Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: We have six living former governors. How are they doing?

  Gov. John Patterson is our oldest living chief executive. Patterson is 99 years old and living on his ancestral family farm in rural Tallapoosa County in an obscure area named Goldville. Patterson is a legend in Alabama politics. He was governor from 1958-1962. He has the distinction of being the only person to beat George Wallace in a governor’s race in the Heart of Dixie. When he was elected in 1958, he was 37-years-old and was dubbed the “Boy Governor”. Patterson was Attorney General of Alabama for a term prior to being governor and served several decades on the Court of Criminal Appeals after his governorship.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse - Mike Hubbard conviction finally upheld

  Over the past four years during my travels and speaking events over the state, the most asked question posed to me has been, “Why in the world is Mike Hubbard not in jail?”

  It was four years ago in June 2016 that the Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives, Mike Hubbard, was convicted by a jury of his peers in Lee County of a dozen counts of violating the state's ethics Laws.

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 – Alabama vs. Auburn

  The only sport that Alabamians enjoy more than Alabama politics is college football. We especially love the Alabama vs. Auburn football game. Folks, this is Alabama/Auburn week in Alabama!

  The Alabama vs. Auburn annual event is one of the fiercest of college football rivalries. It is the game of the year. It is a state civil war that divides friends and even families. It is bragging rights for the entire year. The loser has to live with his boasting next door neighbor for 364 days. It seems that one must choose a side no matter if you despise college football and could care less who wins. Newcomers to our state are bewildered on this fall day each year. They cannot comprehend the madness that surrounds this epic war. It is truly that, a war. It is the game of the year.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse - BCA is back, bigger and better than ever

  Alabama Power is and has always been a force in Alabama politics. Some entities may have influence in the Alabama Legislature, but the power company has the ear of folks in all three branches of State government: legislative, executive and judicial.

  To quote the great Dr. Paul Hubbert, if you asked elected Alabama officials who they would call if their ox got into a ditch, it would be an overwhelming vote for Alabama Power. Alabama Power is the friend and confidant that both Democratic and Republican senators and representatives would name. The company is known for listening to legislators and treating them fairly and honestly, and it is truly nonpartisan in its approach.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Business Council should dump Billy Canary

  During my tenure in the Alabama Legislature in the 1980s and 1990s, political party affiliation was not as pronounced as it is today.

  We were identified within the Montgomery/Capitol arena as either a conservative, pro-business legislator or a liberal, pro-union/pro-trial lawyer legislator.

  Similar to when someone new arrives in Alabama and they are asked to choose sides in college football, you have to make your allegiance with either Alabama or Auburn. We had to make the same choice as legislators. I chose early to be on the side of businesses. I even took a leading role and was the sponsor of most of the tort reform legislation. Therefore, most observers rated me as an arch pro-business conservative.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: The legacies of Alabama governors

  We have unbelievable natural resources in Alabama from the Tennessee Valley to the beautiful white sands at Gulf Shores. Many of our natural resources have been exploited over the years. A prime example would be the exploitation of our rich vaults of iron ore discovered in Jefferson County in the early 20th Century. It created the city of Birmingham, the Steel City of the South.

  U.S. Steel swept in and bought the entire region, used cheap labor in the mines and steel mills, and kept poor whites and blacks in poverty wages and shantytowns. They owed their soul to the company store. Finally they organized into labor unions. The United Steel Workers Union Local in Birmingham became the largest in the nation. Alabama also became the most unionized state in the south.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Keep an eye on the Hubbard drama and the redistricting challenge this year

  A good many of the news stories that were the most noteworthy events of 2015 will continue into this new year of 2016 and may repeat as the major headlines of this year.

  Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard will go on trial in his home of Lee County in early spring. Hubbard, the Republican Speaker, is the architect and leader of the GOP takeover of the Alabama House. Ironically, one of the cornerstone issues heralded by Hubbard in his coup was ethics reform. Interestingly, one of the most incriminating emails revealed during discovery was one in which Hubbard essentially asked his buddy, former Gov. Bob Riley, why in the world did we pass that ethics law?

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: What if Richard Shelby retires?

  Many of you liked last week’s column detailing our Senior Senator Richard Shelby’s ascent to the U.S. Senate in 1986. Senator Shelby has represented us in the U.S. Senate admirably for close to three decades now. He has no plans to retire any time soon. Shelby will tell you straight away that he is running for reelection to his 6th six year term in 2016. Shelby turned 80 last May but he looks 65 and is in good health. He loves being a U.S. Senator and will be easily reelected if indeed he runs again in 2016.

  However, what if Shelby changed his mind and retired in 2016? The big question mark in Alabama politics is who would run to succeed Shelby. The answer is everybody and their brother. United States Senate seats do not open up every day. Everybody who currently holds an elected office office plus everybody who ever won a 4-H speaking contest would enter the fray.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Bentley has been rendered irrelevant

  This first year of the quadrennium has been an interesting mix of politics in the Heart of Dixie. At the heart of the news and interest has been the continuous wrangling over the General Fund budget. From the get go, Gov. Robert Bentley has taken a gung ho approach to raising taxes in order to bolster the beleaguered General Fund.

