Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: The politics of roads

  It seemed to go under the radar last year, but the Bentley administration quietly inaugurated the largest road-building program seen in the state in over six decades.

  Gov. Bentley launched the Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program (ATRIP). The ATRIP program, coupled with another road program, the Rural Assistance Match Program, will bring the total for road and bridge construction in Bentley’s first term to well over $1 billion.

Steve Flowers: Inside The Statehouse: Bentley introduces GARVEE

  The second regular legislative session of the quadrennium ended a few months ago with a plethora of legislation. It was not quite as prolific as last year, but pretty close. However, it was just as conservative as the first. This group may not be deliberative but they are very focused, efficient and productive.

  Gov. Bentley does not appear to be leading the parade. Mike Hubbard and Del Marsh are the ringleaders. They call the shots in the House and Senate. Bentley is generally on the same page and serves primarily as a cheerleader for the show.

  This is not your old-timey George Wallace rodeo. Wallace called all of the plays in the legislature from his office on the first floor of the Capitol. He would call the House and Senate Rules Committee Chairmen down to his office every morning to give them the playbook. They would dance to whatever tune the “Fighting Little Judge” would call.