Roy Moore files defamation, political conspiracy lawsuit against accusers
Roy Moore announced the filing of a defamation and political conspiracy lawsuit on Monday at his first press conference since losing the U.S. Senate election. Moore and his team are filing the suit against Richard Hagedorn, Marjorie Leigh Corfman, Debbie Wesson Gibson, Beverly Young Nelson, Tina Turner Johnson, and other “unknown” defendants. Moore claims the allegations from this group caused “irrevocable damage” to his reputation “that affected the outcome of the Senate election in December 2017.” “The people of Alabama deserve to know the truth, that the accusations made against Judge Moore during the U.S. Senate campaign arose from a political conspiracy to destroy his personal reputation and defeat him in the special Senate election for United States Senate,” said Melissa Isaak, Moore’s attorney. In November, The Washington Post published a bombshell report with the accounts of Corfman, Gibson, and one other woman who claimed Moore sexually pursued them when he was in his 30s and they were in their teens. Nelson appeared on television several days later, with her attorney, Gloria Allred, and accused Moore of attempting to rape her behind a restaurant where she worked in 1977 when she was 16. Johnson later came forward, accusing Moore of grabbing her buttocks in 1991 while she was leaving his law office during a meeting with her mother. Moore’s team said he’s filing the lawsuit “not only to hold accountable those who are guilty of slanderous and libelous conduct, but also to restore his good name, character, and reputation with the people of Alabama.” Read a full copy of the suit here.
Mobile Baykeeper accuses Daphne Utilities of dumping untreated sewage into Mobile Bay
At the beginning of April, the Mobile Baykeeper, an environmental group, accused Daphne Utilities of Daphne, Ala. of dumping untreated sewage into the Mobile Bay. According to the group, Daphne Utilities released three million gallons of untreated sewage per day into the Blakeley River and Mobile Bay at the beginning of the year. The organization published pictures of the alleged brown sludge being released from the Daphne Utilities waste management plant, and now claims that the water has bacteria levels 4000 percent above the legal limit. Mobile Baykeeper also filed a lawsuit against the utility company in December of 2017, claiming the company violated the Clean Water Act and the Alabama Water Pollution Control Act, and are adding the new allegations to that lawsuit. Thursday evening, during a Daphne City Council meeting, Mayor Dane Haygood took time to discuss his stance on some of the issues facing Daphne Utilities regarding these allegations, according to Gulf Coast News Today. “I don’t believe the average person understands the distinction between Daphne Utilities and the City of Daphne,” said Haygood. “Some of the public relations response to these issues have an implication back to the City of Daphne, though. Whether or not they’re under direct management of the city, there is a reflection on the City of Daphne with these actions.” Mayor Haygood is one of five voting members on the Daphne Utilities board, and claimed he voted for the company to conduct a full examination of the allegations made by the Mobile Baykeepers. “I think the allegations are certainly concerning,” Haygood told the City Council. “As a board, I’m not sure the response has been correct. I hope these issues get behind Daphne Utilities for the sake of the utility board and the city as a whole.” Jon Gray, a representative of Daphne Utilities, said the company started to make changes earlier in the year, and by February was in compliance with current regulations. The Daphne Utility Board denied that the treated water in the pictures published by the Mobile Baykeeper was dangerous and are now accusing the Baykeepers of exaggerating the matter. “While we’re doing some of that maintenance we may see spikes in our test results to the outfall line, but that doesn’t mean we’re putting raw sewage in Mobile Bay,” Gray told WALA FOX 10.
