If not today, when? Senate President Pro Tem Rodger Smitherman (D-Birmingham)  says he wants e-Bingo handled in the Senate before Spring Break, which is two weeks away. Smitherman dismisses critics saying this is a matter of…. wait for it…. jobs. Watch the full interview here.

Sen. Priscilla Dunn (D-Bessemer) has been one of those involved in negotiations. She wants western Jefferson county included, but says it is unlikely everyone wanting a piece of the e-Bingo action can be listed in the Bedford plan. Still, Sen. Dunn says she doesn’t want anyone to take her vote for granted.

Gov. Bob Riley and Rep. Jeffrey McLaughlin (D-Guntersville) holds a news conference at 11 this morning to urge action on McLaughlin’s PAC to PAC transfer ban. It has cleared the House, but awaits action in the Senate. Sen. Smitherman, who has taken plenty of criticism over its delays in the past, tells me he believes it will move soon.

In reporters email today: The U.S. Dept of Labor tries to build pressure on Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Kentucky). A release this morning breaks down state-by-state the individuals at risk of losing unemployment compensation if the US Senate does not act. The figure is 3,600 in Alabama. Read the release here.

Alabama’s Republican Party has opened qualifying today in Montgomery and Birmingham. It runs for the next 30 days. Link here.

Ag Commissioner Ron Sparks has taken to calling his Democratic opponent for governor Artur “Exxon” Davis. He attacks Rep. Davis congressional voting record on “Big Oil” as big on tax breaks from a lucrative lobby. Observers say Team Sparks may not be connecting the dots. Davis supported a roll back of tax breaks in ‘07 on the Clean Energy Act and tax credits for alternative energy the year later. Among the bills Sparks cites, HR 4503, which received limited Democratic support (Davis and fellow Alabama Democrat Bud Cramer supported it). It appears to be Sparks effort to seek a break from repeated questions about that $500,000 personal loan to his campaign. If you have time to kill, decide for yourself. Check Davis votes on energy and finance and anything else on the VoteSmart page here.

And Republican candidate for governor, Rep. Robert Bentley (R-Tuscaloosa), is trying BlogTalkRadio to get his message out.  A campaign release says he’ll interview fellow pols and media on “What’s Ailing You,” starting at 3pm today. First guest: radio personality J Holland (who worked on the Roy Moore campaign for governor in 2004). Check out Bentley’s site here.

Read more of Rick Journey’s blogs here.

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