Chris Pringle receives Business Council’s top legislator award
The Business Council of Alabama awarded its coveted Business Champion Award to Rep. Chris Pringle Tuesday afternoon. The BCA cited the Mobile County Republican for his “steadfast commitment to improving Alabama’s economic development, education and legal environments” at a ceremony at the Mobile Chamber of Commerce, along with the Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama and the Mobile Area Chamber. “Representative Pringle has shown an unwavering commitment to improving education, strengthening economic development and reforming our legal environment so that businesses can compete on a level playing field,” said BCA president and CEO William J. Canary. “As a business owner, Chris understands how jobs are created and how that impacts the quality of life for all Alabamians,” said Canary. Pringle, in his private sector work, is a licensed Realtor, home builder, and general contractor. Now in his second tenure in Montgomery representing District 101, Pringle also served in the Alabama House from 1992 until 2004. He is vice chairman of the House State Government Committee.
Alabama ranks in middle of pack in uninsured rate post-Obamacare
Ranked 35, Alabama sits solidly in the middle of the pack among its fellow states when it comes to the uninsured rate in America after Obamacare took effect, a new analysis from WalletHub.com shows. The online financial website reviewed coverage data as the third open-enrollment period for health insurance is currently underway and 11.7 percent of the U.S. population still remains without coverage. According to the report, since the first enrollment period of the Health Insurance Marketplace mandated under the Affordable Care Act 107,423 Alabama residents have gained health insurance that were previously uninsured, which has lowered Alabama’s uninsured rate 2.45 percent from 2010 to 2014. Obamacare’s impact in Alabama: The uninsured rate pre-Obamacare was 16.8 percent and has fallen to a current rate of 12.1 percent, with 307,185 people gaining health insurance coverage. Obamacare reduced the children’s uninsured rate in by 2.1 percent between 2010 and 2014. Obamacare reduced the adult uninsured rate by 2.7 percent between 2010 and 2014. The uninsured rate for whites is 4.3 percent lower than that for blacks. The uninsured rate for whites is 22.3 percent lower than that for Hispanics. The uninsured rate for higher-income households is 13.8 percent lower than that for lower-income households. The rate of employer-based health insurance coverage increased by 0.6 percent between 2010 and 2014. Source: WalletHub WalletHub used U.S. Census Bureau data to measure the uninsured rates by state before and after the implementation of the ACA. You can view the complete results here.
Email insights: Birmingham’s guide to Uber ridesharing
San Francisco-based ridesharing company Uber has dominated headlines across the Yellowhammer state in 2015. Earlier this year Mobile welcomed the company to the city, meanwhile Birmingham has continued to give the Uber the run-around citing regulatory problems and concerns. Two and a half months ago Uber executives travelled to the Birmingham to meet with the city’s Committee of the Whole to discuss the potential for ridesharing companies to operate in the city. While the discussions seemed hopeful, little progress has been made in moving forward and Alabamians across the city are growing frustrated. However, these regulatory problems problems are nothing new to the ridesharing juggernaut and as such they’ve released a guide to to ridesharing to help answer questions and alleviate the concerns of Magic City residents. For Uber’s 101 guide to ridesharing in Birmingham, check out the email below. Ridesharing has only been around for a couple of years, and is very different than a taxi, a bus, or really any other transportation option out there. For instance, Uber’s ridesharing driver-partners use their personal vehicles to provide rides on their own schedules. In the U.S., 50% of Uber driver-partners, on average, drive fewer than 10 hours a week and 61% of driver-partners have full-time or part-time careers outside of Uber. Birmingham needs new rules that reflect the ridesharing model, particularly when it comes to three areas—background checks, insurance, and permitting—so that we can offer the same Uber experience riders have in places like Nashville and Atlanta. Check out how these three areas work in cities and states around the U.S., and how they need to work in Birmingham in order for Uber to operate. BACKGROUND CHECKS At Uber, our technology makes it possible to focus on safety before, during, and after a ride in ways that other transportation options cannot. While safety is more than just background checks, we believe that the process used by Uber stacks up well against the alternatives in terms of safety, and enables drivers to quickly and efficiently get on the road. All driver-partners wanting to use the Uber platform are required to undergo an extensive background check performed on our behalf by third parties accredited by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners. These providers use a process for Uber that is similar to that provided to other companies like Care.com, Starbucks, UPS, and Amazon. Going back 7 years, our vendors run a social security trace and then a background check to search for the person in a series of national, state, and local databases. These include the National Sex Offender Registry, National Criminal Search, and several different databases used to flag suspected terrorists. INSURANCE While accidents will occur in any transportation