Martha Roby: Pro-life movement momentum is strong
As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I have the privilege each year to advocate for the priorities most important to the people who live and work in Alabama’s Second District. Among many other key issues, I have been proud to stand up and fight for a strong military and smart agriculture policy on this committee. On the reverse, I am also in a strong position fight against funding from being steered towards programs or organizations that I adamantly oppose. Recently when the Appropriations Committee approved our Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) Fiscal Year 2019 funding bill, I had the opportunity to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves: the unborn. As a member of the Labor-HHS Subcommittee, I am extremely proud to report that our bill passed by the full Committee includes the strong pro-life language I have fought for year after year and implements additional policy riders to defend life. Every single one of these measures is critically important and further ensures that no taxpayer dollars can be used for abortions. Among the key pro-life provisions included in the Labor-HHS FY19 funding bill are the Hyde Amendment, which directs that no taxpayer dollars be used to fund abortions, and the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, which bans Labor-HHS funding from being used on research that harms human embryos. In addition to these longstanding pro-life measures, our bill also includes several other important pro-life provisions that continue our efforts to assign greater protections for life under the law. These measures include the Conscience Science Protection Act, which protects the rights of health care providers that do not participate in abortion. In addition, the bill includes language that prohibits funding for fetal tissue research obtained from abortion. This measure might sound familiar because it is a direct response to the 2015 scandal that revealed how Planned Parenthood officials were systematically altering abortion procedures to preserve babies’ organs in order to sell them to researchers for profit. Planned Parenthood’s action was sick, callous, and completely inhuman. Finally, the bill includes language to prohibit abortion providers like Planned Parenthood from receiving any available funding, including through Title X family grants. This measure works hand-in-hand with the Trump Administration’s “Protect Life” rule, which also directs that Planned Parenthood is not eligible to receive Title X grant money. As I have said many, many times: Abortion is not family planning. Abortion is not health care. Organizations that offer these services should not receive taxpayer dollars that are intended for family planning. Throughout my time in Congress, I have remained unapologetically pro-life. I believe life begins at conception, and our laws and policies should reflect a strong commitment to defending life at every stage. I have considered it a great privilege to have a platform with which I can serve as a voice for the voiceless. After eight long years of coming up short pro-life victories, I am encouraged that we now have a President who supports our efforts and is willing to sign important measures into law. The pro-life movement’s momentum is strong, and I look forward to seeing it grow as we continue to impact meaningful change on behalf of the unborn. I am eager to support our Labor-HHS funding bill when it comes before the full House for a vote. ••• Martha Roby represents Alabama’s Second Congressional District. She lives in Montgomery, Alabama with her husband Riley and their two children.
Birmingham City Council unanimously approves $436 million budget
The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the city’s 2019 operating budget with an 8-0 vote. District 1 Councilwoman Lashunda Scales was not present for the vote. The City Council unanimously passes the FY 2018-2019 City Budget. — Bham City Council (@citycouncilbham) June 19, 2018 The $436 million budget will go into effect July 1. The budget comes in $8 million bigger than last year’s budget, due to revenue growth from the use and occupational taxes. “Passing a budget on time is important not just to our citizens, but also for all the city departments that provide services to the public,” Council President Valerie Abbott said. “I think this budget was a good compromise. In government, you have limited resources and unlimited needs. By passing this budget unanimously today it shows that the Council and Mayor recognize we are in this together and we want to get things done.” Following the budget’s approval, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said he was encouraged by the cooperation of the Council throughout the budget process. “For me it is about taking the time to understand each Councilor’s request,” Woodfin said. “We wanted to make sure we incorporated a majority of wants and needs. We’re not able to get everything for everyone, but for the most part I think we accomplished that.”
