Government

Cities, counties disagree on how to share possible gas tax increase

Alabama county and municipal leaders will push the Alabama Legislature this year to approve a statewide gasoline tax increase to fund road improvements, but they disagree about how any new money should be split among local governments. The distribution of funds is one of several possible sticking points for the gas tax legislation that is expected to be a major issue of the 2019 legislative session. While many lawmakers recognize the need for the first gas-tax increase since 1992, some also want more “skin in the game” from the majority of counties that haven’t enacted their own gas taxes to fund their local road needs. Meanwhile, there is the issue of the transfer of existing money from the gas tax to other state agencies. More than $63 million of existing money from the tax is pulled from the Alabama Department of Transportation each year and transferred to other agencies. Read more.

by Mary Sell

Man Behind Controversial Diabetes Treatment Pleads Guilty in Public Corruption Case

The founder of a nationwide chain of diabetes clinics pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to conspiring to bribe an Alabama legislator. Sacramento, California, lawyer G. Ford Gilbert used the clinics, including one in San Diego, to offer insulin infusion treatments that he claimed could reverse diabetes complications. Inewsource.org investigated the clinics for months, and experts it interviewed called the procedure a fraud and a scam. Medicare and some private insurance companies also refused to cover the treatments. Gilbert was indicted in April on charges stemming from a $2,000 payment he made in 2016 to then-Alabama House Majority Leader Micky Ray Hammon, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Montgomery. In exchange for the money, Hammon tried to win support for legislation that would have forced health insurer Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama to pay for Trina Health treatments. The insurance company had refused to pay for the insulin infusions at Trina’s three Alabama clinics. Read more.

by inewsource

Traffic Tie-Ups, New Sports Teams and an Anti-Crime Plan Create Challenges, Opportunities for Birmingham in 2019

Several major changes are headed to Birmingham in 2019, although some will be more apparent than others. They range from the bureaucratic – such as new members on the Birmingham City Council, ongoing personnel shake-ups at the Birmingham Public Library and calls for a comprehensive public safety plan – to the physical – including a major interstate closure and construction of a new open-air stadium at the BJCC. Read about what the year ahead looks like for the Magic City.

More What to Watch in 2019

Economy Likely to Be the Topic of the Year for Jefferson County Commission

Economic development is likely to be a primary focus for Jefferson County and the County Commission during 2019. The county hit a mother lode, or at least the offshoot of one, during 2018 with Amazon and DC Blox announcing they are establishing operations in Bessemer and North Titusville, respectively. Look for Jefferson County to continue prospecting for more golden nuggets in 2019. Read more.

By Land, Water or Air, Pollution Will Be a Controversial Topic Throughout the Year

Environmental issues have made headlines throughout 2018, and 2019 promises to be no different. Decisions will be made that affect the cleanliness of the state’s waters, air and land. Issues that will affect recycling, coal mining and solar, nuclear and hydropower generation also are looming on the horizon. Here are a few of the issues to watch in 2019.

Gas Tax Is a Top Priority in 2019 Legislative Session

A gasoline tax increase to fund road improvements is expected to be a major topic of the 2019 Alabama legislative session. Legislators also are expecting several hundred million more dollars to spend in the education budget and will be debating raises, a child literacy program and other education improvements. Other issues include funding improvements in prisons and a possible lottery proposal. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Birmingham City Council Begins New Year with New Councilors

Clinton Woods and Crystal Smitherman were sworn into office as the newest members of the Birmingham City Council on Wednesday, bringing an end to a months-long period of upheaval at City Hall. Woods and Smitherman were selected by the council during its Dec. 18 meeting to fill the vacancies left by Lashunda Scales and Sheila Tyson, both of whom resigned in November to join the Jefferson County Commission. While Woods’ swearing in was relatively low-key, Smitherman’s was anything but. The 25-year-old was joined by her family, including her father, state Sen. Rodger Smitherman, and her mother, Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Carole Smitherman, who administered the oath of office after a speech encouraging her daughter to “let no man despise thy youth.” Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Economy Likely to Be the Topic of the Year for Jefferson County Commission

Economic development is likely to be a primary focus for Jefferson County and the County Commission during 2019. The county hit a mother lode, or at least the offshoot of one, during 2018 with Amazon and DC Blox announcing they are establishing operations in Bessemer and North Titusville, respectively. Look for Jefferson County to continue prospecting for more golden nuggets in 2019. Read more.

More What to Watch in 2019

By Land, Water or Air, Pollution Will Be a Controversial Topic Throughout the Year

Environmental issues have made headlines throughout 2018, and 2019 promises to be no different. Decisions will be made that affect the cleanliness of the state’s waters, air and land. Issues that will affect recycling, coal mining and solar, nuclear and hydropower generation also are looming on the horizon. Here are a few of the issues to watch in 2019.

