Kay Ivey supports replacing elected school board with appointed panel
Saying the state has a broken system of education governance, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and the Republican Alabama Senate leader are seeking to replace the elected state school board with a new commission appointed by the governor. The proposed constitutional amendment would be a massive overhaul of how public education is governed in the state and end Alabama’s status as one of only a few states with an elected state school board. The legislation also includes a directive for the new commission to repeal the Common Core curriculum standards, a measure that has been sought by some Republicans. Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh introduced the legislation (Senate Bill 397) Thursday. He said Alabama’s chronically low test scores demonstrate a need for change. “All those numbers tell us something is not right in education,” Marsh said. “If you look at the grades and the stats, we are not getting the job done.” Alabama voters would have to agree to make the change. If approved by lawmakers, the idea would go before voters on March 3, 2020, the same day as the presidential and U.S. Senate primary. Current school board member Ella Bell said she was surprised the governor was backing the proposal she said would remove “a leg of democracy” from voters. “Democracy is what we live by and that is what we all grew up to believe,” Bell said. Bell said she believes it is unfair for the governor and Marsh to blame school board members for test scores when school funding persistently lags other states. “The legislature has never funded education as it should have been,” Bell said. Alabama is one of seven states with an elected state school board, according to 2018 data from the National Association of State Boards of Education. The proposed new nine-member Alabama Commission on Elementary and Secondary Education would consist of members — including one from each congressional district— appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. The commission would appoint a state education secretary who would replace the state superintendent. The position would also have to be confirmed by the Senate. The legislation says the governor “shall ensure” that the commission membership reflects the geographical, gender, and racial diversity of the public school enrollment. Members would serve six-year staggered terms. Ivey, who by position serves as a member of the state school board, sent a Thursday letter to school board members expressing her support for the change. “The fact is our current system of governance is broken and desperately needs fixing,” Ivey wrote. “If we truly want the very best education possible for the children of Alabama, then we need to find a model that has worked elsewhere but of equal importance, one that will work in Alabama,” Ivey wrote. The legislation also includes a directive for the new education commission to replace Common Core curriculum standards. Marsh this session introduced legislation to repeal the Common Core curriculum standards. It passed out of the Alabama Senate, but the measure has so far stalled in the House of Representatives. The Republican Senate leader called the legislation his “premiere” issue of the session. It has hit the legislative fast track. The measure will be before the Senate Education Policy Committee on Tuesday and could be on the Senate floor later that week. Twenty Republican senators in the 35-member Senate have signed on as co-sponsors of the proposed constitutional amendment. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Email Insights: Americans for Tax Reform write legislators to oppose franchise bill
The national group Americans for Tax Reform has weighed in to oppose the “Protect Alabama Small Businesses Act.” This bill, House Bill 352 sponsored by Representative Connie Rowe and Senate Bill 129 by Senator Chris Elliott, passed the senate last week and headed to the House committee on State Government. The letter follows more than 80 franchise brands who have also weighed in to oppose the pending legislation, which they say would cost Alabama around $1 billion in lost economic output. That group has set up a website www.protectalabamabusiness.org to counter what they call the myths surrounding the legislation. Read the letter in full below: To: Members of the Alabama House of Representatives From: Americans for Tax Reform Re: House Bill 352 and Senate Bill 129 (as substituted) Dear Representative, On behalf of Americans for Tax Reform and our supporters across Alabama, I urge you to vote NO on HB 352 and SB 129 (as substituted). If you talk to business owners today, many will tell you that the onerous and costly regulations are just as much, if not more of a problem than burdensome taxes. Yet HB 352 and SB 129 would make that problem worse by raising the regulatory cost of doing business in Alabama. Furthermore, this bill is