Martha Roby: House takes step to cut wasteful spending
It’s no secret that the national debt continues to become an ever-increasing problem in this country. The number has now cleared $20 trillion, and with every dollar added, it becomes ever more critical that we find ways to cut spending and balance the budget. That’s why I’m proud that the Trump Administration recently submitted to Congress the largest rescission package in our nation’s history in an effort to cut nearly $15 billion of old government funding that is unnecessary, expired, unused, or cannot be used for its original purpose. I support the use of the commonsense rescission tool to identify and weed out at least a portion of government waste. Title X of the 1974 Congressional Budget Impoundment Control Act gives the President authority to use this tool. The President has the ability to propose the rescinding, or cutting, of specific funds previously approved by Congress. Over the years, this smart measure has been used by presidents on both sides of the aisle, and I am glad that the Trump Administration is now utilizing this tool, too. I am proud to report that the House recently took action on the Administration’s rescission request by passing H.R. 3, the Spending Cuts to Expired and Unnecessary Programs Act. Before this important piece of legislation was drafted, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) worked to find wasteful, unnecessary spending that should be returned to the Treasury. Many of the funds OMB identified have been sitting around gathering dust in stagnant programs – and they aren’t just pennies and loose change. For example, the type of funds cut by H.R. 3 include $4.3 billion from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, which hasn’t made a loan since 2011, $523 million from the Title 17 Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program, which has not had the authority to make new loans since 2011, and $133 million from the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Extended Benefits Program, which completely expired in 2012. Needless to say, these are all examples of unused government funding, and I am pleased the House has acted to cut them from the budget. However, there has been some misinformation spread about what the Administration’s rescission package actually does, so I’d like to set the record straight. Some have claimed that the rescission request cuts active, current funding from important programs, such as the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) on which many families depend. This is false. Congress recently reauthorized CHIP funding for a total of ten years, and this measure does nothing to change current funding levels. There are many federal programs that are left with significant amounts of leftover funding that should absolutely be returned to the Treasury. For the sake of our national debt, we cannot allow programs and organizations to hoard leftover, excess funding that allows them to overspend their budgets in the future. Congress has a financial responsibility to the hardworking taxpayers, and I believe cutting unused, expired funding is a commonsense step toward getting our fiscal house in order. Every day I hear from constituents who are concerned about our mounting debt and frustrated by Washington’s unwillingness to address it. Finding financial stability will be a challenging task, but I believe the Administration’s rescission plan is a positive step in the right direction. I’m proud to have voted in favor of the measure, and I hope the Senate acts quickly. ••• Martha Roby represents Alabama’s Second Congressional District. She lives in Montgomery, Alabama, with her husband Riley and their two children.
Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato proposes tax increases to help with budget crisis
When Hoover, Ala. Mayor Frank Brocato started looking at the city’s budget, he knew he wanted to make cuts to help to bring expenses in line with revenues, while still meeting the cities needs. But during the Hoover City Council meeting on Monday, June 4, the self-claimed fiscal conservative explained in addressing the city’s multi-million dollar budget deficit, he’s realized for the first time in almost a quarter century, a tax increase is needed. Brocato announced he would like to boost the city’s sales and use tax, as well as the lease/rental tax to 4 percent. He’d also like to increase the city’s lodging tax to 6 percent. The Mayor estimates this move would generate approximately $20 million in additional revenue for the cash-strapped city. “We can’t continue to be a great city unless we are willing to pay for the great things that we have and the excellent things we aspire to have,” Brocato explained. According to the HooverSun, here’s how Brocato proposes to spend the additional revenue: $11 million per year would go to eliminate future deficits, generate funds for routine capital improvements, and attract and retain quality employees. $4 million per year would go to Hoover schools, boosting total city contributions to the school system to $11.1 million per year, including $9 million cash and $2.1 million to pay for school resource officers. The additional money should cover $36.4 million in school capital projects, including classroom additions at Berry Middle School, Riverchase Elementary, Bluff Park Elementary and Gwin Elementary, demolition of parts of the old Bluff Park Elementary and renovation of other parts, plus $15 million in paving and roofing projects, Brocato said. The school system also could use the money to help cover operating costs, he said.$22 million would cover the city’s match needed to obtain $110 million in federal money to build a new interchange near South Shades Crest Road along Interstate 459 and improve the exit at John Hawkins Parkway. $22.3 million would go to build a new fine and performing arts center, and $1 million a year would go toward the center’s operating costs. $20 million would be spent to provide land, building site preparation, utilities, construction and traffic improvements for a $300 million project that will bring more than 1,000 jobs to Hoover. Brocato said confidentiality agreements prevent him from disclosing the company right now, but it is not a retail company. An announcement about the development should come in 30 to 60 days, he said. “It’s something that will fundamentally change Hoover for the better. We can’t afford to miss out on this opportunity.” $1.7 million would be used to build a Hoover Public Library branch in eastern Hoover, and $700,000 per year would go toward the branch’s operating costs. $500,000 per year would go to developing the city’s bicycle and pedestrian paths $450,000 per year would provide a tourism and cultural program to secure the future of Aldridge Gardens and assist with attracting major events to Hoover Brocato wants the city Council to vote his proposed tax increases July 2.