  Beginning in January, Bentley laid down his proposals for the legislature to increase revenue to solve the problems and predicted shortfalls. He relentlessly stayed on course with his intentions. His resolve to raise new money never wavered, although his proposals changed numerous times.

Craig Ford: Accountability Act is the legislature's ultimate failure

  There have been a lot of things said about the state’s legislative session that just ended. But no one is calling it a success (at least not anyone who wants to maintain any credibility).

  From the legislature’s failure to pass a General Fund budget, to the Republicans’ inability to agree among themselves on a solution to the budget crisis, no one can say this legislative session was anything but a failure.

  But while the budget and budget crisis have gotten the most attention, there’s been another story that recently made headlines that we should all be worried about: that the majority of scholarships awarded under the Accountability Act have not gone to kids in failing schools like they were supposed to.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Behind the gambling curtain

  As I was walking out of the Statehouse recently someone asked me, “Do you think we will have gambling in Alabama?” My response was simple: we already have gambling, the state just does not derive any revenue from it.

  Indeed gambling is widespread in our state just as it is in all of the other 49 states and the District of Columbia. People gamble online every day. There are no state line boundaries for internet gambling. All of the revenue from that activity goes out of state. Our people play the lottery; they just buy their tickets in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. Our surrounding sister states fund their government and educate their children with our recreational dollars.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Will the legislative session go to extra innings?

  Unless you've been living under a rock for the past six months, you know that the Alabama General Fund has a shortfall and Gov. Robert Bentley has proposed a $540 million tax increase solution to resolve the problem.

  This crisis has been brewing for close to a decade now. It is under Dr. Bentley’s watch that the train wreck has finally occurred and the chickens have come home to roost. During Bob Riley’s eight year ride, money was shuffled around and a lot of federal stimulus money fell on the state like manna from Heaven. Riley got to spend his last two years in office playing cops and robbers. He rounded up all the troopers and rode around the state closing down constitutionally sanctioned and tax paying gaming casinos with the zeal of a child pretending to chase Al Capone.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Recent Alabama governors haven't left much of a mark

  Recently, at a forum I was asked the question, “Which governor made a difference in Alabama politics?” The question caught me off guard because I really had not thought about that obvious inquiry. My knee-jerk reaction and answer to the insightful questioner was George Wallace and I gave a litany of reasons for my response. Later, after contemplation, I felt that my answer was probably correct. Wallace would be the appropriate choice, simply because he was governor so long. I prefaced my reply to the inquisitor with the caveat, “You know, I’m not as old as you might think.” Therefore, I qualified my answer with, “Let’s talk about the governors since 1954.”

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Fiddling while Alabama burns

  As the world turns in Alabama politics, a lot has happened in the first three months of 2015. After Inauguration Day, a federal judge in Mobile ruled that Alabama’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage was not constitutional under federal law. In appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court it was obvious that the high tribunal conferred with the lower court ruling and gave every indication that they would render a final edict on the subject come June. By midsummer same-sex marriage will be the law of the land as decreed by the omnipotent U.S. Supreme Court.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: The $261 million question

  The Alabama Legislature and Governor Robert Bentley are preparing for the first regular session of the quadrennium. The session will begin March 3.

  Legislators need to arrive in Montgomery with their lunch pails and sleeves rolled up ready to go to work because the proverbial chickens have come home to roost. They are facing a gargantuan budget crisis in the General Fund. They cannot spend this four years cursing Obama Care and passing unconstitutional and meaningless bills dealing with federal issues like immigration and abortion.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Bentley has been politically bullet-proof

  During the 2010 Alabama governor’s race, I continuously made the statement that whomever won the race would be a one-term governor. My prophecy was based on the fact that the state was flat broke and it would take a lot of tough decisions and probably tax increases to fix the mess.

  Former Gov. Bob Riley was not helping his successor any either in a concerted mission to spend every cent in an already barren cupboard. There was nothing in the state rainy day fund and all the federal stimulus money from Washington was gone. Unlike the federal government that can just print money, the state constitutionally has to live within its means.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: The Ballad of VictoryLand

  The continuous merry-go-round opening and closing of Macon County’s VictoryLand is like a circus. It is a comedic side show of political posturing. It plays out in a scenario reminiscent of Abbott and Costello’s Vaudeville classic, “Who’s on First.”

  It appears humorous and ludicrous but it is actually sad because people’s lives are being affected. This political chicanery is adversely affecting the lives and livelihoods of folks who want to work and live in one of Alabama’s poorest counties.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Bingo!

  The year 2012 did not come to an end with a whimper when it comes to newsworthy happenings. A number of significant events occurred in December.

  VictoryLand, the State’s premier privately owned casino, reopened quietly on a Tuesday afternoon with very little fanfare. However, it appears that publicity and advertising are not necessary to attract patrons to the glamorous facility located along interstate I-85 in Macon County. Public officials and the local citizenry have been waiting for the reopening of their largest employer and economic engine for over two years.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: The financial plague

  As the end of the year approaches the story of the year has to be the state of the economy. Therefore, the political story of the year has to be the sad financial state of the State.

  The legislature and governor spent 2012 wrestling with the state of the general fund of Alabama. It has been an uphill battle that will likely not dissipate or subside as we approach 2013.