Judge: Morgan Co. sheriff, deputies broke law and lied in court
Morgan County Circuit Judge Glenn Thompson ruled on Friday that Sheriff Ana Franklin and three of her deputies acted criminally and lied to the court about it. In a testimony given during a hearing in the criminal case of Leon Bradley on April 20, it was revealed Franklin lied about how her offices obtained the information that authorized a search warrant for a local blogger Glenda Lockhart. Bradley, a longtime Morgan County warden was fired in 2016 after Franklin accused him of leaking information to Lockhart to use on her blog, the Morgan County Whistleblower. For years, the blog has been critical of Franklin and her office. Lockhart was the first to show evidence that Franklin used the Morgan County jail’s food fund to invest $150,000 in a crooked car lot. She published the cashier’s checks showing where Franklin withdrew the $160,000, and a deposit slip showing where the used car lot put more than $150,000 in its bank account a few days later. Franklin herself testified saying she gave Lockhart’s grandson, Daniel Lockhart, $500 to work as a “confidential informant” and provide evidence to the sheriff’s office. However, Daniel said that we was approached by Sgt. Blake Robinson, who told him he would pay him to gather information about any sheriff’s office employees who were providing information to the blog. Daniel, not knowing his grandmother was the target of the investigation, hacked into his grandmother’s e-mail and her blog, taking pictures of the emails between his grandmother and Bradley. Robinson said Daniel’s actions were lawful, but Stephen McGlathery; an Investigator from the Etowah County Sheriff’s Office who was sent to take over the case, disagreed. “From the way it sounds, they paid him a substantial amount of money and he did go into the property he didn’t authority to and took items that did not belong to him,” McGlathery testified. Judge Thompson’s ruling given on Friday states that Franklin, Robinson, Robert Wilson and Justin Powell “endeavored to hide or cover up their deception and criminal actions under the color of law,” also ruling that the search warrants were invalid, all evidence gathered must be returned or destroyed, and that the state’s filing for nolle prosequi on March 9 is moot. Read the full documents of the case here.
Roy Moore to hold press conference on campaign allegations
Former Alabama Chief Justice and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore, along with his attorneys, will hold a press conference regarding what they call “false” allegations of sexual misconduct made against him during the campaign for U.S. Senate last fall. Moore has vehemently denied the allegations against him, calling them “politically motivated,” “completely false” and “malicious.” This will be Moore’s first news conference since December’s special election where Democrat Doug Jones bested him, thus becoming the first Democratic U.S. Senator from Alabama in a quarter-century. Earlier this month Moore filed a counterclaim for slander and defamation against Leigh Corfman, who accused him of making unwanted sexual advances after shed filed a defamation lawsuit against him in January. Moore claims Corman’s allegations caused “irrevocable damage” to his reputation “that affected the outcome of the Senate election in December 2017.” The press conference will be held at the Etowah County Commission Chambers at 3 p.m.
Alabama to add 107 new First Class Pre-K classrooms in 2018-2019 school year
The Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education and Governor Kay Ivey on Monday announced the state’s First Class Pre-K program will add 107 classrooms to 33 counties this fall. The new classrooms will expand access to Alabama’s high-quality, voluntary pre-kindergarten program to 18,864 children in the 2018-2019 school year, with more than 1,040 classrooms in all 67 counties that will serve 32 percent of eligible four-year-olds statewide. “Having a strong start to one’s educational journey is critical to having a strong finish when it comes time to enter the workforce,” said Ivey. “Alabama’s voluntary First Class Pre-K program is, without question, the best in the nation. I am proud that we can increase the reach of this important educational opportunity, and I look forward to continuing to work with the Legislature to further expand the availability of voluntary Pre-K.” This year the Alabama Legislature approved an $18.5 million expansion for First Class Pre-K, increasing the 2019 program budget to $96 million. This is the program’s largest ever single-year increase. In addition to funding new classrooms throughout the state, the Department of Early Childhood Education will continue to ensure pay parity for all First Class Pre-K teachers with the same 2.5% cost of living raise as K-12 public school teachers in the upcoming school year. Monday’s announcement comes one week after Alabama First Class Pre-K was recognized by the National Institute for Early Education Research for having the highest-quality, state-funded voluntary pre-k program in the nation. “First Class Pre-K is a nationally-recognized program of excellence,” said Jeana Ross, Secretary of Early Childhood Education. “The program framework encompasses all aspects of the highest quality early learning experiences that ensure school readiness for children, and this emphasis on quality impacts student outcomes far beyond kindergarten.” Despite the additions, there are still 39,453 eligible Alabama children who do not have access to First Class Pre-K. A list of all classrooms can be found at: http://children.alabama.gov/parents-families/findprek/
Trump gives thumbs-down to comic who roasted his spokeswoman
