. The Secretary of State’s office said last week that it does not know of any area in the state that employs ranked choice voting.

Bold tax reform should be at the top of Alabama lawmakers’ agenda

  “Alabama budgets are in great shape.” That was the message recently from the Alabama Legislative Services Agency’s deputy director Kirk Fulford to a joint meeting of the legislative budget committees in Montgomery. 

  If you are in favor of growing Alabama’s state government to new heights, then I suppose that is true.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse - Gambling left on the table

  The 2021 Alabama Legislative Session is in the books. I would rate it a success. When you pass budgets that are balanced, any session is a success. In fact, the only constitutional mandate given to the legislature is that they pass the two budgets.

  The amazing revelation that is almost difficult to comprehend is the fact that both the General Fund and the Educational Fund budgets were not only status quo but were flush with growth coming out of a year of the COVID-19 pandemic. State employees and teachers both received raises in the budgets.

Keep a weather eye on the horizon – a legal storm is brewing

  I don’t know if you’ve ever had the displeasure of being at sea when a major storm develops. It is disconcerting to say the least. As the deck pitches and rolls, the mental review of the all-hands disaster planning takes place in the mind. Pulling into a safe harbor and putting feet on dry land is a multi-layered relief.

  In Alabama, we have a legal storm brewing on the horizon, and businesses, churches, hospitals, and non-profits are all sailing directly into the maelstrom.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse - Budgets are priority for this legislative session

  The 2020 Alabama Legislative Session has resumed after a six-week hiatus due to the coronavirus shutdown of the state and the nation. The session must end by May 18. The only thing they will do is pass barebones budgets. 

  The most important - and actually the only constitutionally-mandated act that must be accomplished - is the passage of the state budgets. In our case, we have two state budgets. We have a general fund like 45 other states, and we have a second one, the Special Education Trust Fund budget. 

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse - Legislative session for most part successful, especially for Governor Ivey

  The 2019 Alabama Legislative Session was one of the most controversial yet productive sessions in memory.

  Governor Kay Ivey’s first session of the quadrennial was a roaring success. It’s hard to remember a governor getting everything they wanted since the George Wallace heydays.

  Wallace in his prime simply controlled the legislature. It was more like an appendage of the governor’s office. Kay Ivey has apparently taken a page from the old Wallace playbook. By the way, that is probably apropos as she cut her teeth in Alabama politics working for and learning from the Wallaces.

Steve Flowers: Inside the State House - Other legislative issues

  There is no question that Gov. Kay Ivey’s infrastructure/gas tax program was the cornerstone issue of this legislative session. This monumental legislation will be a tremendous enhancement for Alabama’s economic development for decades to come. Governor Ivey and the legislative leadership deserve accolades for addressing this important issue. They were indeed thinking of the next generation rather than the next election. Governor Ivey deserves most of the credit. She reached across the aisle and garnered almost unanimous support from the Democratic legislators. Indeed, the legislation passed the House on an 84-20 vote and passed 28-6 in the Senate.

  However, other major issues will be on the table. The Alabama Department of Corrections is seeking a $42 million increase in its budget in order to hire much needed additional correctional officers. A federal judge has ordered the state to increase the number of guards and mental health professionals.

Taylor’s Top Four: Alabama Legislative Session review for week 10

  The session looks to be winding down, but we aren’t going anywhere! Here’s your recap of week 10 in the Alabama Legislature.

  If you want to receive daily news from across the state and nation straight to your inbox each morning, click here to subscribe to the Alabama Policy Institute’s Daily Clips.

1. General Fund budget has almost cleared its last hurdle 

  On Tuesday, the house passed the 2019 General Fund budget, which passed the Senate in February. The Montgomery Advertiser reported that it was the fastest the budget has passed in years: “‘The Clerk of the House, who’s been here 30 years, said that’s the fastest he’s seen it,’ said House Ways and Means General Fund chair Steve Clouse, R-Ozark. ‘It’s my 24th year, and I know that was the fastest.'” There are a few things in this budget that have been widely talked about this year: a pay raise for state employees, a bonus for state retirees, a funding increase for the Department of Corrections, and another increase for Medicaid.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Sizing up the U.S. Senate field in Alabama

  The decisive move by newly-minted Gov. Kay Ivey to declare a Special Election for the Jeff Sessions’ U.S. Senate seat this year rather than next year changes the entire complexion of who will sit in that coveted seat.  It also redefines the landscape of an ever-changing Alabama political scene.

  This year will be an adventure as we elect a U.S. Senator, and concurrently the 2018 governor’s race will begin its evolution. We have already seen the downfall of a sitting governor this year. There is an assumption that only a Republican can win statewide office in Alabama, and winning the GOP primary is tantamount to election.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: The first round of potential gubernatorial candidates

  Last week I gave you an alphabetical list of the 18 potential horses in the 2018 Alabama Gubernatorial Derby. We will begin this week handicapping them in descending order.

  The Number 18 horse is current Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard. We will know whether the beleaguered Speaker of the House will remain in the derby by next March. He is on trial in Lee County. A grand jury indicted him over a year ago on 23 felony counts of ethics law violations. If he is convicted on any of the 23 charges, he becomes a felon and will not only be removed from my 2018 Alabama Derby, he will be removed from the House of Representatives and as Speaker of the House.

Craig Ford: The smart way to spend the BP money

  Alabama won a huge victory last week when the BP Oil settlement was announced. As a part of that settlement, the state will receive $2.3 billion dollars over the next 18 years, with a billion of those dollars being given to our state’s General Fund budget. That means legislators now have to determine what is the best use of that money.

  Smart leaders, like Rep. Steve Clouse (R-Ozark) and Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) who Chair the state House and Senate General Fund Budget Committees, see this as an opportunity to pay back the state’s existing debts. I couldn’t agree more. Over the last few years the state has withdrawn over $598 million from the rainy day account in the Alabama Trust Fund. So far, even though a bill was passed setting a schedule to pay it back, we’ve only deposited $15 million in the account.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Who's who in the Alabama Legislature

  The Alabama Legislature completed their week-long organizational session last month with very little fanfare or controversy. They will get to work on substantive issues beginning with the regular session in March. Their work will be cut out for them since they're facing a General Fund Budget that has at least a $250 million deficit.

  The legislature that organized for the quadrennium is overwhelmingly Republican. The House has 72 Republicans and 33 Democrats. The Alabama Senate is even more dominated by Republicans. Three-fourths of the senators are Republican. The numbers are 26 to 8. This gives the GOP a carte blanche path to pass anything they desire with little or no opposition.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Caught in a perpetual budget crunch

  The most pressing problem facing the governor and legislature as they enter this new quadrennium is the financial shortfall in the General Fund Budget.

  Last year the governor floated a trial balloon to see if there was any traction to combine the two state budgets in order to give more wiggle room in the budgeting of limited state dollars. It was quickly shot down.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Behind the Senate curtain

  We are at the end of the third regular legislative session of this quadrennium. They are closing in on the culmination of their four-year terms.

  This is the first Republican majority legislature in modern Alabama history. The Republicans not only have a majority, they sport a super majority. That means that the remaining Democratic minority is incapable of stopping or even slowing down any GOP initiatives or budgets in either the House or Senate. Republicans own a commanding 66 to 39 advantage in the House. They have an even more lordly control of the House of Lords. They have an omnipotent 24 to 11 ownership of the Senate.