Republican Tom Parker has raised more money, but Democrat Robert Vance Jr. has a larger warchest as they head into the campaign to become Alabama’s chief justice, according to reports filed this week with the Secretary of State’s Office. Read more.
Drawing financial support from deep-pocket supporters, Gov. Kay Ivey has collected more than four times as much in contributions as her Democratic challenger in the campaign leading to the November gubernatorial election. Read more.
Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh boosted her advantage over opponent Will Ainsworth in fundraising last week as the campaign for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor entered its final two weeks. Cavanaugh, president of the Alabama Public Service Commission, took in $185,500 during the period of June 23 to June 29, compared to $18,500 for Ainsworth, a state representative from Guntersville, according to financial disclosure reports the two filed this week with the Secretary of State’s Office. Cavanaugh reported spending $173,744 during the reporting period, and Ainsworth spent $288,317. The latest reports boosted Cavanaugh’s monetary contributions to $1.84 million since the campaign began last year. She reported spending $1.58 million and a balance of $258,738. Ainsworth has raised $1.16 million so far. He has spent $1.95 million and has a cash balance of $204,565. Read More.
Incumbent Steve Marshall has raised almost $600,000 more than challenger Troy King in contributions as the two campaign for the July 17 Republican runoff for attorney general, according to financial reports filed this week with the Secretary of State’s Office. Marshall, whose wife, Bridgette Marshall, died June 24, reported that he did not raise any money during the reporting period of June 23-29. But he reported a $25,000 contribution on Tuesday, after the latest weekly reporting period was over, from the Automobile Dealers Association of Alabama Inc. in Montgomery. Marshall has raised $2.41 million so far during the campaign and has spent $2.14 million, leaving a balance of $287,783 in his campaign account. King, who is seeking nomination for the job he held from 2004 to 2011, reported contributions of $39,605 during the last week of June, bringing his total for the campaign to $1.81 million. He has spent $1.72 million and has a balance of $86,870. Read more.
A new restaurant is officially headed to the Negro Southern League Museum. The Birmingham City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a funding agreement for the city’s PACE Board to build out and lease the space in the museum to Michael’s Steak and Seafood — but not before taking time to address critics of the plan. Council President Valerie Abbott started discussion by remarking that her office had received “a lot of email” regarding the deal. The main question, she said, was why Michael’s had been offered the deal — which includes two free years of rent — when other restaurants had not received offers from the city. Read more.
Voters have until July 12 to apply to cast an absentee ballot in the July 17 runoffs and until July 16 to hand-deliver or postmark an absentee ballot. Read more.
The federal trial of three men accused of conspiring to bribe Oliver Robinson when he was an Alabama state representative enters its second week Monday, following a week of jury selection, opening statements and initial testimony from several Balch & Bingham employees. The defendants in the trial are Joel Gilbert and Steven George McKinney — two attorneys for Birmingham law firm Balch & Bingham — and David Lynn Roberson, a vice president for the Birmingham-based Drummond Company. All three have been charged on six counts — conspiracy, bribery, money laundering and three counts of wire fraud. They are accused of bribing Robinson to oppose the expansion of an EPA clean-up site in north Birmingham. Read more.
In coming weeks, BirminghamWatch will look at a number of the programs on President Trump’s chopping block and ask, “What If.” Stories behind the programs targeted for elimination show why they’re valued or disdained, troubled or effective, applicable or outdated, but perhaps most of all, entangled in the lives of Alabama's people.
Trump’s wish list of budget eliminations connect with his overall efforts to get rid of programs he opposes. And that connects as well to his more recent move to rescind some of the money Congress already authorized for specific programs. On May 8, the Trump administration submitted a request to Congress to pull back $15.4 billion already approved for funding various programs. It’s called a “rescission.” On June 5, the White House had amended the rescission request, removing some cuts and modifying others. As of June 7, CNN reported, the House had approved the president’s proposal by a narrow vote – 210 to 206. The rescissions, according to CNN, are unlikely to go far in the Senate. Conservative groups urge passage of the package, while Democrats are attacking the proposed cuts. “While the package nixes $15 billion, the Congressional Budget Office estimated it will essentially only save the government about $1 billion,” according to CNN. Rescission 2018 “At the direction of President Trump, the Office of Management and Budget has worked diligently to identify wasteful and unnecessary spending already approved by Congress,” said Russ Vought, deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Specifically, the White House, said, “the proposed rescissions affect programs of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, and the Treasury, as well as of the Corporation for National and Community Service, Environmental Protection Agency, Railroad Retirement Board, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the United States Agency for International Development.” According to the nonprofit Bipartisan Policy Center, Trump’s move to rescind approved funding is unusual – at least for a president. “This budget tool is not regularly used by a president; the last time was by the Clinton administration,” the BPC says on its website. “While it is unusual for a president to seek a rescission, Congress itself regularly does rescission packages within annual supplemental appropriations so that funds that have not been spent can be used elsewhere.” Vought cast the president’s rescission request in a somewhat different light. “While this authority hasn’t been used in nearly two decades, every president from Gerald Ford to Bill Clinton successfully rescinded funds,” he wrote. “From 1974 to 2000, approximately 40 (percent) of presidential rescission proposals were enacted in some form. Members of Congress in both parties have supported rescissions packages similar to the one President Trump is proposing.” Read more.
