During a satellite news tour provided by the Governor’s Office, Gov. Riley said he was most concerned that an Alabama lawsuit will take the state out of the room when BP splits up payments between coastal states hurt by the Gulf oil leak.

“I don’t ever want to get into the position where Mississippi and Louisiana and Florida and Alabama are all at the table and then they say, ‘well, Alabama, you’ll have to leave as we divide up this money because you have sued us.’”

During an interview on FOX6 News Good Day Alabama, Riley suggested that would leave the state without payment for “perhaps 5 or 10 years because we are tied up in litigation.”

Riley expressed those concerns in a Sebastian Kitchen story in the Montgomery Advertiser today.

King spokesman Chris Bence told Kitchen, “if British Petroleum will keep their word, which to date they have not, and they make the state and its people whole, the lawsuit can be dropped.”

Democratic nominee for governor Ron Sparks and his Republican opponent, Robert Bentley, both have said they support the lawsuit.

Read more of Rick Journey’s blog here.

He would be surprised if they didn’t take to the House floor for a dose of rhetoric on the law. Still, the veteran lawmaker “hopes” it doesn’t eat up time as the legislature returns from spring break for the final 10 days of the session.

“I don’t know of anyone who has read the final version… who has analyzed it,” Guin says.

The Walker county Democrat also knows bills were pre-filed this session in opposition of any federal health care reform bill.

Whether Rep. Robert Bentley’s HB42 or Rep. Mac Gipson’s HB47 makes any moves in committee in the final third of this session remains questionable in Guin’s eyes. Both bills call for constitutional amendments to prohibit a mandate to join any federal health care system.

“We’ve got so much stuff for the rest of this session. The budgets, the CA on the road bond issue,  John Knights food tax bill…. we’re still working on votes for that.”

Guin says about the early reaction to HCR, “sometimes you have to sit back and wait to see whats in it.”

Homewood Republican Rep. Paul DeMarco feels he knows enough about the contents and expects strong discussion this week.

“The impact this bill is going to have not only on the citizens, but the state of Alabama,” DeMarco says, “we can’t afford what they’re sending down. We already have a Medicaid crisis.”

“We cant afford it. It needs to be addressed,” he says on FOX6 News Good Day Alabama.

Rep. Merika Coleman (D-Hueytown) calls Republican criticism of the plan “political posturing… they don’t have a leg to stand on.”

Earlier this morning, Alabama Attorney General Troy King joined 6th District Congressman Spencer Bachus in Washington to detail Alabama’s involvement in a legal challenge of the federal health care overhaul. King and 11 other attorneys general say the legislation over-reaches.

The South Florida Business Journal posted the lawsuit on its website moments after it was filed in Pensacola.

Read more of Rick Journey’s blogs here.

“I’m glad to see that Commander Tyson has been relieved of his duties,” said Commissioner Ron Sparks. “Tyson did nothing but put people out of work. The bingo task force should be permanently disbanded. If the attorney general won’t disband it, or can’t disband it, I will when I’m governor. It is time to end the circus.”

 Two days after a private, one-on-one meeting with Alabama’s Attorney General, Governor Bob Riley is talking about the outcome of the talk with King.  They met Wednesday to talk about electronic bingo in the state and the governor’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling.

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.

You can watch Attorney General Troy King’s newser here.

You can watch Task Force commander and Mobile District Attorney John Tyson’s response here.

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.