• Look for LIVE tweets inside the House Education Appropriations committee meeting. #
• First bill for discussion in the House EA committee is HB99, the Education Trust Fund Rolling Reserve Act http://bit.ly/a2TSBJ,, #
• Sponsor of HB99, Rep. Greg Canfield: Education trust fund revenues are highly sensitive to the changing economy. #
• Superintendent of Andalusia Schools: I come to support fiscal responsibility, HB99. #
• Susan Lockwood-School Superintendents of AL: We support HB99. Proration is the enemy of schools making progress. #
• Jamie Blair, Superintendent of Vestavia City Schools: HB99 is a common sense approach. I support this bill 100%. #
• Henry Maybor, AEA: The Canfield approach is well intended but it is not an elixir, it won't fix the problem. #
• Maybor, AEA: You cannot fix a problem with a sledgehammer. #
• Rep. Bentley speaking HB99: I think that this makes sense. It will smooth out the bumps in the road. Education should be all local. #
• Canfield speaking on HB99: I think sometimes we build only to destroy. #
• Next bill for discussion is HB468 by Rep. Spicer: http://bit.ly/9ara89,, #
• Proponents of HB468 say it will help grow jobs and increase training in the wiregrass area. #
• Sonny Brasfield, Association of county commissioners speaks in opposition to HB468. #
• Henry Maybor, AEA, speaks against HB468 and states that it will cost the Ed Trust Fund millions of dollars. #
• Maybor, AEA: Companies should not be allowed to hold AL hostage. It is commercial terrorism. #
• Spicer: I hope Dr. Hubbert realizes that he was paying for a lot of smoke today because he was blowing a lot of smoke. #
• SB169 by Sen. Butler relating to the Hudson Alpha Institute received a favorable report from the House EA Committee. http://bit.ly/bZfgUi,, #
• The House EA committee discusses SB162 by Sen. T Little relating to PACT. http://bit.ly/9QRgNf, #
• Rep. Lindsey offers a substitute that reinstates the cap on tuition. #
• Lindsey: We are sensitive to higher ed but we are living in desperate times. #
• Lindsey: Higher Ed has got to come to grips with the rate of tuition increases they have adopted in past years. #
• SB162 by Sen. T Little relating to PACT received a favorable report from the EA committee. #
• HB504 by Rep. Newton received a favorable report by the House EA committee. http://bit.ly/aFP3ri,, #
• Look for LIVE tweets inside today's senate EE&T committee meeting. Public hearings on ethics legislation. #
• First bill up for discussion in the senate EE&T committee is SB33 relating to ethics training: http://bit.ly/ai8zuP,, #
• Senator Hank Sanders will offer a substitute to SB33 that would increase the frequency of ethics training for legislators. #
• @SenatorZeb (Z. Little) thanks Sen. Sanders for calling a public hearing on ethics and says ethics has become a campaign issue. #
• @SenatorZeb (Z. Little): The public sees through the political rhetoric that has been spewed out there. #
• Sen. Lowell Barron: We do not need to politicize ethics. #
• Barron: The ethics laws that we have now are working pretty darn good. We have seen people go to prison, be indicted, etc. #
• Barron: There is no transparency in no bid contracts. Ethics is not just a dem or rep issue, its a people issue. #
• Sen. Mitchell speaking on ethics: The use of grand standing by elected officials bothers me. #
• @SenatorZeb: We are not going to demagog this issue. we are going to try to work together. #
• @SenatorLittle (T. Little) speaks on SB164 relating to ethics definitions: http://bit.ly/dfdws1,, #
• Senator Ben Brooks speaks on SB206 relating to change in ethics code: http://bit.ly/bzzPP2,, #
• Brooks: There is a new limit on gifts, $25/occasion. Total limit on meals is $200/year. #
• Mitchell: What is a gift? Brooks: It is anything of value, even a cup of coffee. #
• Barron: I don't want us to copy Washington on anything we do because nothing they do is working. #
• @SenatorZeb: Instead of making lobbyists report buying a legislator a cup of coffee, why don't we just ban it. #
• Brooks: I don't come up here lightly with supporting the bill. I think what we do as senators, we have to be very careful about. #
• Brooks: This bill is really about public perception of what we do as senators. That is very important to me. #
• Sanders: You can't get hung up in perception, because if you do, you will always lose. #
• The Senate EE&T committee discusses SB107 by Sen. Sanders relating to ethics law: http://bit.ly/9p61ME,, #
• SB107 puts a 10 year limit on the Ethics Commissioner's term. #
• Sen. Orr has problems w/ limiting the ethics commissioner's term to only 10 years. Orr: I don't want to throw the baby out w/the bath water. #
• Bryan Taylor-Governor Riley's Policy Director: We do have a problem in this state with ethics. We certainly welcome any input. #
• Taylor: This bill requires full disclosure from lobbyists on things of value. The bill does define "things of value". #
• Taylor: This bill would end the unlimited gift giving and wining and dining. #
• Taylor: This bill would require lobbyists of the executive branch be registered with the ethics commission. #
• Taylor: This bill provides that public employees and public officials my accept football tickets if they need to be there for work reasons. #
• Taylor: This bill includes subpoena power for the ethics commission. #
• The Senate EE&T committee meeting has ended. There were no votes on ethics bills today, just public hearings. #
• ALGOP Statement on the Death of Rep. Warren Beck: http://bit.ly/duBiSy #
• Ala. Rep. Beck dies at Montgomery hotel: http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=12038891 #

Filed under: Uncategorized