It’s our best shot at Medicaid expansion in Alabama. Can it survive Trump?

  I wish Alabamians could speak plainly to our legislators.

  I mean, you can do that, but blunt language won’t get your problems fixed.

  That’s why the folks who oversee education in this state measure their words about the challenges facing Alabama public schools.

  Poverty? Sure, they’ll discuss that. Low national assessment test scores? Lawmakers bring that up on their own.

The workforce benefits of Medicaid expansion in Alabama

  For nearly a decade, Alabama has been outside looking in on a good deal. While hundreds of thousands of Alabamians struggle without health insurance, state leaders have failed to expand Medicaid to cover adults with low incomes. A few loud voices have politicized an issue that shouldn’t be political. And our state has paid the price in lost dollars, lost jobs, and lost lives.

  Reliable access to health care keeps people healthier and empowers them to work. That’s one reason 39 states and the District of Columbia have embraced Medicaid expansion.

How the latest ACA repeal plan would harm women

  The latest attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) comes from a working group led by former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) and several conservative think tanks and puts in place many of the repeal efforts in the 2017 Graham-Cassidy repeal bill, which failed to pass the U.S. Congress last fall. Despite that millions of people have stood up to say how important access to health care insurance is for their health and financial security, many groups are still trying to take away health care from people, including women and families, across the country. Not only would this so-called Graham-Cassidy 2.0 plan leave millions without coverage, but it would raise prices for people with pre-existing conditions and eliminate essential health benefits that women need, such as maternity care.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1597: Alabama has a once in a lifetime opportunity!

  There is a big industry coming to Alabama. It will have a big economic impact. I appreciate that this big industry is coming to Alabama. But there is even a bigger industry that really wants to come to Alabama.

  I want to contrast this big industry coming to Alabama with an even bigger industry that really wants to come to Alabama but has not been invited to come. I will contrast these two industries by their impact on the following: state investment; geographic reach; jobs provided; state revenue; individual citizens; various institutions; etc. I am glad that this big industry is coming to Alabama. I am sorry that the even bigger industry may not be coming to Alabama.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1525: A eulogy for Alabamians who did not have to die

  It was a eulogy for so many deceased human beings. It was a eulogy for so many deceased human beings whose names we don’t know. It was a eulogy for so many deceased human beings who we can’t say exactly when and where they died. It was a eulogy for so many deceased human beings who did not have to die. A eulogy, a eulogy, a eulogy.

  This funeral was unique. The place was the steps of the Alabama State House. The time was Wednesday, August 24, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. The names of the deceased were unknown. It was a unique eulogy at a unique funeral, a mock funeral. However, it was dead serious. The funeral dramatized the deaths of up to 1,800 Alabamians over the last three years. The entire funeral was a protest led by SOS (the Save Ourselves Movement for Justice and Democracy). It was a mock funeral, but the deaths were real. It was a mock funeral, but the emotions of the moment were real. A eulogy, a eulogy, a eulogy.

Darrio Melton: Medicaid expansion could help solve Alabama's budget crunch

  With all the chaos coming out of the Governor’s Mansion in the past month, it’s been easy to overlook the chaos coming out of the State House. While Gov. Robert Bentley has been tied up in a scandal, the Alabama Legislature has continued to meet and vote on legislation, which has all subsequently made it to the governor’s desk.

  One such piece of legislation is the General Fund budget. For the past few years, we’ve argued over whether we need more cuts or more funding, and the truthful answer is that we need a little bit of both. The legislature doesn’t have an appetite for new taxes, so the General Fund budget that made it to Bentley’s desk underfunds Medicaid by around $85 million.

Darrio Melton: A great state with the wrong funding

  It's time to talk about how we fund the State of Alabama and get a few things straight. When we look to our state's funding mechanisms, money comes from three major areas and they're all three pretty dirty words: taxes, bonds, and the federal government.

  Last week, Gov. Robert Bentley rolled out his "Great State 2019 Plan" proposing big steps towards pre-k for all children, offer free community college, expand broadband access, and do away with our old, worn-out prisons and build new, state of the art "super-prisons"

  Now, if all of this sounds familiar, that's because these are policies the Democrats have been pushing for several years. The governor agrees with Democrats that these issues need resolutions, but we have big differences in terms of how we think these things should be funded.

Darrio Melton: I have your silver bullet, Governor Bentley

  In politics and in life there is seldom a "silver bullet" solution. Panaceas and cure-alls are typically the talk of snake oil salesmen while public policy is frequently grounded in realms of give-and-take and cost-benefit analyses.

  Alabama's budget crisis has been no different. There have been a number of solutions on the table, each with a costly drawback in exchange for a budget cure... except one.

  Gov. Robert Bentley has tried to raise taxes on working families and close DMVs and state parks as punishment when legislators on both sides of the aisle failed to comply with his requests.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1475: Put your money where your mouth is

  Put your money where your mouth is. I heard this saying many times when I was growing up. It means that we have to back up our talk with money or other valuables. Putting your money where your mouth is was a living challenge. The challenge continues to this day.