option, Uber ensures there is end to end insurance coverage in place for ridesharing trips. Uber has a commercial insurance policy that covers every ridesharing trip in the United States up to $1,000,000. So if an accident occurs while a rider is in an Uber on a trip, our insurance policy will cover personal injury and damage to property. This policy kicks in before any personal auto coverage that a ridesharing driver has and is double the amount of insurance required of taxis in Birmingham. Separately, if a driver is waiting for a ride request with the Uber app on and gets in an accident, we have an insurance policy that exceeds state minimums should the driver’s personal insurance not cover it. Do you love insurance and want to read our Alabama insurance policy? Take a look! PERMITTING REQUIREMENTS Around the country, ridesharing rules include a permitting process for the ridesharing company, like Uber, instead of for individual drivers. This process ensures a ridesharing company registers with the city or state and pays a fee to operate there, and that riders can get a reliable ride when they need one. Unlike taxi drivers, ridesharing drivers mostly use Uber part-time and for supplemental income. An individual driver permit may not be worth the cost or time for many Uber driver-partners. The process would disincentivize many drivers from partnering with Uber and make it more difficult for them to get on the road. For instance, those who have a 9-5 job and want to just use Uber on the weekends or to pay for a summer vacation would have to take off work to get this permit and may instead find a different opportunity. That means riders won’t be able to get an Uber when they need one, anytime or anywhere. Now that you’re ridesharing savvy, share your thoughts on these issues by submitting a public comment with the city. Remember, they are due November 13! If you’ve still got questions about the ridesharing business model, tweet @Uber_Alabama or reach out to support@uber.com.
$21 million approved for Alabama Gulf conservation projects
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley says the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has approved of spending more than $21 million on projects to restore areas of Alabama’s Gulf Coast. Bentley said in a statement Tuesday that the money will be used to launch five projects focused on natural resources that were affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. Officials say the projects include fisheries and ecosystem monitoring, a project to bolster the state’s artificial reef program and strategic land acquisition. Bentley says the Alabama Department of Natural Resources, the department of conservation and federal agencies developed the five programs. Officials say more than $356 million from the Gulf Fund will be used to fund conservation projects in Alabama over a five-year period. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Luther Strange welcomes Alabama Supreme Court stay on VictoryLand
The Alabama Supreme Court on Monday issued a stay of Montgomery County Circuit Judge William Shashy’s Oct. 5 ruling that the state does not have to return electronic gaming machines and cash seized from VictoryLand in Macon County. Shashy ruled last month that electronic bingo was legal in Macon County saying the state was “cherry picking” which casinos to prosecute while others remained in business when it shut down VictoryLand casino in a 2013 raid. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange welcomed Monday’s stay. “I am pleased with the Alabama Supreme Court’s stay of the Circuit Court’s order concerning VictoryLand,” said Attorney General Strange. “The high court’s decision will prevent the release of all illegal electronic bingo machines seized at VictoryLand until the Supreme Court is able to rule on the state’s appeal. It is important that the case be allowed to progress through the entire judicial process so the legality of electronic bingo at VictoryLand can be settled once and for all,” Strange said. The state seized 1,615 electronic bingo machines and $253,105 in cash from VictoryLand on Feb. 19, 2013 claiming the currency and machines are illegal and sought forfeiture of both.
State auditor Jim Zeigler trying to block closure of surplus property site
As Gov. Robert Bentley moves to close a state-run surplus materials site in northern Alabama amid budget cuts and austerity in Montgomery, State Auditor Jim Zeigler is again playing the role of perennial thorn in the governor’s side. Zeigler announced Tuesday morning he will work to block the closure of the site in Eva, Alabama, which he says would “cost the state money instead of saving” state funds. Zeigler, whose idiosyncratic statewide-elected office is akin to that of an ombudsman or public accountant, says the closure is unnecessary. He claims it’s being done out of spite after the Legislature passed only part of Bentley’s tax increase proposals amid looming budget deficits earlier this year. “The state has almost two billion dollars in property paid for by taxpayers. That is a huge area of state government for the Bentley administration to be using as a political football,” said Zeigler. Bentley’s office recently announced it will shutter the facility, which is designed to process and dispose of surplus state property, and consolidate it with a similar state enterprise based in Montgomery. The state auditor did not elaborate on specifics of what a move to block the Eva closure might look like, other than to declare his opposition and say he will work to stop it. “I am looking at legal and political options to block the Eva closing,” said Zeigler on Tuesday.