Donald Trump threatens another shutdown as budget battle heats up
President Donald Trump has warned Congress that he will never sign another foot-tall, $1 trillion-plus government-wide spending bill like the one he did in March. His message to lawmakers in both parties: Get your act together before the next budget lands on my desk. After a brief government shutdown earlier this year, Democrats and Republicans now agree on the need for budgeting day-to-day operations of government the old-fashioned way. That means weeks of open debate and amendments that empower rank-and-file lawmakers, rather than concentrating power in the hands of a few leaders meeting in secret. But Capitol Hill’s dysfunction is so pervasive that even the most optimistic predictions are for only a handful of the 12 annual spending bills to make it into law by Oct. 1, the start of the new budget year. The rest may get bundled together into a single, massive measure yet again. The worst-case scenario? A government shutdown just a month before Election Day, Nov. 6, as Republicans and Democrats fight for control of the House and possibly the Senate. Trump is agitating for more money for his long-promised border wall with Mexico. So far, he has been frustrated by limited success on that front. “We need the wall. We’re going to have it all. And again, that wall has started. We got $1.6 billion. We come up again (in) September,” Trump said in a campaign-style event in Michigan last month. “If we don’t get border security, we’ll have no choice. We’ll close down the country because we need border security.” At stake is the funding for daily operations of government agencies. A budget deal this year reversed spending cuts that affected military readiness and put a crimp on domestic agencies. A $1.3 trillion spending bill swept through Congress in March, though Trump entertained last-minute second thoughts about the measure and promised he would not sign a repeat. The demise of the annual appropriations process took root after Republicans took over the House in 2011 and is part of a broader breakdown on Capitol Hill. The yearly bills need bipartisan support to advance, which has grated on tea party lawmakers. GOP leaders such as House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and his predecessor as speaker, Ohio Republican John Boehner, have preferred to focus on other priorities. Ryan did throw his weight behind a two-year budget agreement this year that set an overall spending limit of $1.3 trillion for both 2018 and 2019, citing a need to boost the Pentagon. That, in theory, makes it easier to get the appropriations process back on track. But in the GOP-controlled House, where Democratic votes are generally needed to pass the bills, Democrats are complaining that Republicans have shortchanged domestic agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency. That’s not the case in the Senate, where the new chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Alabama Republican Richard Shelby, is determined to get the system working again. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York is on board, as is Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., himself a decades-long veteran of that powerful committee. “We want this to work,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who criticized the GOP-controlled House for continuing to pack legislation with “poison pills.” Obstacles remain, however. For starters, floor debates could lead to votes on contentious issues such as immigration, the border wall, gun control and others that some lawmakers might hope to avoid. Democrats are wary of Republicans trying to jam through the Pentagon spending bill before dealing with some agencies. And Trump could blow up the whole effort at any time. Trump is prone to threatening government shutdowns on Twitter or when he riffs in public, and then backing off when bills are delivered to him. In the House, a familiar problem awaits. Many conservative Republicans won’t vote for some bills because they think they spend too much money. That means Democratic votes are a must. But many Democrats are upset over unrelated policy add-ons pushed by the GOP, and they won’t vote for the spending bills unless those provisions are removed, which usually doesn’t happen until end-stage talks. At the same time, House GOP leaders are distracted by disputes over immigration, and they haven’t made the appropriations bills a priority. An effort led by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to cut or “rescind” $15 billion in unspent money has run into greater opposition than anticipated. Meantime, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., is unpopular with some House conservatives, who cite his votes against a recent farm bill and against last year’s tax cut measure, and that may hamper his effectiveness. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Randall Woodfin outlines $436M budget proposal, $8M increase from 2018
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin on Wednesday outlined his plans to city council for Birmingham’s 2019 operating budget, which calls for an $8 million increase over 2018’s. “It’s a new day in Birmingham. Not just through the budget process, but with how we spend tax dollars. The budget we have created falls in line with our core values and commitment to neighborhood revitalization. It represents some difficult and responsible decisions that must be made to support our priorities,” Woodfin said to the councilors. Woodfin proposed a $436 million dollar budget, that focus on five broad areas from which to work: Personnel: Includes a one percent cost of living adjustment for city employees, as well as the continuation of longevity pay. Also eliminates 133 vacant positions, saving the $4.7 million. Operations: Establishes a Preventive Maintenance Program with a plan to address the needs of the city infrastructure. Will begin with an initial investment of half a million dollars. Overtime: Identifies opportunities to reduce overtime costs through efficiency and accountability. New standards for the funding of boards and agencies: All non-departments must submit budgets that focus more on programs and services for the residents of Birmingham and not primarily to support salaries. In addition, an internal audit process of all contracts will be put in place. Neighborhood revitalization: Creates new standards to support our absolute priority of neighborhood revitalization. Reflects demands to increase funding for demolition and weed abatement, sidewalks and paving roads. Establishes of the Department of Innovation and Economic Opportunity, and a priority will be set for an increase and support in small business growth in our neighborhoods. Woodfin explained the budget review process began in January. “We held three days of departmental training, which followed with the request forms to be returned and reviewed by the Budget Office at the end of February,” the mayor explained. “Throughout this process, there were two critical messages. Each department must prioritize needs over wants. There were no sacred cows. Nothing is viewed as untouchable… the positions we have taken demand accountability from within the departments and non-departments.” Woodfin said he plans to present his budget at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, ahead of a May 20 deadline as the 2019 fiscal year begins July 1. Read a full transcript of the mayor’s plan here.
Education Trust Fund Budget clears final hurdle, heads to Kay Ivey’s desk
After a day of very few accomplishments, the Alabama State Senate returned Thursday morning to give final approval to the Education Trust Fund Budget. The $6.6 billion education budget for Fiscal Year 2019, which starts October 1 is the largest education budget for Alabama’s schools since the great recession of 2008. It expands funding for our First-Class Pre-K program, higher education and among other initiatives The State House approved the budget 98-0 on Tuesday. It now moves to Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk for approval. Ivey has already commended the measure’s passage and is expected to sign HB175 without hesitation. “I am proud to have put forward an Education Trust Fund Budget which represents the largest investment in education in a decade,” said Ivey. “As I have prioritized education, it makes me proud to see that this budget expands funding for our First-Class Pre-K program, higher education and other important initiatives. I appreciate the work of Budget Chairs Senator Arthur Orr and Representative Bill Poole in shepherding the budget and for joining with me in positively impacting education for all of Alabama’s children.” Ivey concluded, “To invest in education is to invest in our future, and I look forward to cementing that investment by signing this exceptional budget into law.”
Alabama education budget moves one step closer to Kay Ivey’s desk
Alabama legislators moved one step closer to sending the Education Trust Fund budget to Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk on Tuesday. Lawmakers in the State House gave final approval to the conference committee report on HB175, a $6.6 billion education budget for Fiscal Year 2019, which starts October 1 on a 98 to 0 vote. It is the largest education budget for Alabama’s schools since the great recession of 2008. The funding includes a 2.5 percent pay raise for teachers. The measure now moves to the State Senate for final approval, before it could be sent to Ivey’s desk to be signed into law.
Congress passes $1.3 trillion budget, averting another shutdown
Congress gave final approval Friday to a giant $1.3 trillion spending bill that ends the budget battles for now, but only after late obstacles skirted close to another shutdown as conservatives objected to big outlays on Democratic priorities at a time when Republicans control the House, Senate and White House. Senate passage shortly after midnight averted a third federal shutdown this year, an outcome both parties wanted to avoid. But in crafting a sweeping deal that busts budget caps, they’ve stirred conservative opposition and set the contours for the next funding fight ahead of the midterm elections. The House easily approved the measure Thursday, 256-167, a bipartisan tally that underscored the popularity of the compromise, which funds the government through September. It beefs up military and domestic programs, delivering federal funds to every corner of the country. But action stalled in the Senate, as conservatives ran the clock in protest. Then, an unusual glitch arose when Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, wanted to remove a provision to rename a forest in his home state after the late Cecil Andrus, a four-term Democratic governor. At one point, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., stepped forward to declare the entire late-night scene “ridiculous. It’s juvenile.” Once the opponents relented, the Senate began voting, clearing the package by a 65-32 vote a full day before Friday’s midnight deadline to fund the government. “Shame, shame. A pox on both Houses – and parties,” tweeted Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who spent the afternoon tweeting details found in the 2,200-page bill that was released the night before. “No one has read it. Congress is broken.” Paul said later he knew he could only delay, but not stop, the outcome and had made his point. The omnibus spending bill was supposed to be an antidote to the stopgap measures Congress has been forced to pass — five in this fiscal year alone — to keep government temporarily running amid partisan fiscal disputes. Leaders delivered on President Donald Trump’s top priorities of boosting Pentagon coffers and starting work his promised border wall, while compromising with Democrats on funds for road building, child care development, fighting the opioid crisis and more. But the result has been unimaginable to many Republicans after campaigning on spending restraints and balanced budgets. Along with the recent GOP tax cuts law, the bill that stood a foot tall at some lawmakers’ desks ushers in the return of $1 trillion deficits. Trump only reluctantly backed the bill he would have to sign, according to Republican lawmakers and aides, who acknowledged the deal involved necessary trade-offs for the Democratic votes that were needed for passage despite their majority lock on Congress. “Obviously he doesn’t like this process — it’s dangerous to put it up to the 11th hour like this,” said Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., who opposes the bill and speaks regularly to Trump. “The president, and our leadership, and the leadership in the House got together and said, Look, we don’t like what the Democrats are doing, we got to fund the government.” White House legislative director Marc Short framed it as a compromise. “I can’t sit here and tell you and your viewers that we love everything in the bill,” he said on Fox. “But we think that we got many of our priorities funded.” Trying to smooth over differences, Republican leaders focused on military increases that were once core to the party’s brand as guardians of national security. “Vote yes for our military. Vote yes for the safety and the security of this country,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., ahead of voting. But even that remained a hard sell. In all, 90 House Republicans, including many from the conservative House Freedom Caucus, voted against the bill, as did two dozen Republicans in the Senate. It was a sign of the entrenched GOP divisions that have made leadership’s job controlling the majority difficult. They will likely repeat on the next budget battle in fall. Democrats faced their own divisions, particularly after failing to resolve the stalemate over shielding young Dreamer immigrants from deportation as Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program has left it for the courts to decide. Instead, Trump won $1.6 billion to begin building and replacing segments of the wall along the border with Mexico. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus opposed the bill. Also missing from the package was a renewal of federal insurance subsidies to curb premium costs on the Affordable Care Act exchanges. Trump ended some of those payments as part of his effort to scuttle President Barack Obama’s health care law, but Republicans have joined Democrats in trying to revive them. Bipartisan efforts to restore the subsidies, and provide additional help for insurance carriers, foundered over disagreements on how tight abortion restrictions should be on using the money for private insurance plans. Senate Republicans made a last-ditch effort to tuck the insurance provisions into the bill, but Democrats refused to yield on abortion restrictions. Still, Democrats were beyond pleased with the outcome. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., chronicled the party’s many gains, and noted they could have just have easily withheld votes Republicans needed to avert another shutdown. “We chose to use our leverage to help this bill pass,” Pelosi said. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said as the minority party in Congress, “We feel good.” He added, “We produced a darn good bill.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama Senate approves General Fund budget, prison funding boost
The Alabama Senate on Tuesday passed a $2 billion FY19 General Fund budget. Senators voted 26 to 2 for the budget that appropriates funds for functions of government, debt service, and capital outlay for fiscal year ending September 30, 2019. Answering Gov. Kay Ivey‘s January request, the budget allocates a $3.2 million increase to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) to fund a new class of 30 state troopers. It also provides an $8 million increase for the Department of Mental Health, as well a a $4.7 million increase for the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA). “This budget protects the taxpayers of Alabama, while ensuring that the core functions of state government are adequately funded,” said Montrose-Republican and the bill’s sponsor, State Senator Trip Pittman, Chairman of the Senate Finance and Taxation Budget Committee. “We have prioritized targeted increases for state troopers, prisons, and the Department of Public Health, and level-funded nearly every other state department and agency.” The spending plan also sends an additional $51 million to the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC). The allocation of funds follow U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruling last year to a federal lawsuit, which declared Alabama’s prison system has failed to provide mental health care to the state’s prison population and is in violation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. “Given the severity and urgency of the need for mental-health care explained in this opinion, the proposed relief must be both immediate and long term,”U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson wrote in his 302-page decision. Anniston-Republican and Senate Pro Tem Del Marsh said it’s a good budget that lives within Alabama’s fiscal means without raising taxes. “This is a good general fund budget, we were able to fully fund state agencies, hire new state troopers, provide much needed money to address mental health in our prisons, and pay back debt to the Alabama Trust Fund,” said Marsh. “Although the past few budgets have been lean, through conservative fiscal practices and living within our means we have been able to come out of those years and pass a robust budget without having ever raised new taxes on hard working Alabamians.” The bill now moves to the state House of Representatives for consideration.
Alabama Senate committee OKs state employee pay raise
Thousands of state workers could see pay raises in their futures under a the 2019 General Fund budget a legislative committee approved Wednesday. The Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee approved SB178, which would go into effect Oct. 1, that gives Alabama’s 33,000 state employees a 3 percent cost-of-living increase — the first across-the board increase since 2008. The proposed budget also Provides a total increase of $80 million to the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) to help improve staffing and the treatment of mental health in the state’s prison system; Adds $53.8 million to the Alabama Medicaid Agency; Provides funds to hire roughly 30 new state troopers. The spending bill, introduced by Montrose-Republican, State Sen. Trip Pittman now moves to the Senate floor.
State House approves Education budget, teacher pay raise
The Alabama House of Representatives unanimously approved the 2019 Education Trust Fund budget on Tuesday after a few hours of debate. State lawmakers voted 102-0 to approve the $6.6 budget which provides a 2.5 percent pay raise for education employees in K-12 and two year colleges, a funding boost for pre-kindergarten by $20 million as well as additional programs, and funding for 197 more teachers in middle school grades. The bill now moves to the Alabama Senate.
