Katie Britt expresses her concerns about inflation in confirmation hearing
U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Alabama) spoke about her concerns with inflation on Tuesday at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Britt questioned Dr. Jared Bernstein, President Joe Biden’s nominee to be the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), on his steadfast support for the Biden Administration’s economic agenda items. Sen. Britt noted previous statements by Dr. Bernstein downplaying inflation by claiming it was merely “transitory.” Responding to Senator Britt’s questioning, Dr. Bernstein asserted that categorizing inflation as “transitory” was “correct” but “too ambiguous.” Bernstein would not say that the term “transitory” should not have been used by the Administration. Britt pressed the case that persistently high inflation has lasted longer than the Administration anticipated when they first used the “transitory.” Senator Britt also made the case that Dr. Bernstein, a current member of the CEA, simply wants to double down on the very policies that have fueled inflation since January 2021. Britt claimed that Dr. Bernstein’s insistence on advising the President to continue pushing an “irresponsible, partisan tax-and-spend agenda” makes him unfit to serve as our nation’s chief economist – a role which traditionally is reserved for a nonpartisan, serious expert. “The last thing the American people need is a continuation of crushing inflation,” said Sen. Britt. “Instead of owning up to this Administration’s failures and committing to a course correction, Dr. Bernstein used his testimony today to deflect blame, shirk responsibility, and even claim that this economy is a success. This is a stark departure from the harsh reality facing hardworking Alabamians around their kitchen table every day. Since President Biden took office, inflation is up 15.4%. As a mom of two school-aged children, I see this firsthand every time I walk the aisles at the grocery store or fill up at the gas pump: grocery prices are up nearly 20%, while energy costs are up 36%. Simply put, the American Dream is slipping further and further out of reach. Dr. Bernstein made it clear today that we can only expect more of the same under his counsel. He should be fired, not promoted.” Real wages, adjusted for inflation, have fallen for 24 consecutive months while rising prices cost the typical household approximately $10,000 in the same period. In 2022 alone, real disposable income fell more than $1 trillion nationwide, the largest drop since 1932. In a recent poll, just 16% of Americans consider economic conditions “excellent” or “good,” while 72% of the population thinks economic conditions are getting worse. White House Press Secretary Karine Jeane-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday, “We have always said it will take some time for inflation to come down. And we may see bumps in the roads, but that’s why lowering costs and fighting inflation remains the President’s top priority.” Katie Britt won a landslide election in November to win her first term as U.S. Senator. She is a former Chief of Staff for Sen. Richard Shelby, an attorney, and formerly the President and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt vote to defund abortions at VA facilities
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate held a procedural vote on U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville’s resolution to block the Biden Administration’s rule authorizing abortions at VA healthcare facilities. U.S. Senator Katie Britt is an original cosponsor of Tuberville’s resolution and voted in favor of the resolution on Wednesday. The Congressional Review Act (CRA) gives Congress the authority to review major rules issued by federal agencies before they take effect. If Congress disapproves of a rule via resolution, the rule will have no force or effect under the law. Since this is a resolution rather than formal legislation, it is easier procedurally to bring it to the floor. “We’re going to vote to overturn it because it is illegal, it is wrong, and it abuses taxpayer dollars,” Tuberville said at a press conference prior to the vote. “In September, the VA announced they were going to start performing abortions. The VA had never done abortions before.” “Congress banned abortion at the VA 30 years ago,” Tuberville explained. “It was unanimous. One of the Senators who voted for that bill was Joe Biden. We have never repealed this law. It is still on the books, and the Administration needs to follow it. The Administration doesn’t get to change the law without a vote in Congress.” “This is about taxpayer dollars. The Administration is spending money Congress never authorized and never appropriated,” stated Tuberville. “We’re supposed to have an appropriations process in this city. Yet the Biden Administration seems to think they don’t need to follow the appropriations process.” “The Biden Administration is clearly using the VA to circumvent and erode the longstanding, bipartisan, and lifesaving law of the land that prohibits hard-earned taxpayer dollars from being used for abortions,” said Sen. Britt. “At the end of the day, the VA should be focused on eliminating bureaucratic barriers, clearing backlogs, and ensuring our veterans have access to the world-class health care that they deserve, not funding the far-left’s radical political agenda. I will continue to fight to defend life, support parents, grow opportunities for hardworking families, and preserve the American Dream for our children and our children’s children.” The measure did not gain the majority