Anticipating attacks, Marco Rubio campaign posts Web ad showing Jeb Bush praising him
According to a report in Tuesday’s New York Times, the Jeb Bush super PAC Right to Rise may spend up to $20 million in ads attacking Marco Rubio. The Rubio camp’s answer seems to be along the lines of Bring.It.On. Shortly after the story went live online Monday night, the Rubio campaign sent an e-mail to supporters, asking for financial contributions with the headline mocking Bush’s previously stated comment that he wanted to indulge in a “joyful campaign.” “How is that the kind of ‘joyful’ campaign that Jeb claimed he wanted to run?!?!” asks Rubio campaign manager Terry Sullivan. Early Tuesday, Team Rubio came back again, this time with a video called “Before the phony attacks” showing Bush praising Rubio over the years. Although the two perhaps were never as close as some media reports indicated at the beginning of this year, they have always been respectful toward each other. But Bush struck first last month in the last debate in Boulder, Colorado where he took a shot at Rubio’s poor voting record in the Senate. Rubio appeared prepared for the question and shut down the attack forcefully, with Bush being the one who was criticized as being slow-footed. But the attacks are only beginning, according to the Times report. Rubio’s response, as is apparent from the new Web video, is simply to turn the other cheek and ask objective GOP primary voters to question why Bush is now apparently going negative when he’s always been such a fan? The ad is filled with Bush saying things such as “I’m a huge Marco fan,” and “Marco has an hopeful, optimistic message based on our principles.”
Robert Bentley calls for Special Election to replace the late Lesley Vance
Gov. Robert Bentley released one of his most solemn orders in recent memory Monday night, calling for a special election in House District 80 to replace the late Rep. Lesley Vance. Vance passed away last Tuesday at the age of 76, after a long struggle with what news reports have called “an extended illness.” The timeline for the special election, set for April 12, is as follows according to an announcement from the governor’s office: A Special Primary Election for the District 80 House seat will be held on Tuesday, January 19, 2016. Or, in the event that a Special Primary Election is not necessary because the major parties have only one candidate, the Special General Election will be held on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. If necessary because of one candidate not receiving a majority of the votes in the Special Primary Election, a Special Primary Runoff Election will be held on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. If a Special Primary Runoff Election is not necessary because one candidate receives a majority of the votes in the Special Primary Election, the Special General Election will be held on Tuesday, April 12, 2013. If a Special Primary Runoff Election is required, the Special General Election will be held on Tuesday, May 10, 2013. Major-party candidates have until Tuesday, November 17 at 5:00 p.m. to file to run for the seat. The state parties must certify their qualified candidates to the Secretary of State within 48 hours in order to appear on the ballot. “This timeline gives candidates time to qualify, allows voters time to learn about candidates, and allows time for those who are unable to vote in-person to arrange to vote by absentee ballot,” Bentley said in a release. “Representative Vance was a great man and a dedicated public servant. I know the next representative for District 80 will be a strong advocate for people in the district, just like Rep. Vance was during his time in the Alabama House of Representatives,” said Bentley. HD 80 covers parts of Lee and Russell counties, in the state’s eastern central region. “Today, the citizens of Russell and Lee Counties and the entire state of Alabama lost a great leader in the passing of Representative Lesley Vance,” Hubbard said last week. “Chairman Vance was a fine man and an effective legislator who nobly fought for his constituents for more than 20 years.” Vance was first elected to the Legislature in 1994, switching his party affiliation to Republican in 2010, giving the GOP a supermajority in the Alabama House.
NARAL Pro-Choice America revels in Jeb Bush vs. Marco Rubio abortion spat
According to a report in Tuesday’s New York Times, Right to Rise, the Jeb Bush-backed Super PAC, may be attacking Marco Rubio for his position on abortion rights. The newspaper reports that Mike Murphy, Right to Rise’s chief strategist, recently showed some Republicans a video portraying Rubio as too extreme on abortion. In the first GOP presidential debate, in August, Rubio said that he had “never advocated” laws that would allow abortions, even in cases of rape or incest. That stance is to the right of what other recent Republican presidential candidates have taken on in the past, and apparently Right to Rise thinks it’s too extreme. Whether Republican primary voters think it is remains uncertain. Weighing in on the report is Ilyse Hogue, president of the pro-abortion rights group, NARAL Pro-Choice America. “We welcome Governor Bush and his team to reality,” Hogue said in a prepared statement. “We’re glad they finally figured out what we’ve been saying for years: The Republican position on abortion as advanced by Rubio and many others is way out of the mainstream and turns off voters. That being said, it is pretty striking to watch the far-right attack the extreme far-right on this issue. Grab the popcorn folks, it’s about to get interesting.”