The reviews are in: President Donald Trump gave a thumbs-down Sunday to the comedian who roasted his chief spokeswoman at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, offending present and past members of his administration, including one who walked out in protest. The organization’s leader said she regretted that Michelle Wolf’s routine may end up defining an evening that was designed to rally around journalism. WHCA President Margaret Talev said she has “heard from members expressing dismay with the entertainer’s monologue and concerns about how it reflects on our mission.” She said she will work with the incoming president of the group and take comments from members on their views “on the format of the dinner going forward.” Trump joined in the criticism. “Everyone is talking about the fact that the White House Correspondents Dinner was a very big, boring bust…the so-called comedian really ‘bombed,’” Trump tweeted Sunday. The president, who regularly lobs sharp attacks at the news media, including individual news organizations and reporters, declined to attend the journalism awards dinner for the second consecutive year. He instead held a campaign rally in Michigan. Wolf is known as a contributor on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah.” But some of her jokes, particularly a series of barbs about White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders as Sanders sat just feet away, seemed to spark the most outrage. Sean Spicer, who preceded Sanders at the White House lectern, tweeted after dinner that the night “was a disgrace.” Others, including Ed Henry, chief national correspondent for Fox News and a former association president, and MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski, called on the association to apologize to Sanders. Brzezinski has been the subject of personal attacks by Trump. Henry also called on Wolf to apologize. Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, tweeted that he and his wife, Mercedes Schlapp, director of strategic communications at the White House, walked out of the dinner. “Enough of elites mocking all of us,” he said. Talev, Bloomberg News’ senior White House correspondent, said she didn’t want a dinner celebrating the constitutional right to free speech to be overshadowed by the ensuing uproar over Wolf’s jokes. “My only regret is that to some extent those 15 minutes are now defining four hours of what was a really wonderful unifying night and I don’t want the cause of unity to be undercut,” Talev said Sunday on CNN’s “Reliable Sources.” Talev said she spoke to Sanders after Wolf’s routine and “I told her that I knew that this was a big decision whether or not to attend the dinner, whether to sit at the head table and that I really appreciated her being there.” “I thought it sent an important message about the role of government and the press and being able to communicate with one another and work together,” Talev added. No Trump administration officials attended the dinner last year after Trump decided to skip it. Many were in the audience Saturday night, however, including counselor Kellyanne Conway, herself a target of Wolf, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Sanders sat at the head table with association board members. Talev said that, by tradition, the association does not review the comedian’s monologue before it is delivered. “We don’t censor it. We don’t even see it,” she said. Wolf tweeted “thank you” to Spicer. As he did last year, Trump flew to a Republican-friendly district to rally supporters in an attempt to counter the dinner. He assured the audience in Washington Township, Michigan, a state he won in 2016, that he’d rather be there than at “that phony Washington White House Correspondents’ Dinner.” Wolf’s act, which also included abortion jokes, had some in the audience laughing. Others sat in stony silence. Among Wolf’s less off-color one-liners: —“Just a reminder to everyone, I’m here to make jokes, I have no agenda, I’m not trying to get anything accomplished, so everyone that’s here from Congress you should feel right at home.” —“It is kinda crazy that the Trump campaign was in contact with Russia when the Hillary campaign wasn’t even in contact with Michigan.” —“He wants to give teachers guns, and I support that because then they can sell them for things they need like supplies.” Wolf closed by saying, “Flint still doesn’t have clean water,” a reference to the Michigan city where lead-tainted tap water flowed into homes for 18 months before a disaster was declared in 2015. The state recently decided to end distribution of free bottled water in Flint, saying the tap water was now as “good or better” than in many communities. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
In Donald Trump era, the death of the White House press conference
The presidential news conference, a time-honored tradition going back generations, appears to be no longer. More than a year has passed since President Donald Trump held the only solo news conference of his administration — a rollicking, hastily arranged, 77-minute free-for-all during which he railed against the media, defended his fired national security adviser and insisted nobody who advised his campaign had had contacts with Russia. But there are no signs the White House press shop is interested in a second go-round. Instead, the president engages the press in more informal settings that aides say offer reporters far more access, more often, than past administrations. “President Trump is more accessible than most modern presidents and frequently takes questions from the press,” says White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The president often answers shouted questions at so-called pool sprays, in which a small group of rotating reporters is given access to events such as bill signings and Cabinet lunches. Trump has also taken to answering shouted questions on the White House lawn as he arrives at and departs the White House. The frenzied exchanges — frequently taking place over the roar of Marine One’s rotor — often produce news. But the format also gives the president far more control than he would have during a traditional question-and-answer session. Trump can easily ignore questions he doesn’t like and dodge follow-ups in a way that would be glaring in a traditional news conference. On Friday, for instance, Trump answered several questions in the Oval Office about North Korea and Iran. But when a reporter asked about his threats regarding intervening in the Justice Department, Trump responded with a curt “thank you” that signaled to reporters that he was done with the Q&A session. The president also holds joint news conferences with visiting world leaders, a format reporters call “two and two” because each leader selects two of its country’s reporters to ask questions. While the format looks similar to a solo news conference, the president more often than not calls on friendly reporters from conservative outlets and limits the opportunity for follow-up questions. On Friday, during a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Trump called on reporters from Fox Business Network and the Christian Broadcasting Network. Fox News correspondent John Roberts has been called on so often that Trump once picked him and then changed his mind. “Actually, we’ll go somebody else this time, John. You’ve been doing enough, John,” he said to laughs. Trump also submits to occasional one-on-one interviews with individual news outlets. Last week, he called in to “Fox & Friends,” his favored format during the campaign. And several times he has held longer, impromptu question-and-answer sessions, including one in the Rose Garden with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that, for reporters, had the feel of a mosh pit. Margaret Talev, a longtime White House reporter and president of the White House Correspondents Association, said the association welcomes Trump’s “openness to engage on a regular basis, in pool sprays in the Oval Office and less traditional settings such as South Lawn departures.” But, she said, “We have been disappointed at his reluctance to engage in regular full-format news conferences and we will continue to encourage him and his team to return to the practice. Such news conferences help the public to gain a deeper understanding of a president’s thinking on an issue; show transparency and accountability; allow journalists to raise questions the public may be concerned about; and also allow a president to shape his message.” Indeed, during his campaign, Trump often criticized his rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, for failing to engage more with the press. “Crooked Hillary Clinton has not held a news conference in more than 7 months. Her record is so bad she is unable to answer tough questions!” he tweeted in June 2016. The pattern marks a dramatic departure from historic precedent, according to records kept by The American Presidency Project and dating back to Calvin Coolidge. In their first years alone, President Barack Obama held 11 solo news conferences, George W. Bush held five, and Bill Clinton a dozen. Trump held just one. It’s part of a pattern reflecting Trump’s extraordinarily hostile relationship with a press he loves to hate. “The White House isn’t legally mandated or required to hold press conferences, but it’s a tradition that’s been in place because it serves the public,” said Katie Townsend, the litigation director at Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. “And I think the idea that the media is the enemy of the American people and an enemy of the president itself … I think the unwillingness to talk to the members of the media is part of that.” But Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary for George W. Bush, said there is little benefit for a White House to hold solo new conferences anymore since the president can communicate with the public in other ways. “So long as the president is held accountable as a result of frequent pool sprays, as a result of frequent press conferences with heads of state, one-on-one interviews, the public gets its accountability through other tactics beyond formal long-winded news conferences,” Fleischer said. Bush, he noted, wasn’t a fan of the prime-time news conference, complaining that reporters would “peacock” at those events, making them more about themselves than the president. Trump, however, seems to like the format, which he credited last year for his election win. “Tomorrow, they will say, ‘Donald Trump rants and raves at the press.’ I’m not ranting and raving. I’m just telling you. You know, you’re dishonest people. But I’m not ranting and raving. I love this,” he said during his press conference last year. “I’m having a good time doing it.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Mike Pompeo says Israel, Palestinian peace still a U.S. priority
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains a priority for the Trump administration, despite its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and its planned move of the U.S. Embassy to the holy city over Palestinian protests. Pompeo also said the U.S. is “fully supportive” of Israel’s right to defend itself and declined to criticize the Israeli military for its use of live fire against Palestinian protesters along the Gaza border. He spoke in the Jordanian capital of Amman as he wrapped up the Middle East leg of his first overseas trip as America’s top diplomat. Pompeo called on the Palestinians to return to long-stalled peace talks with Israel. He said the United States is open to a two-state solution to the conflict if both parties agree, calling it a “likely outcome.” But he would not agree with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi’s characterization of the conflict as “the main cause of instability” in the region. “The parties will ultimately make the decision as to what the correct resolution is,” Pompeo told reporters at a joint news conference with Safadi. “We are certainly open to a two-party solution as a likely outcome.” But, he said, the Palestinians had to return to a political dialogue to get there. “An important piece of achieving Middle East stability is to resolve this conflict,” he added. “Precisely how to rank it among all the various challenges, I’ll defer on that. Know that it is an incredible priority for the United States to provide whatever assistance we can to allow the two parties to come to a resolution.” Safadi had opened the news conference with an apparent appeal for the U.S. to boost efforts to end the conflict. “This is the main cause of instability in the region and its resolution is the key to achieving the peace and stability we want,” he said. “Yes, the two-state solution is being challenged. Yes, there are many obstacles. But what is the alternative? We cannot give up in our efforts and there is no viable alternative.” Pompeo’s comments came at the end of a two-day visit to Israel and Jordan