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.

Debate begins on the House floor today. The nearly $5.5 billion dollar budget, buoyed by extra millions from a lawsuit and a bond, should cover all teacher slots the state provides. Earlier this session that was not expected to be the case.

Rep. Guin tells FOX6 News Good Day Alabama “local entities, depending on their own situation, may have to look at that differently” in continuing teacher slots funded locally.

The spending plan does come with one key cost to educators wallets.

“It’s a first time we have level funded PEEHIP… I think there will be some rate increase for people in the PEEHIP system,” Guin says about the Public Education Employees Health Insurance Plan.

Committee work picks up tomorrow on the General Fund budget. Guin says he wants to have the general fund up for a vote next Tuesday.

Guin, who is up for re-election with the rest of the legislature this year, calls a Republican effort to “prohibit” the federal mandate for health insurance a “campaign issue.”

Sen. Scott Beason (R-Gardendale) will join the Eagle Forum in calling for a vote on a bill that calls for the prohibition during a news conference on the Statehouse steps today. The chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus has called a 12:30pm news conference to decry the bill.

Rep. John Rogers (D-Birmingham) tells me the caucus will “push back on this state’s rights argument.”

Using a favorite term, Rep. Rogers vows “a holy war” if Beason’s bill or similar legislation by Rep. Robert Bentley (R-Tuscaloosa) or Rep. Mac Gipson (R-Prattville) makes it to the house or senate floor.

The majority leader says it is unlikely to move that far.

“I look them (bill sponsors) square in the eye and ask have you read this 2,000-plus page (health care overhaul) bill. None of them have. I think it is too early for us to know what it does. To put out a constitutional amendment on something we haven’t had an opportunity to analyze… I don’t think it would be a prudent thing.”

Read more of Rick Journey’s blogs here.

Details, the questions and methodology can be viewed here.

Supporters of a constitutional amendment dealing with electronic bingo will count votes over the weekend, leading up to Tuesday’s session. Sen. Hank Erwin (R-Montevallo), a gambling foe and candidate for Lieutenant Governor, says a large anti-gambling rally is expected Tuesday afternoon in Montgomery. Rep. John Rogers (D-Birmingham) vows “busloads” of gambling supporters will be mobilized and arriving in the capital city as well.

Read more of Rick Journey’s blogs here.

Attorney General Troy King faces many fronts at the end of this week.

First, his much-talked about announcement Wednesday about his authority over the governor’s anti-gambling task force was quickly dismissed by task force commander John Tyson.

Now, Legislative Black Caucus chairman Rep. John Rogers complains King is “backing down.” Rogers says he will turn to the U.S. Department of Justice to deal with what he calls “intimidation” of electronic bingo operations by the task force. An attorney for the city of Midfield says he won’t wait for King. He’s considering a lawsuit challenging the task force authority.

While that struggle continues, King’s Republican rival for AG, Luther Strange, sticks to mocking humor, comparing King to a groundhog.

The moderator of Tuesday’s gubernatorial forum at Samford University says Republicans Bradley Byrne, Bill Johnson and Democrat Artur Davis may have best explained their vision to a crowded auditorium of faculty, students, politicos and business leaders. Watch Birmingham Business Journal editor Craig Ey’s comments here (go to 8:16 in the video).

The Davis campaign has been aggressive this week in its questioning of Democratic rival Ron Sparks and that $500,000 personal loan to his campaign. It’s a case of “where did the money come from?” Davis asks in this campaign release.

The Birmingham News, Mobile Press Register, Mooncat at Left in Alabama and Danny at Political Parlor also want to know.

Republican Roy Moore skipped Tuesday’s gubernatorial forum to campaign in southeast Alabama. Following an interview Thursday on FOX6 News Good Day Alabama, Moore answered more questions about the race. He expresses frustration that more privately funded polls aren’t made public. Moore contends they would clearly show him leading the Republican field. He believes a recent PSA poll was slanted for Byrne. On the topic of Byrne, Moore had interesting comments about the “Bible flap” story that hounded the Mobile Republican in December and January. Moore noted Byrne’s first commercials of the campaign.

“I’m often accused for using my religion for politics,” Moore says, “so many are just saying it for politics.”

Finally, a statement from RNC chairman Michael Steele is showcased on the state GOP website concerning a legislative pickup in HD40.