a non-solution in search of a problem. These companion bills seek to have Alabama state government inappropriately meddle with private contract negotiations between franchisors and franchisees. According to industry estimates, passage of HB 352 and SB 129 would diminish Alabama’s economic output by $1 billion over the next decade. Enactment of HB 352 or SB 129 could shut off a proven path for Alabama residents to become small business owners, to the detriment of consumers and the economy as a whole. Passage of these bills would send the wrong message about Alabama – that it is hostile to investment, job creation, and commerce – at a time when it is most disadvantageous to send such a message. A Particularly Important Time to Reduce State Tax & Regulatory Burdens It’s no coincidence that the U.S. has reclaimed the number one spot on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index following the enactment of federal tax reform that significantly cut federal income tax rates, for both individuals and businesses. It’s clear that many investors, CEOs, and site selectors are bullish on the U.S. relative to other potential destinations for their capital. Yet once business owners or investors make the decision to bring new capital to or create jobs in the U.S., either by relocating or expanding operations stateside, they then have 50 choices before them when it comes to which state to choose. That’s why it is more important than ever for state legislators in Alabama to do everything they can to make the state a more attractive place to invest, do business, live, and raise a family. Imposing costly and unnecessary regulations, as HB 352 and SB 129 would do, would work at cross-purposes with that goal and indicate that Alabama is hostile to business. For these reasons, I urge you to vote NO on HB 352 and SB 129 (as substituted). Americans for Tax Reform will be educating your constituents, who are counting on you to protect their pocketbooks, as to how you and your colleagues vote on this and other important issues. I wish you the best of luck and I thank you for your public service. If you have any questions or if ATR can be of assistance, feel free to contact me or Patrick Gleason, ATR’s vice president of state affairs, at pgleason@atr.org or 202-785-0266. Sincerely, Grover G. Norquist PresidentAmericans for Tax Reform
Bernie Sanders to host presidential rally in Birmingham
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will be holding a rally in Birmingham next weekend. The rally will happen at Kelly Ingram Park on Sunday, May 19 at 4 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Entrance is first come, first served. According to officials with his campaign, Sanders will use the rally to discuss voting rights, education reform, environmental racism, and eradicating poverty. The stop is part of a swing through southern states that also includes Charlotte, North Carolina, Denmark, South Carolina, and August, Georgia. Sunday, May 19 4 p.m. Rally in Birmingham with Sen. Bernie SandersKelly Ingram Park, 500 17th St N, Birmingham, AL 35203 Information for the public: This event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is encouraged. Entrance is provided on a first come, first served basis.
Alabama just one of several states considering pro-life legislation
The Louisiana legislature is halfway toward passing a law — like the ones enacted in Mississippi and Georgia — that will ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, about six weeks into a pregnancy and before many women know they’re pregnant. Alabama is on the cusp of approving an even more restrictive bill. State governments are on a course to virtually eliminate abortion access in large chunks of the Deep South and Midwest. Ohio and Kentucky also have passed heartbeat laws; Missouri’s Republican-controlled legislature is considering one. Their hope is that a more conservative U.S. Supreme Court will approve, spelling the end of the constitutional right to abortion. “For pro-life folks, these are huge victories,” said Sue Liebel, state director for the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion advocacy group. “And I think they’re indicative of the momentum and excitement and the hope that’s happening with changes in the Supreme Court and having such a pro-life president.” For abortion rights supporters, meanwhile, the trend is ominous. Said Diane Derzis, owner of Mississippi’s sole abortion clinic, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization: “I think it’s certainly more dire than it ever has been. They smell blood and that’s why they’re doing this.” Already, Mississippi mandates a 24-hour wait between an in-person consultation. That means women must make at least two trips to her clinic, often traveling long distances. Other states have passed similar, incremental laws restricting abortion in recent years, and aside from Mississippi, five states have just one clinic — Kentucky, Missouri, North and South Dakota, and West Virginia. But the latest efforts to bar the procedure represent the largest assault on abortion rights in decades. Lawmakers sponsoring the bans have made it clear their goal is to spark court challenges in hopes of ultimately overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. Those challenges have begun. Derzis’ attorneys are scheduled to go before a judge on May 21, seeking to prevent Mississippi’s heartbeat law from taking effect July 1. A judge in Kentucky blocked enforcement of that state’s heartbeat ban after the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit on behalf of the clinic in Louisville. Similar legal action is expected before bans can take effect in Ohio and Georgia, where Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed the latest heartbeat bill into law Tuesday. Kemp said he welcomed the fight, vowing: “We will not back down.” Georgia’s ban doesn’t take effect until Jan. 1. But the impact was immediate.An abortion clinic operated by The Women’s Centers in Atlanta began receiving anxious calls from patients soon after Kemp signed the law. Many callers had plans to travel from outside the state for abortions. Georgia’s heartbeat ban would have a wider impact because the state has 17 abortion clinics — more than the combined total in the other four Southern states that have passed or are considering bans. “On a typical day we will see people from North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina — all over the region,” said Dr. Lisa Haddad, the Atlanta clinic’s medical director. “And my thought is we’re not going to see those people coming here because they assume it’s already illegal in Georgia.” Dr. Ernest Marshall, co-founder of Kentucky’s last remaining abortion clinic in Louisville, said in an email that banning abortions before most women know they’re pregnant would “have a disproportionate impact on poor women and communities of color throughout the South.” Advocates for abortion rights expect judges to halt enforcement of any new bans while lawsuits work their way through the courts. That could take years. “These laws are blatantly unconstitutional,” said Elisabeth Smith, chief counsel for state policy and advocacy for the Center for Reproductive Rights, which also has filed suit over Mississippi’s ban. “But if they were allowed to go into force, they would have devastating consequences for the residents of all of these states.” If heartbeat bans are upheld, many women who are poor and have limited means to travel would have few options other than to try to terminate their own pregnancies, Haddad said, possibly using abortion drugs purchased online. Others would have to drive or fly across multiple states, said Elizabeth Nash, a state policy analyst for the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. “People would go to Florida, people would continue to go to Memphis,” Nash said. “How many states do you have to cross before you can access abortion services? It exacerbates all the issues we’ve already seen around taking time off from work and having the money to travel.” Proposed heartbeat bans failed to pass this year in several Republican-led states, including Texas. There, GOP lawmakers lost ground to Democrats in the 2018 elections, and some abortion foes were wary after courts struck down prior abortion restrictions in the state. Such efforts also fell short in Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia. Alabama lawmakers postponed until next week a vote on a proposal that would make performing nearly all abortions a felony. The measure has passed the state House, and the Senate suspended debate Thursday amid a heated dispute over whether exemptions for rape and incest should be stripped from the bill. “You can’t put a price on unborn life,” Eric Johnston, president of the Alabama Pro-Life Coalition, said Wednesday, as a legislative committee heard testimony on the state’s proposed ban. “What you have to do is protect the people that live in this state and that includes unborn children.” But Jenna King-Shepherd told Alabama lawmakers she believed the abortion she had at age 17 allowed her to finish college. She said her father, a part-time Baptist preacher furious about her pregnancy, drove her to the abortion clinic because he trusted her to make the right choice. “I’m not asking you to support access to abortion,” King-Shepherd said. “I’m only asking you to let women, their families, their physicians and their God make this decision on how they want to start their families in private and trust them to do that.” Republished
House GOP seeks women, fresh faces for 2020 challengers
Top Republicans are searching district-by-district for just the right candidates — women and political newcomers in many cases — to help them recapture the House, six months after a political tidal wave swept Democrats into control with the most diverse majority in history.Recruits include one of the few Republican women in the Oklahoma state Senate and a black political novice from Houston with Iraq combat experience and three Ivy League degrees on his resume. They are part of a GOP drive to gain at least 18 seats in the 2020 elections to win the majority — historically a tall order for the party out of power in presidential election years. Finding women and minority candidates is an imperative for an overwhelmingly white GOP openly embarrassed that just 13 of its 197 House members are women. By contrast, 89 of the 235 House Democrats are women and nearly 90 are black or Hispanic. But Republicans want challengers with other qualities too, following a 2018 election that saw the GOP lose 31 districts that President Donald Trump had won just two years earlier, many in moderate suburbs. Desirable attributes include an ability to woo moderate GOP voters who’ve turned against Trump, whose name will be atop the ballot. In some districts they want political outsiders without voting records to attack, in others it’s political veterans with a proven ability to win votes. Enticing personal stories and an aptitude for raising money also help. “You will see a party that’s reflective of the entire nation. That would mean from gender to race to others, but it will also show that we can compete in every single district,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.Democrats scoff that GOP efforts will flop because Americans care less about candidates’ attributes than about issues like buttressing health care and wages. “You can have all the interesting stories in the world, you can have an interesting background,” said Rep. A. Donald McEachin, D-Va., a candidate recruiter for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, House Democrats’ political organ. He added, “They are a party in the wilderness right now and they are deluding themselves — 2020 is going to be a lot about Trump.” GOP leaders are boosting potential challengers including Young Kim, who wants a rematch against the freshman Democrat who badly outspent her but only narrowly defeated her last year in increasingly diverse Orange County, California; Karen Handel, elected to the House in an expensive 2017 special election, only to lose re-election last November by 3,000 votes; and Tom Kean Jr., who’s seeking a House seat in western New Jersey and hopes the popularity of his father, moderate former Gov. Tom Kean, will outweigh the state’s antipathy to Trump. McCarthy says he’s met with over 30 contenders, of whom nearly 6 in 10 are women and nearly half are minorities. Rep. Susan Brooks, R-Ind., recruitment chief for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP’s campaign arm, says more than 130 women have contacted the committee about running. One group called Winning for Women and another, E-PAC, formed by Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., are also seeking female GOP candidates. So far, Republicans haven’t matched Democrats’ ability to attract women candidates. According to data collected by The Associated Press through noon last Monday, just 38 of 172 declared Republican House challengers were women, around 1 in 5. That compared to 84 of 222 declared House Democratic challengers, nearly 2 in 5. Democrats are already compiling GOP recruits’ weaknesses, including past statements, underwhelming fundraising starts and districts’ changing demographics. And there are no guarantees that Republican recruits will survive GOP primaries and be nominated. Still, Republican leaders are finding contenders like Wesley Hunt, a black West Point graduate and former Army Apache helicopter pilot who fought in Iraq and has three Cornell University master’s degrees. He would oppose freshman Rep. Lizzie Fletcher in Houston’s suburbs. “As an African-American conservative man who grew up in a conservative suburban home, my values just align very well with the suburbs of Houston,” said Hunt, 37. He traveled to Washington last week so McCarthy could introduce him to potential donors in his first run for public office.“You’re a West Point graduate, you served your nation. That’s going to give somebody an advantage over somebody that’s been in the legislature,” McCarthy said. In other areas, Republicans hope women like Oklahoma GOP state Sen. Stephanie Bice would oust female Democrats like freshman Rep. Kendra Horn. Horn squeaked past a male GOP incumbent last November in a district around Oklahoma City that Trump carried in 2016 by 40,000 votes.“I get the impression that they’re really interested,” said Bice, 45, who’s already spoken with McCarthy and other Republican leaders. In one district encompassing Staten Island and part of Brooklyn, GOP leaders are touting Nicole Malliotakis, a state assemblywoman and New York City’s only elected Republican. She’s half Cuban and half Greek, lost a 2017 mayoral race but did well in that district and has reported raising $300,000 — a decent start in a race that could cost nearly 20 times that amount. Republican leaders expect Sara Hart Weir, 37, to seek a House district that includes Kansas City, Kansas. Weir until recently was president of the National Down Syndrome Society, which gives her fundraising experience and familiarity with health issues. She says she’s met McCarthy and spoken to nearly every GOP congresswoman. She’d challenge freshman Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids, one of Congress’ first Native American women.“I don’t see why they wouldn’t want somebody with my background, my results and my leadership to raise their hand and step forward,” Weir said. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
J. Pepper Bryars: It’s time to reform occupational licensing in Alabama
Did you know that it’s against the law to braid hair, wash hair, or even plant flowers professionally in Alabama without a license? That’s because occupational licensing, originally meant to protect consumers, has gotten way out of hand. A video recently produced by the Alabama Policy Institute illustrates just how ridiculous it has become. Sure, licensing certain occupations is a good thing. We need to know our builders, physicians, attorneys, and those practicing many other specialized and potentially dangerous professions are being well regulated. But the process has evolved beyond its original intent. Sometimes, it seems to be more about controlling the market and restricting access to competition rather than public safety. “Alabama licenses a total of 151 occupations, covering over 432,000 Alabama workers, which represents over 21 percent of the state’s labor force,” wrote the authors of The Costs of Occupational Licensing in Alabama, a special report commissioned by API. The report found that the initial costs of occupational licensing are $122 million, with another $45 million for renewals plus $243 million in annual continuing education costs. Those costs are eventually passed along to the consumers. Thankfully, we have an opportunity to at least slow further growth of occupational licensing in Alabama. State Rep. Randall Shedd, Republican-Fairview, has introduced House Bill 88, known as the Alabama Sunrise Act. Under existing law, the Alabama Sunset Committee is responsible for periodically reviewing state professional licensing boards, agencies, and commissions to ensure they’re operating effectively and ethically. Shedd’s bill would reform the committee’s processes by adding a “sunrise” provision so that when a new licensing requirement is proposed, lawmakers would have an objective set of thorough standards to judge its merits. The bill states that “no profession or occupation be subject to regulation by the state unless the regulation is necessary to protect the public health, safety, or welfare from significant and discernible harm or damage and that the police power of the state (is exercised only to the extent necessary for that purpose.” In other words, it would have to be more about protecting the people than protecting the profession, used only as a last resort, and even then it would be applied to the least degree possible. The bill sets down several requirements that a proposal must satisfy before a new license is created, including: Demonstrate that it wouldn’t have an unreasonable effect on job creation or job retention, or place unreasonable access or restrictions on the ability of individuals whoare practicing the profession. Explain why the public cannot be effectively protected by other means. And provide documentation of the nature and extent of the harm to the public caused by the unregulated practice of the profession or occupation. Unless we do something now, we should expect the trend to continue. “In the past six decades, instances of occupational licensing in the United States have increased from a coverage of around 5 percent of the U.S. labor force to a present-day coverage of close to 25 percent of the U.S. labor force,” wrote Peter Q. Blair and Bobby W. Chung in a recent policy memo from the Cato Institute. Those pushing for additional occupational licensing may have the best of intentions, but we should remind them of the simple phrase uttered by a Frenchmen more than 200 years ago. His words captured the essence of the free market and became the slogan for an emerging economic doctrine that formed the bedrock of America’s prosperity. When a meddling advisor to King Louis XIV asked a group of struggling businessmen in Paris how the government could help them increase profits, a frustrated factory owner named Legendre bravely shouted, “Laissez-nousfaire!” Translation: “Leave us alone!” Contact your state lawmaker today and tell them you want some of the boards to simply leave us alone and that the Alabama Sunrise Act should receive a public hearing before the House Boards Agencies and Commissions Committee, and soon. J. Pepper Bryars is a senior fellow at the Alabama Policy Institute. Follow him on Twitter at @jpepperbryars.
John Giles: Open letter to the Alabama state senate – HB 314 – human life protection act
Senator, I plead with you, if you are dug in, please take off your boxing gloves and put on your white gloves, hit the pause button and allow me five minutes. Dr. James Robinson (Worldwide Evangelist), Jesse Jackson (Civil Rights Leader), Valerie Gatto ( Miss Pennsylvania 2014), Kelly Wright (Former Fox & Friends Anchor), Janet Sheen (Martin Sheens wife), Ethel Waters (Actress & Singer), Eartha Kitt (Singer, Actress & Dancer), Zahara Jollie-Pitt (Angelina Jollie & Brand Pitt’s adopted daughter), Layne Beachley (Seven Time World Champion Surfer), Faith Daniels (NBC Today Show News Anchor) and Tracy Carter (Daughter of Nell Carter – Singer & Actress), just to name a few have three things in common. They were are all born Americans, all made huge impacts on society and all were children SURVIVORS of rape pregnancies. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that ALL men were created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted by men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” When taking the oath of office, constitutionally one is bound to use the full force of government to protect the rights given to man by God. In taking the oath of office, it is recognized God is the giver of life, how then can one assume to decide who lives and who dies except our creator, Almighty God. I was President of the Christian Coalition of Alabama (1999 – 2006). Early on, and having raised a daughter, I had to defend one of the planks in our organization platform, “Protecting Innocent Human Life.” I knew I was going to be assaulted by my critics if I took the hypocritical view that I was pro-life except in the case of rape and incest. I had to come to the hard-sobering truth and fact that human life begins as at conception, all human life. I concluded if such a horrific act of rape or incest infected my family, my wife and I knew we would have to see this through. We could not take the life of this child over the heinous crime and sins of the father. What I did realize though as a father, that I needed to step up the protection of my daughter from being recklessly exposed. Today, I have 9 grand daughters, ages 6 months to 20 years of age and their fathers and mothers protect them in the same manner. Around 1976, after three years of marriage, we gave birth to our firstborn. We saw an advertisement on WSFA one night promoting Beacon Abortion Clinic in Montgomery. I thought to myself, when did this become legal, how did this happen and why did I let this happen on my watch. I knew then I needed to get involved and do my part to end this horrific plague that was unleashed on our country. Since that time, eradicating abortion in this country has been personally our number one issue. If you campaigned in Alabama as a Republican for the State Senate during the 2018 election cycle, to get elected you showcased your pro-life position and openly backed President Trump’s quest to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Tuesday will be a historic and defining day in your public career. I can assure you there will never ever be a more important vote in your life. Like the fraudulent Russian Dossier against Trump, Roe vs Wade was a fraud. Norma McCorvy, whom my wife Deborah and I met, was the legal pseudonym as Roe. She was used by some liberal lawyers and as you may recall, she gave birth to this baby and put it up for adoption. Jurist activist on the bench created new law over the penumbra of privacy. Since the 1973 landmark case, 50 million children have died through abortion. According to the Guttmacher Institute (a creation of Planned Parenthood), their own research indicated that less than 1% of all abortions performed were rape, incest or the life of the mother, the other 99% was birth control. If this bill makes it to the U.S. Supreme Court on the merits of its constitutionality, the courts will have to define that human life begins at conception until natural death. If the rape and incest exceptions are put back in this bill, the courts will through it out because of the hypocrisy that human life does not exist in the case of rape and incest. Human life is human life. Please keep in mind, Planned Parenthood spent 7 digits plus in Alabama trying to kill our Human Life Amendment and they used this argument of rape and incest because they know their industry will come to an end. The current bill has only one exception, life of the mother, like in the case of a tubal pregnancy. I have heard for years from politicians, how prolife they are, except in the case of rape, incest and the health of the mother. This is exactly where we are today, and under this notion, Roe vs Wade will NEVER be addresses on the merit of human life. This is right were Planned Parenthood wants you to park. In just a few days, on May 15th twenty years ago, we lost our son Micah in a car accident. We had to come to the hard conclusion that God is Sovereign, he was not asleep at the switch that night on I-65 just north of Montgomery when his car left the road. God was also not asleep when Dr. James Robinson, Jesse Jackson and these others were conceived during these acts of violence. All of us worked to pass the Brody Bill in Alabama making it a double homicide if an expecting mother was murdered. That child in the womb (regardless of how it was conceived), according to Alabama law is a human being and deserves protection by the state. Likewise, an unwanted