threshold needed to advance. In September, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) new rule directs VA facilities to perform abortions, even in jurisdictions like Alabama where state law regulates or outlaws abortion in conflict with the federal rule. Tuberville voiced concerns that the rule makes VA healthcare facilities unfriendly workplaces for Christian doctors and nurses and potentially violates their constitutional rights to practice their religion. “We’ve got Christian doctors and nurses at VA facilities worried about getting fired because of who they are,” Tuberville said. “We don’t need to purge medical staff from our VA system right now. We want to attract people to work at the VA, not drive them away.” To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Senate Committee rejects effort to move Robert E. Lee holiday to October
On Wednesday, the Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development (FRED) Committee rejected a bill that would have moved the celebration of the Robert E. Lee holiday to the second Monday in October. The legislation would have moved the Robert E. Lee state holiday from its current position on the calendar – the same day as the Martin Luther King Jr. birthday holiday in January – to the Columbus Day holiday in October. Senate Bill 130 (SB130) was sponsored by State Senator Vivian Figures. “I brought this bipartisan bill two years ago along with the late Representative Steve McMillan,” Figures said. “We and Mississippi are the only two states that celebrate both of these men on the same day.” “We can’t move the Martin Luther King Holiday because it is a federal holiday,” Figures explained. “October was the time of his (Lee’s) death.” Figures said that Lee was indicted for treason by a grand jury, owned slaves, had slaves whipped, broke up slave families, and led an army that enslaved free Black people and killed African American federal troops who tried to surrender. Figures said that advancing her legislation would benefit the state’s image and boost the economy. A public hearing had been called on SB130, but the people asked to come to the Committee and speak against the bill were not present. The Committee voted not to give a favorable report to SB130 by a voice vote. Following the vote, Figures asked for a roll call vote. Chairman Garlan Gudger told Sen. Figures, “No, you may not.” “I want the record to show that the African-American women voted for the bill, and all of the White Republican men and the White Republican woman voted no,” Figures said. “I am disappointed, but I am not surprised,” Figures told reporters after the vote by the Committee. This is the third year the Legislature has refused to advance this legislation. Figures was not optimistic that the bill would pass next year. “I see the writing on the wall,” Figures said. “Somebody or something is putting pressure on them because even members I thought would support it didn’t.” Alabama Today asked why not move the holiday back a week so that King has a weekend and Lee has his own weekend closer to his actual birthday. “The state doesn’t want that – that costs money,” Figures said. “They don’t want another state employee holiday.” Alabama Today asked why not move it to June and celebrate it on the same days as Jefferson Davis’s birthday. “I wanted a day with a connection to Lee,” Figures said. “He died on October 12.” Figures was asked why not just eliminate the celebration of Robert E. Lee Day. “That definitely won’t pass,” Figures said. Lee, the former Commandant at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a veteran of the War with Mexico was a Colonel in the U.S. Army who resigned his commission when his native State of Virginia voted to secede from the Union. Lee then accepted a command as a general in the Confederate States of America in 1861. Lee would become a military history legend in command of the CSA’s Army of Northern Virginia. Following the Civil War, he was President of the College now known as Washington and Lee University. Lee has been admired by Americans, particularly Southerners, for over 150 years. Alabama has celebrated the life of the beloved Confederate General with a state holiday for over a hundred years. Martin Luther King was a Montgomery Pastor who was the acknowledged leader of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Civil Rights Movement. He led the voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery after the first march was beaten by State Troopers and the Birmingham civil rights protests while preaching non-violence. King is a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and is noted for his speeches and writings, including “A Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and his “I Have a Dream Speech.” King was assassinated in Memphis in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the bill making King’s birthday a national holiday. When King’s birthday became a holiday, the Alabama Legislature moved the already existing Robert E. Lee holiday to the same day as the King holiday. Wednesday was the 12th legislative day of the 2023 Alabama Regular Legislative Session. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
U.S. Supreme Court extends access to abortion pill to Friday
The Supreme Court is leaving women’s access to a widely used abortion pill untouched until at least Friday, while the justices consider whether to allow restrictions on the drug mifepristone to take effect. The court is dealing with a new abortion controversy less than a year after its conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed more than a dozen states to effectively ban abortion outright. At stake now is whether to allow restrictions on mifepristone ordered by a lower court to take effect while a legal challenge to the medication’s Food and Drug Administration approval continues. The justices had at first given themselves a Wednesday evening deadline in a fast-moving case from Texas in which abortion opponents are seeking to roll back FDA approval of mifepristone, which is used in the most common method of abortion in the United States. But on Wednesday afternoon, Justice Samuel Alito issued a one-sentence order giving the court more time and indicating it expects to act by Friday night. Alito, the justice in charge of handling emergency appeals from Texas, provided no explanation. The justices are scheduled to meet for a private conference Friday, where they could talk about the issue. The additional time could be part of an effort to craft an order that has broad support among the justices. Or one or more justices might be writing a separate opinion, and asked for a couple of extra days. The drug first won FDA approval in 2000, and conditions on its use have been loosened in recent years, including making it available by mail in states that allow access. The Biden administration and New York-based Danco Laboratories, the maker of the drug, want the nation’s highest court to reject limits on mifepristone’s use imposed by lower courts, at least as long as the legal case makes its way through the courts. They say women who want the drug and providers who dispense it will face chaos if limits on the drug take effect. Depending on what the justices decide, that could include requiring women to take a higher dosage of the drug than the FDA says is necessary. Alliance Defending Freedom, representing anti-abortion doctors and medical groups in a challenge to the drug, is defending the rulings in calling on the Supreme Court to restrict access now. Complicating the situation, a federal judge in Washington has ordered the FDA to preserve access to mifepristone under the current rules in 17 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia that filed a separate lawsuit. The Biden administration has said the rulings conflict and create an untenable situation for the FDA. Even as the abortion landscape changed dramatically in several states, abortion opponents set their sights on medication abortions, which make up more than half of all abortions in the United States. The abortion opponents filed suit in November in Amarillo, Texas. The legal challenge quickly reached the Supreme Court after a federal judge issued a ruling on April 7 that would revoke FDA approval of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortions. Less than a week later, a federal appeals court modified the ruling so that mifepristone would remain available while the case continues, but with limits. The appeals court said the drug should only be approved through seven weeks of pregnancy for now, even though the FDA, since 2016, has endorsed its use through 10 weeks of pregnancy. The court also said that the drug can’t be mailed or dispensed as a generic and that patients who seek it need to make three in-person visits with a doctor, among other things. The generic version of mifepristone makes up two-thirds of the supply in the United States, its manufacturer, Las Vegas-based GenBioPro Inc., wrote in a court filing that underscored the perils of allowing the restrictions to be put into effect. In the latest legal twist surrounding the case, GenBioPro filed a lawsuit Wednesday to preemptively block the FDA from removing its drug from the market, in the event that the Supreme Court doesn’t intervene. The FDA approved the company’s generic pill in 2019, based on data and studies showing it is essentially identical to the original version of mifepristone. Both versions have been studied extensively and deemed safe for women. If the justices aren’t inclined to block the ruling from taking effect for now, the Democratic administration and Danco have a fallback argument, asking the court to take up the challenge to mifepristone, hear arguments and decide the case by early summer. The court only rarely takes such a step before at least one appeals court has thoroughly examined the legal issues involved. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans already has ordered an accelerated schedule for hearing the case, with arguments set for May 17. Mifepristone has been available for use in medication abortions in the United States since the FDA granted approval in 2000. Since then, more than 5 million women have used it, along with another drug, misoprostol, to induce abortions. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Alabama’s gas prices fourth lowest nationally
Drivers in Alabama pay less to fill their gas tanks compared to other states, according to data from the American Automobile Association. The association says the state’s average gas price is $3.29 – 39 cents below the national average of $3.68. It’s the fourth-lowest price in the country, trailing only Mississippi ($3.17), Arkansas ($3.25), and Louisiana ($3.29). The cheapest gasoline to be found in Alabama is the Anniston-Oxford metropolitan area ($3.23 per gallon) and Gadsden ($3.24). The areas ranked 17th and 18th nationally in terms of metro area gasoline prices. The most expensive gas in the state is in coastal Baldwin County, where drivers pay $3.35 per gallon. The national average is $3.68 per gallon, with the highest prices in California ($4.91), Hawaii ($4.79), Arizona ($4.67), Washington ($4.55), and Nevada ($4.28). According to the association, gas prices have increased 14 cents since March 29. Prices are going up nationally, and Alabama is no different, as the average price for regular climbed from $3.09 last month to this month’s $3.29, an increase of 6.74%. This time last year, drivers spent $3.83 per gallon – 14% higher than the current state average. Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter is optimistic about cutting grocery tax