Who had a good week? And who…. not so much? Let me know.

Read more of Rick Journey’s blogs here.

King just advised Gov. Bob Riley and his gambling task force to consider a 3-step plan to address electronic bingo.  He calls the task force actions “questionable and expose our state to devastating liability.”  Read here.

Last night Gov. Riley’s spokesman said King lacked credibility on this issue.

Just released, a statement from Victoryland. In part, it states “the Governor and Mr. Tyson should follow the advice given to them by the State’s Attorney General and remove our property and our citizens from their lawless threats of arrest and destruction.”

It goes on to read “if the Governor and Mr. Tyson reject the advice… the citizens will know they are acting against the best interests of our State.”

“General King will then have to decide if he will do his job….stepping in and taking over the legal process which is clearly his right under the Constitution.”

During the news conference, King said he was not setting a timeline for the governor to respond to his comments.

Read more of Rick Journey’s blogs here.

He warns if state agents arrive at GreeneTrack “without a valid search warrant, you will be met with some resistance. We will practice civil disobedience. We will not allow them to take our business and the jobs.” Watch the interview here.

Previously, Sen. Singleton has called for the Greene County Sheriff to deputize men to block a raid.

Wednesday, his bill to limit the governor’s authority in civil and criminal investigations cleared the senate judiciary committee.

Rep. John Rogers, a Birmingham Democrat and chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, says any effort to raid GreeneTrack will see the whole city “locking arms and circling the track.” Rogers says he would expect the caucus to be there, too.

“It will be back to the sixties,” Rep. Rogers vows.

Rogers says he will block bills on the governor’s agenda as long as employees from shuttered electronic bingo facilities remain out of work.

Read more of Rick Journey’s blogs here.

This morning on FOX6 News Good Day Alabama, council members Jay Roberson and Kim Rafferty pointed at the growing worries about economic development in the city.

“Regionally, we’ve got to cooperate on certain projects to create jobs,” Roberson said.

“We need opportunities for investment and bringing businesses into Birmingham,” Rafferty said, “in the past, the city stagnated in developing those opportunities.” Watch the full interview here.

Concerns about stalled economic development in Birmingham have been a topic for lawmakers, too. Rep. John Rogers (D) says the governor must focus on development this year. Rogers still appears to be hurting from the decision to keep Bryce Mental Hospital and its jobs in Tuscaloosa. Since then, he has taken part in a leadership meeting to determine new projects for the city.  Rogers even threatens to stall legislation if Birmingham doesn’t get its due.

Candidates for governor have been talking up jobs creation in Birmingham, particularly Republican Tim James. Last week, he again floated his plan of opening an office in the city to have a presence and coordinate economic development. Read his plan here and watch the news conference here.

James particularly targeted life sciences and a renewed focus on UAB’s strength as a regional research university in his plan. He’s the latest in a growing list of politicians and business leaders touching on that theme.

Last week, Birmingham metro job growth received a boost from SurModics, a spin-off of Southern Research Institute. During the announcement, Gov. Bob Riley pointed to the potential, calling SurModics “a great example of a successful business model we need to see replicated.”

Rick Journey

Critics, led by the Alabama Education Association, say the bill takes money from public schools.

“Charter schools take taxpayers dollars,” Lance Hyche tells FOX6 News.

Hyche is with the Birmingham office of AEA.

He says, “they (charter schools) don’t play by the same regulations, the same rules. We know it only weakens the public school system in Alabama.”

Charter schools are public schools, French insists. Republican strategy centers around promoting charter schools as a way to create new revenue in a budget-lean year.

That doesn’t fly with many of French’s fellow lawmakers in Jefferson county.

Rep. Oliver Robinson (D-Birmingham) says for starters, the federal dollars ($200 million, the governor estimates) are competitive, not a guarantee.

Rep. Robinson asks, “in two years, when the federal money is gone, do you take more money from public schools to fund charter schools?”

This morning on FOX6 News Good Day Alabama, Rep. John Rogers (D-Birmingham) bought time with his answer.

“I haven’t read the bill yet,” Rep. Rogers said.

Despite that fence-sitting, Rogers went to the point. He likes the potential for more federal dollars, but insists there is no chance such a bill will pass in this election year.

Watch the French/Rogers interview here.

Rick Journey