For Ben Carson, debates have played limited role in his rise
For some Republican presidential candidates, the party’s first three primary debates have been pivotal proving grounds that have strengthened their campaigns or shaken their supporters. Ben Carson isn’t among them. The famously mild-mannered Carson has largely avoided making headlines in the widely watched televised events, often willing to cede the spotlight to more verbose rivals and finding himself overshadowed in policy discussions. Yet the retired neurosurgeon’s standing with voters in preference polls has only gotten better. “The political language and the traditional prism through which we evaluate candidates essentially does not apply to Ben Carson,” said Phil Musser, a Republican strategist. It’s unlikely Carson will again shrink into the background Tuesday when the eight leading GOP candidates meet in Milwaukee for their fourth debate. Now viewed as a front-runner for the Republican nomination, Carson faces intense scrutiny about the veracity of his celebrated biography, which has been central to his connection with voters. His campaign manager, Barry Bennett, said Carson was prepared to be far more aggressive in the debate than he has been in the past and is “a lot more fired up” after facing several days of questions about his past. “He will vociferously stand up for himself,” Bennett said. “He’s not going to attack anybody. But if somebody goes after him, they’re going to see a lot more ‘back at ’em’ than they ever saw before.” While pieces of Carson’s background had been challenged earlier in the campaign, the questions ballooned last week after CNN reported it could not find friends or confidants to corroborate the story, told in his widely read autobiography, of unsuccessfully trying to stab a close friend when he was a teenager. Later in the week, POLITICO examined Carson’s claim of having received a scholarship offer to attend the U.S. Military Academy and The Wall Street Journal said it could not confirm anecdotes told by Carson about his high school and college years. In a GOP primary where bashing the media is in vogue, Carson could come out ahead if the moderators of Tuesday’s debate on Fox Business Network are seen as unfairly piling on. Carson’s campaign was active in the effort to change how the party’s debates are run after several candidates expressed unhappiness with moderators from CNBC at an event two weeks ago. Yet some Republicans say Carson must walk a fine line between defending himself, and sticking with the calm and quiet demeanor that has so far been a draw for voters. “Will viewers and voters see the unflappable surgeon they have been inclined to support or will a more combative Carson emerge?” said Matt Strawn, the former chairman of the Iowa Republican Party. “If the latter, his standing may well suffer if he appears to be yet another politician trying to out-outrage the others on stage.” Carson’s response will likely be influenced by the way his rivals handle the matter. So far, most have sided with Carson, saying he’s been unfairly treated by the media. “They went too far with Ben Carson,” Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said Monday. “It’s just kind of silly. They are trying to paint it to his integrity and I think that that’s not fair.” The most likely candidate in the main event to challenge Carson is Donald Trump. The real estate mogul has been at the top of Republican primary polls for months, but began to level sharp criticism at Carson after he started challenging Trump’s front-runner status. Trump has seized on the inconsistencies of Carson’s biography, repeating a long list of examples of potential exaggerations and unproven claims during recent television appearances. That includes repeating Carson’s assertion that he had a “pathological” problem with his temper. Speaking in front of thousands at a rally in Springfield, Illinois on Monday evening, Trump sharpened his criticism of Carson in a preview of potential lines of attack. “With what’s going on with this election, I’ve never seen anything like it. People are getting away with murder,” said Trump, betraying his first signs of exasperation at Carson’s success in the polls. “If you try and hit your mother over the head with a hammer, your poll numbers go up. I never saw anything like it!” Also in the main debate Tuesday are Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, a pair of senators enjoying a burst of momentum following their strong performances in the last contest; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is in the midst of an attempted campaign reset; and businesswoman Carly Fiorina and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Missing from the lineup are New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Both were dropped from the top-tier debate with low poll numbers in national surveys, sparking criticism for the way networks hosting the debates have determined participation. Christie and Huckabee will instead appear in an earlier undercard debate, along with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. “We’re not whiners and moaners and complainers in the Christie campaign,” Christie said on Fox News Monday. “Give me a podium, give me a stage, put the camera on, we’ll be just fine.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Jeb Bush struggles for Alabama delegates