On Tuesday, Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter said that he was “optimistic” about passing a grocery tax cut in the current legislative session. Currently, the State of Alabama taxes groceries at a rate of four percent. Alabama is one of only a handful of states that charges a sales tax on foodstuffs. The state had over $3 billion in surpluses that rolled over from fiscal year 2022 to fiscal year 2023 on October 1. Most of that is in the education trust fund (ETF)) that rolled over from fiscal year 2022 to fiscal year 2023 on October 1. Before the session, there was talk of giving a one-time tax rebate to every income taxpayer. Governor Kay Ivey included that proposal in her State of the State address in March. Ledbetter said that the leadership has been polling members and the public on tax cuts versus a tax rebate, and the consensus of the Republican Caucus is to do tax cuts. “We asked them (House members) rebates or tax cuts, and they said tax cuts,” Ledbetter said. “We have moved in that direction.” A recent poll by the Alabama Republican Party showed that voters preferred cutting the grocery tax from 82 percent to 18 percent. “I like Lieutenant Governor [Will] Ainsworth’s plan,” Ledbetter said. “I think we have got to be cautious. What we are talking about spending is going to take a big chunk from the ETF,” Ledbetter said. “We need to be conservative with our spending.” The legislature will consider the state general fund (SGF) budget in the next few legislative days. The education trust fund budget (ETF) should be coming out of committee in the Senate within the next two weeks. “I am optimistic,” Ledbetter said of cutting the grocery tax. Ledbetter said that the House is looking at Sen. Arthur Orr’s bill that phases out the grocery tax over time. “It is very possible that we are going to see some changes,” Ledbetter said. Ledbetter warned that there have been “billions and billions of dollars dumped into Alabama by the federal government.” The Speaker expressed concern about what state revenues will look like once those federal COVID relief dollars work their way out of the systems and tax receipts come down in the future. “We have got to be cautious,” Ledbetter warned. A reporter asked Ledbetter when a decision would be made on whether or not to pass a grocery tax cut. “Within the next 15 legislative days,” Ledbetter responded. Most Alabamians pay between 7 and 11 percent sales taxes on groceries. The state tax is only 4 percent. The rest is county, municipal, and/or school district taxes. If the state legislature repeals its grocery tax, those remaining local taxes on food will remain in place. The Alabama Legislature is meeting on Wednesday for the 12th legislative day of the 2023 Alabama Regular Legislative Session. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Alabama House OKs ban on trans athletes at a college level
Transgender women in Alabama would be prohibited from joining female sports teams in college under legislation advanced Tuesday by the Alabama House of Representatives — a part of a wave of restrictions on transgender people being pushed in conservative states. The House voted 83-5 in favor of the legislation that would extend a 2021 ban on transgender athletes in K-12 sports teams to include college teams. The bill states that sports teams “designated for females, women, or girls shall not be open to a biological male.” Similarly, a “biological female” would also not be allowed to participate on teams for boys and men. The legislation now moves to the Alabama Senate. “Forcing women to compete against biological men would reverse decades of progress women have made for equal opportunity in athletics,” Republican Rep. Susan DuBose, the bill’s sponsor, told lawmakers. DuBose said that “no amount of hormone therapy can undo” physical advantages. At least 20 other states have now imposed restrictions on transgender athletes at the K-12 or collegiate level, or both. Supporters said transgender women have an unfair advantage in competition, while opponents argue the bills are rooted in discrimination and fear. “This is discriminatory, and it is unnecessary. States and university sports leagues already have their own governing bodies to determine the best regulations that work for their students,” Carmarion D. Anderson-Harvey, state director for the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement. The Human Rights Campaign is an advocacy group for LGTQ+ individuals. Rep. Chris England, a Democrat from Tuscaloosa who voted against the bill, said Republicans are acting like the issue is an “epidemic” problem when they can’t name examples of it happening in the state. “This is just an opportunity for people to create an issue or a solution that is looking for a problem,” England said. And Rep. Roland Hollis, a Democrat from Birmingham, said she thinks there are more important issues for the state to address, such as gun violence rates that rank among the highest in the country. Hollis abstained on the vote, along with 13 other lawmakers. Other Democrats supported the bill, however. “It is just not fair for a man to play against the women,” said Rep. Patrick Sellers, a Democrat from Pleasant Grove. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