during which he did not meet Palestinian representatives. The Palestinians have essentially boycotted contacts with the U.S. since Trump announced in December that the United States was recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem — captured by Israel in 1967 and then annexed — as the capital of a future state. Pompeo’s visit is also taking place just two weeks before the planned May 14 opening of the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and expected massive Palestinian protests the following day. Over the past month, 39 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,600 wounded in weekly border protests along the Gaza border, prompting human rights groups to ask Israel’s Supreme Court on Monday to restrict or ban the use of live ammunition. They say the military’s use of lethal force against unarmed protesters is unlawful. Israel’s military argues that the border protests are part of a long-running conflict with Gaza’s ruling Hamas, which it considers a terror group, and that the rules of armed conflict apply. Asked about the situation, Pompeo demurred, referring to “activities in Gaza over the past days and weeks.” “We do believe the Israelis have the right to defend themselves and we are fully supportive of that,” he said. In addition to the Jerusalem decisions, the Trump administration has also angered the Palestinians in recent months by ordering their office in Washington closed, although it remains open for business related to negotiations, slashing funding for the U.N. agency that supports Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and elsewhere in the region, and putting on hold all bilateral assistance to the Palestinians. Although the White House sponsored a conference on aid to Gaza last month, the Palestinians did not attend. And, a peace plan devised by Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and his special envoy for international negotiations Jason Greenblatt appears to be on hold. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Search for Tuskegee University president down to 2
The search for a new president of Tuskegee University is down to two people. The historically black school in east Alabama says Lilly McNair and Jack Thomas are the remaining two finalists to replace Brian Johnson, who was fired last year. McNair is the provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Wagner College on New York’s Staten Island. She’s a clinical psychologist by training with a doctorate from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Thomas is president of Western Illinois University. He studied English as an undergraduate at Alabama A&M University and earned a doctorate from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Charlotte Morris has served as Tuskegee’s president on an interim basis since Johnson’s removal. Trustees are expected to select a permanent replacement on May 4. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Are business PACs starting to support Jim Zeigler?
In 2014 State Auditor Jim Zeigler was elected by “opposing mismanagement and waste in government.” That issue initially put him at odds with much of the Montgomery, Ala. political establishment. But now, Zeigler says a “small but growing number of business political action committees” are starting to see the value of what he’s doing. In his recently filed April campaign finance report, Zeigler shows he’s picked up support from five political action committees (PACs), each contributing $5,000 a piece for a total of $25,000: BIZPAC MAXPAC SAVEPAC TELPAC NEWPAC “I am not going to pretend that a majority of the businesses interests and PACs are now supporting me – that would not be true – yet. But some are starting to understand that we do need a watchman against waste and mismanagement,” Zeigler said. Previously Zeigler picked up the endorsement of ALFA affiliate FARMPAC and an additional $5,000 contribution. “I am gratified that the business community is starting to understand what I am doing and that a watchman for taxpayers is sorely needed in state government,” explained Zeigler. “I believe I have turned the corner and will get growing support from business. This is just the start.” Zeigler says the funding will enable him to continue his social media messaging, which is already running, and to run TV spots from May 15 through election day. “I have always been underfunded in my campaigns,” Zeigler added. “This time, I will have adequate funds to get my message out.” During his time as State Auditor, Zeigler has been a consistent critic of government mismanagement and abuse, and called out former Gov. Robert Bentley on numerous occasions for doing so. During the Bentley administration, Zeigler filed the initial ethics complaint against him. On April 5, 2017, the ethics commission found probable cause that Bentley had committed felony violations, including Zeigler’s complaint. Five days later, Bentley resigned. As State Auditor, Zeigler also exposed Bentley’s diversion of $1.8 million of the BP settlement money to restore the governor’s mansion at the beach, which came in the wake of Bentley losing his own personal beach home in his divorce from his wife of 50 years. Zeigler later sued to invalidate the troubled STAARS software contract, claiming it was an illegal no-bid contract. The state then canceled the $47 million STAARS contract. In the wake of cuts to the State Auditor’s office operating budget, Zeigler announced in June 2017 in order to help keep the State Auditor’s office operating he would, in addition to his normal duties as State Auditor, also train to work as a field auditor. There he will do the actual property inventory of the state’s 175 agencies totaling over $1.1 billion in state property. Despite the budget cuts, Zeigler says his office is up-to-date on all audits “despite suffering cuts of 28.5%” to his budget in the last two Bentley budget bills, which whittled his staff from eleven to five and a half. Two weeks ago, Zeigler’s auditors were told to move out of the Alabama Statehouse, where they have been housed since 2007. He is now seeking space for the auditors. “Under adverse circumstances, we have continued to get things done for the taxpayers of Alabama,” Zeigler concluded.
Alabamians to decide the fate of four proposed constitutional amendments
Alabama voters on November 6 will decide the fate of four proposed constitutional amendments. Those amendments, all of which passed the 2018 legislative session, will appear as referendums on the general-election ballot now that Secretary of State John Merrill on Friday signed all four proposals. The amendments are: Amendment 1: Allows posting of the 10 Commandments in public buildings, including courthouses and schools. Amendment 2: Designates Alabama a “Pro-Life” state. Amendment 3: Allows changes to the University of Alabama Board of Trustees. Amendment 4: Allowed certain valencies to be filled by appointment rather than special elections. As of February 2018, there were 928 amendments to Alabama’s 1901 Constitution, making it by far the longest state constitution in the country.
Bradley Byrne: Fighting to save Alabama’s rural hospitals
These are positive times for many Alabamians. Our unemployment rate is at an all-time low, major manufacturers continue to locate in our state, and the national championship trophy is back in the state where it belongs. Despite the momentum, our state is certainly not free from challenges. One of the most serious issues facing Alabama hardly ever receives the attention it deserves. I’m talking about the closure of rural hospitals throughout our state. Hospitals are the backbone of many communities in rural Alabama. In addition to being the top employer in many cases, these hospitals are critical when it comes to keeping local residents healthy. Since coming to Congress, I have visited many of these rural hospitals and seen firsthand the challenges they face. Startlingly, since 2011, eleven hospitals have closed in Alabama, and another dozen are in danger of closing in the next two years. Today, the median rural hospital in Alabama is operating at about a minus eleven percent margin and 86% are losing money. You don’t have to be a businessman to realize that is unsustainable. The impact of a hospital closure on a rural community is profound. It can leave those needing emergency or in-patient care with long – and potentially deadly – commutes to the nearest hospital. Some who need care the most simply have no way to make the burdensome trip to a metropolitan area. The closure of rural hospitals also hurts our ability to attract new industry to our state. Without hospital access, many modern employers, such as high-tech manufacturers, will refuse to locate to the areas of our state that need investment and jobs the most. One of the primary issues driving the problem is that Alabama has the lowest Medicare reimbursement rate in the country. Alabama hospitals are reimbursed as much as twenty-one percent below the national average and at rates considerably lower than our state neighbors. Due to a poorly designed formula implemented in the 1980s known as the Medicare Wage Index, the problem continues to compound every year. Consider this: D.W. McMillan Hospital in Brewton, Alabama, near the Florida border, is reimbursed almost twenty percent less for the exact same treatment as a hospital right across the border in Jay, Florida. It isn’t fair, it makes no sense, and it is devastating for our hospitals. Much of the positive development in our state has been a testament to a spirit of teamwork. Leaders in Alabama saw the need to transform our economy and work together to attract new businesses. It will take that very spirit of cooperation and teamwork to solve the problems facing our rural hospitals. When it comes to healthcare, there are a lot of different ideas. Republicans and Democrats have some serious disagreements. It would be easy to retreat to our respective corners and blame the other side for Alabama’s hospital closure problem. But, that’s not productive, and it certainly won’t solve the problem. In Washington, the entire Alabama Congressional Delegation has been working with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma and Congressional leadership to come up with new and innovative ideas to fix our long-term reimbursement issue. We are committed to thinking outside the box to solve this problem and protect Alabama’s rural hospitals. However, Congressional action alone won’t solve the problem. The solution will require a total team effort from every level of government, as well as assistance from community and business leaders. If Alabama is going to continue to move forward, we must address the challenges facing our rural hospitals and ensure Alabamians have adequate access to hospital care. If we work together as a team, I am hopeful this issue can be resolved. • • • Bradley Byrne is a member of U.S. Congress representing Alabama’s 1st Congressional District.