  Let me go a little further. The Good Book (Matthew 6:21) says that, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be." Luke 12:34 says it a little differently. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." We can tell what is important to us by where we put our money and/or other valuables. This is no less true for state budgets. Put your money where your mouth is.

Darrio Melton: This budget crisis is a ticking time bomb for Alabama

  Monday marked exactly one month before the state enters full-blown crisis mode without a functional general fund budget. Governor Robert Bentley called a special session to resolve the $300 million budget shortfall, and it was a tremendous failure to say the least. Three different Republican leaders are fixed firmly on three different plans for the state of Alabama, but it seems to me the right hand doesn't understand what the left is doing, and nobody is willing to compromise to find the solutions that will work for the people of Alabama.

Craig Ford: State leaders say life matters, but they need to prove it

  Last week, Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey wrote an article entitled “Life Matters” in response to the recent Planned Parenthood videos. Like Lt. Gov. Ivey, I am 100 percent pro-life, and was shocked by the videos that came out. Life does matter, and should be treated with dignity and respect at every stage, including before birth.

  But Lt. Gov. Ivey’s article–specifically the title–also raised another point: the difference between being “pro-life” and “pro-birth.” The title of the lieutenant governor’s article was “Life Matters,” but she didn’t write about life after birth.

Darrio Melton: Budgets show our priorities: Where are Alabama’s?

  When families sit down each year to make our household budgets, it's a negotiating process. It's an exercise in give-and-take. It's a time to sit down and evaluate where we are and prioritize our plans for the upcoming year.

  Yet as we are still in the process of creating our state's operating budget, we have to wonder if we see the same level of prioritizing and planning that we would expect of our own families.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1466: A huge economic project really wants to come to Alabama

  A huge economic development project wants to come to Alabama. It’s just raring to come. It wants to come so badly that it will come without any tax breaks, any cash, any infrastructure investment, any job training or anything else. It’s been trying to come for some time. It is convinced that it can do great good for Alabama and that Alabama can do good for it. Of course, we Alabamians truly love economic development, and a huge economic project really wants to come to Alabama.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1460: The squeeze of reality

  The squeeze of reality is so powerful. It moves us when we refuse to be moved. It dissipates expectations, hopes and prayers. It changes our reality. As the 2015 regular legislative session moves to a close, the squeeze of reality is forcing itself upon every legislator, every lobbyist, many organizations and countless citizens. The squeeze of reality is so powerful.        

  Many of us commenced this legislative session with strong expectations, billowing hopes and swarming prayers. We expected to pass or prevent the passage of various legislation. Some of us didn’t expect, but we did hope. Some of us knew we had just a wing and a prayer. Many of these expectations, hopes and prayers were not rewarded. Our expectations were squeezed into hopes, and our hopes were squeezed into prayers, and our prayers were squeezed into non-existence. The squeeze of reality is so powerful.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1455: An open letter to Governor Robert Bentley on Medicaid expansion

Dear Governor Bentley:

  I write this as an open letter because the people of Alabama have a critical stake in your decision. I want Alabamians to fully understand what is at stake, so I am sharing this letter with them as I share it with you.

  Governor, I really pray for Alabama. I pray for Alabama to be the very best that it can be. I also weep for Alabama. I really weep for Alabama because we sometimes seem to be hell bent on being the very worst that we can be. It’s terrible to be constantly praying for the best and yet constantly weeping because the worst is forging our reality.

Brandon Demyan: Medicaid overdose: Bigger is not better

  Much has been made about the continual refusal by Governor Robert Bentley to expand Medicaid. In the push to pass the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), President Obama explained in 2009 that "we can’t simply put more people into a broken system that doesn’t work." Medicaid was originally created to provide healthcare to pregnant women, children, and the disabled. Instead of reforming the broken system, Obamacare simply expanded Medicaid to include all able-bodied adults earning up to 138% of the federal poverty line.

Robert Wilkerson: Don’t blow it, Bentley

  The best deal in history is being offered to Alabama to expand our Medicaid program. It is best for the needy, helping some 300,000 of Alabama’s lowest income people who have no healthcare coverage. It will prevent some from suffering and even death. It will help the unemployed by creating 30,000 jobs. It will help some Alabama hospitals that may be forced to close their doors due to too much uncompensated care. It will help Alabama’s economy generating over a $28 billion dollar increase in business activity from 2014 to 2020.

David G. Bronner: Eight insights on Medicaid expansion in Alabama

1. Georgia is projected to create 70,000 new jobs from Medicaid expansion. Since Alabama has half the population of Georgia, Medicaid expansion could possibly generate 35,000 new jobs for Alabama. Even if expansion of Medicaid only created 17,500 jobs, that would still be the largest influx of new jobs in Alabama’s history.

2. Adding $15-17 billion per year, about $1.5 billion per year, to Alabama’s economy is a big deal that helps all 67 counties with the federal government paying 90% of it.