As news circulated throughout both the conservative and mainstream press that Jeb Bush failed to secure a full slate of delegates ahead of the Alabama primary in March, the question has emerged: does Bush have an “Alabama problem”? The conservative Weekly Standard sure seemed to think so. Their Michael Warren wrote Bush’s inability to fill commitments for all 47 of Alabama’s open delegates who will be awarded to the winner of the state’s primary amounted to “a sign the former Florida governor may be lagging in organization and enthusiasm in the Yellowhammer State.” Alabama political consultant Brent Buchanan was more severe still in an interview with Bloomberg Politics. “You can buy all the people you want, but it doesn’t make voters vote for you,” said Buchanan in an interview. “He’s just not connecting with people like his brother did. He’s a policy wonk, and that’s great for a governor. But it doesn’t always translate to the presidential race.” Bloomberg leveled a criticism at the Bush campaign that had lingered in Tallahassee, Miami and other Bush strongholds, but which has now reached the national stage, calling it “a top-heavy campaign with plenty of endorsements that’s still waiting for the candidate to turn on the ignition.” The more measured election watchers at the blog Frontloading HQ, on the other hand, were less apt to ring the alarm bells. Of those 47 spots, Bush has 32 delegate candidates covering 29 vacancies. That is short of the more than full slates that candidates like Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio had filing in support of them. Looks bad, right? It is. If a campaign touts its strength in filing a full slate of delegate candidates in Tennessee — as the Bush campaign has done and others have reported — then it says something that the campaign has missed the mark further south in Alabama. It says something about organization in an area of the country — SEC primary territory — where Bush has spent some time this fall. It says something more that, compared to the other candidates, Bush ranks sixth in terms of the number of Alabama delegate candidates that filed pledges to the former Florida governor. And yet – There are, however, a couple of matters that have gone unsaid and/or underreported in this story. One is that the above it just one comparison. The second is that the process in Alabama — the rules — are being overlooked. Both factors when not considered help to overstate the extent of the problem for Bush in Alabama… …look back four years and you will see that all four candidates who made the Alabama presidential primary ballot — [Newt] Gingrich, [Ron] Paul, [Mitt] Romney and [Rick] Santorum — all had gaps in the delegate slates that appeared on the ballot next to their names. And yes, that is more an excuse from the Bush perspective than anything else. 2016 is not 2012. However, if FHQ had asked you before the Alabama filing deadline — so absent this revelation about delegate slates there — whether Bush would get more or less than 12 delegates (of 47 total), I suspect most would have taken the under given the crowded field of candidates. Alabama is a small state and its field of GOP consultants and activists who make up the RNC delegate-type crowd is even smaller. The final verdict: Jeb’s campaign for Alabama’s 50 delegates isn’t looking great at this juncture, but neither were the campaigns of many Republican pols who have ultimately gone on to carry the state. How the new “SEC primary,” the candidate winnowing process sure to begin this winter, and other 2016-specific factors will play into the recent news of Bush’s missing delegates remains to be seen.
UAB professor, archaeologist Sarah Parcak win $1M Ted Talk prize
Billed as a modern world “Indiana Jones,” the renowned archaeologist specialist in Egyptology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Sarah Parcak was announced Monday as the 2016 TED Prize winner. The highly-coveted $1 million grant is awarded annually to just one exceptional individual whose creative, bold vision sparks global change. Parcak plans to use prize money in saving archaeological sites in the Middle East. “The last four and half years have been horrific for archaeology. I’ve spent a lot of time, as have many of my colleagues, looking at the destruction,” Parcak said accepting the prize. “This Prize is not about me. It’s about our field. It’s about the thousands of men and women around the world, particularly in the Middle East, who are defending and protecting sites.” Across the globe, the UAB archaeologist is helping countries preserve history by using satellites identifying ancient sites lost in time. In Egypt alone, Parcak helped locate 17 potential pyramids, plus an additional 1,000 forgotten tombs and 3,100 unknown settlements. She’s discovered even more throughout the Roman Empire. Sarah “uses 21st century technology to make the world’s invisible history visible again,” the TED blog explained. Parcak will announce the details of her project in February in Vancouver, British Columbia, during a live TED conference. “In a session that will be broadcast for free to the world, she’ll reveal a wish to allow curious minds everywhere to play a part in preserving our global heritage,” claims the TED website. “It’s a wish about the wonders of archaeological discovery and our connection to the past.” Sarah was first introduced to the world of TED in 2012, when she gave a famous speech on archaeology from space. Watch it below:
