Strange, who took office two weeks ago today, appeared this morning on FOX6 News Good Day Alabama.

The Republican says he and Gov. Robert Bentley are “working hand and hand” on the case and he sees no reason to back out of the lawsuit filed by his predecessor, Troy King.

“I think it strengthens our hand, and the fact that the US government is in the case now, really there is no way Alabama should drop out.”

Strange also says he has met with attorneys for Greentrack about the future of e-bingo at the facility.

Last week, city leaders in Bessemer expressed a desire for guidance from the attorney general as that city considers an e-bingo ordinance.

“We made it very clear. In my opinion, gambling going on at these large casinos is illegal slot machines,” Strange told me today on Good Day.

“If they like to test these machines in court, they can have their day in court.”

Read more of Rick Journey’s blog here.

“If you are going to take jobs away, you’ve got to replace those jobs,” Rogers says of the Governor’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling.

The task force arrested 16 people, including fellow caucus member Sen. Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro), this morning during a prolonged raid of Greenetrack.

While wearing hand cuffs and sitting on a white Department of Corrections bus, Singleton called the arrest “symbolic” in a telephone interview live on FOX6 WBRC Good Day Alabama.

Rogers says he’s “outraged” by the actions of “two bullies picking on the little people of this state.”

Those bullies, Rogers says, are Gov. Bob Riley and his task force commander, John Tyson.

Greene county unemployment is 13.2%

The state unemployment is currently 10.8%.

Rogers and fellow caucus members plan to call for increased efforts by the governor for economic development in Greene county following the loss of jobs from the raid of Greenetrack.

Rogers says Riley is spending time fighting for jobs lost due to the BP gusher on the Gulf Coast.

“He should be fighting for them everywhere in the state.”

The caucus news conference takes place at 1pm at Greenetrack.

Read more of Rick Journey’s blogs here.

Rep. Marcel Black (D-Tuscumbia) says he is still working to secure the 63 votes needed to send the e-bingo bill to a November ballot. “Fluid” is the way he has described vote counting in the last 24 hours.

A bailout of the state’s pre-paid college tuition program and a billion dollar road and bridge building bond remain in conference committees today with meetings still to take place.

This morning on FOX6 News Good Day Alabama, Senate President Pro Tem Rodger Smitherman (D-Birmingham) and Senate Minority Leader Jabo Waggoner (R-Vestavia Hills) predicted passage of both plans. Smitherman says he believes a 2 1/2 percent tuition cap for PACT students opposed by the Auburn University and University of Alabama Systems will be removed in the final measure.

Rep. John Rogers (D-Birmingham) confirms that is part of the agreement still being worked out in the conference committee. About the PACT plan, he says the conference committee is “almost there.”

Rogers, who also serves on a conference committee for the road and bridge bond, has pushed for more dedicated funding for projects in the Birmingham, Huntsville and Mobile metros.

Read more of Rick Journey’s blogs here.

Among the bills pending are a bailout of the state’s PACT plan and a ban on texting while driving.

Road and Bridge Bond

Today House members face that billion dollar road and bridge proposal in the full House.

This morning on FOX6 News Good Day Alabama, two Birmingham-metro lawmakers predicted plenty of discussion before a vote today.

Rep. Oliver Robinson (D) of Birmingham says “we need to try to do what we can to bring jobs to Alabama”  in support of the bill, but adds Birmingham and Jefferson county should get a “lion’s share of the money.”

That is not the case in Birmingham legislators’ minds at this time.

Rep. Jim McClendon (R) of Springville warns the bill is “robbing the piggy bank.” That piggy bank being the Oil and Gas Trust Fund.

“The oil and gas trust fund produces hundreds of millions of dollars that go into the general fund… there is a lot of concern,” McClendon says.

e-Bingo

The House Tourism committee passed Sen. Roger Bedford’s e-bingo bill without amendment this morning.

It’s road may not get easier in the full House.

Rep. Robinson expects a tough battle in these closing days.

“We’ll have plenty of discussion on the floor and it is my hope we pass it out of the House.  I don’t know if we have the votes, but you have to give it a shot.”

McClendon believes the votes won’t be there in the full House.

Erin Dixon further sets the stage for the House debate here.

SB233

The St. Clair county Republican is finding a tough time for the Senate-passed CA giving Alabamian’s the vote to say they want to opt out of the federal health care overhaul.

“The Democrats have blocked that bill from coming before the House committee,” he says.

“We have a House committee meeting today at 12:30 and it’s not on the calender and its because its been blocked by the folks that don’t want a referendum.”

Rep. Robinson vows to do everything he can to keep it off the agenda.

House Majority Leader Ken Guin (D-Carbon Hill) has previously said state lawmakers don’t have a clear view of what is in the federal law. Guin believes it would be premature to act in this legislative session.

Tea Party activists in Alabama have urged followers to call the state house and sign petitions demanding the bill sponsored by Sen. Scott Beason (R-Gardendale) come up for a vote.

Read more of Rick Journey’s blogs here.

He believes a federal corruption probe determined that last week.

“I think it will slow the process… I don’t think anyone will try to speed this bill,” Hilliard says.

Hilliard says “lots of people… won’t stop at any measure” to block the bill, echoing Democratic cries of a politically motivated investigation.

“Ludicrous,” says Rep. Paul DeMarco (R-Homewood).

“I don’t think this bill had the votes before this occurred,” DeMarco says.

The two appeared this morning on FOX6 News Good Day Alabama.

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.