Gas Tax Is a Top Priority in 2019 Legislative Session

A gasoline tax increase to fund road improvements is expected to be a major topic of the 2019 Alabama legislative session. Legislators also are expecting several hundred million more dollars to spend in the education budget and will be debating raises, a child literacy program and other education improvements. Other issues include funding improvements in prisons and a possible lottery proposal. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Push to Rewrite Mayor-Council Act Shaping up at Birmingham City Hall

In a recent meeting during which two new Birmingham City Council members were appointed, councilors gave clear signals that they’re ready to take on a rewrite of the law that governs separation of powers in Birmingham’s municipal government. Interviews with finalists for the two empty seats were peppered with questions about the Mayor-Council Act of 1955. Specifically, councilors focused on controversial changes that were made to the law in 2016, which took certain powers from the council and gave them to the mayor’s office. Undoing those changes would be a priority in 2019, councilors told applicants. That process won’t be easy. Councilors will need to lobby state legislators to walk back changes they made recently. Perhaps more critically, the efforts could put the council at odds with Mayor Randall Woodfin, who would stand to lose significant budgeting power if the 2016 changes were undone. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Gas Tax Is a Top Priority in 2019 Legislative Session

A gasoline tax increase to fund road improvements is expected to be a major topic of the 2019 Alabama legislative session. “I’ve heard the governor say that’s her No. 1 priority,” Senate Majority Leader Greg Reed, R-Jasper, said recently. “That means it will be a priority for the Legislature.” Gov. Kay Ivey hasn’t yet announced all of her legislative goals for the session that begins March 5, but prison reform and funding, General Fund demands and education initiatives are expected to have lawmakers’ attention during the 15-week session. A proposal for a statewide lottery also will return in 2019. Proponents aren’t referring to it as a gas tax, but a road infrastructure improvement plan. “We’ve not done anything related to infrastructure in 26 years,” Reed said about the last statewide gas tax increase. “We’ve got bridges and highways that are in disrepair across our state.” Read more.

by Mary Sell

Congressional Votes for the week ending Dec. 21

WASHINGTON – Members of the U.S. House and Senate have gone home for Christmas, leaving a government in partial shut-down because of a dispute over funding of a wall to block Mexican immigrants from crossing over into the U.S. Before they did, the House approved a short-term funding bill, but it did not win approval in the Senate. The Alabama vote split along party lines, with Democratic Rep. Terry Sewell the only Alabama voice against the bill that would have included funding for the wall. Read more.

by Voterama in Congress

Not Just Galleria Shooting, AG Takeover of Local Cases Common

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall was criticized for taking over the case of the shooting death of a black man by police, but his office says intervening in cases held by local district attorneys is common. “We regularly assume prosecution of cases in which the local district attorney has a conflict and that has included officer-involved shootings,” Joy Patterson, a spokeswoman for the attorney general, said this week. “Since Attorney General Marshall was sworn in, the attorney general’s office has handled nearly 90 cases for district attorneys.” Marshall, a former district attorney, became attorney general in February 2017 and was elected to a full term in November. State law says the attorney general may at any time “superintend and direct the prosecution of any criminal case in any of the courts of this state.” But there was outcry last week when Marshall, citing a conflict of interest for District Attorney Danny Carr, announced his office would handle the probe into Emantic “E.J.” Bradford Jr.’s death. Bradford, who was armed, was killed by police who were responding to another shooting at the Galleria Riverchase mall in Hoover on Thanksgiving night. Weeks of public protest followed. Bradford’s family, protestors and some elected officials have said the case should have been left with newly elected Carr. He’s the first black district attorney in Jefferson County. “The first time we elect a black district attorney, he gets the first high-profile case taken away from him,” state Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham, said this week. Read more.

by Mary Sell

Jeffco Commission Approves Rebranding, Bicentennial Promotion Contract After Scales Raises Questions

The Jefferson County Commission unanimously agreed to a contract with Big Marketing and Communications today, but not without Commissioner Lashunda Scales again expressing her opposition to contracts that don’t reflect the county’s need to increase its dealings with historically under-represented businesses. Jesse Lewis spoke to the commission as it considered the contract to rebrand the county and promote its bicentennial. He said there is an oral agreement between Big Marketing and Communications and his company, Agency 54. “I trust Big Communications, and we have agreed to do half of the work and we get half of the money,” Lewis said. As the contract is for $204,560, Lewis’ company would get $101,780. “We have agreed to that and if that changes, I’m no longer interested.” Lewis said. “I strongly recommend that you approve the contract as is. If you don’t do that, it’ll be March or April before you reach a conclusion.” Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.