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Another "winwin" move for Folsom Tired of the stalling tactics in the State Senate, Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom, Jr. last week used the power of his gavel and a procedural maneuver to force senators back to work, a move that will likely save the necessity and the half-million dollar cost of a special session later this year. This means the budgets and pay raises for teachers and state workers will likely pass before the legislators go home. However, later in the day with most Democrats out of the chamber, the Republican minority and five dissident Democrats pulled a maneuver of their own, making an adjournment motion and setting the next legislative day as last Thursday. The Democratic majority had planned to meet on Wednesday in order to assist eight senators who were planning to fly to Cuba on a trade mission arranged by Ag Commissioner Ron Sparks. The confusion concerning the meeting days of the Senate caused the cancellation of Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards' address to a joint session of the legislature which had been scheduled for 10 a.m. last Thursday. Edwards did hold a press conference and also attended a $1,000-per-person luncheon hosted by Montgomery lawyer Jere Beasley's firm, Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis and Miles. Most capitol observers with whom I have talked say Folsom's action was the second "winwin" move on his part during the current session. The other was when he joined with Gov. Bob Riley earlier in the session to separate feuding senators long enough to pass incentive legislation and lure the giant steelmaker, ThyssenKrupp, to Alabama.... And speaking of ThyssenKrupp, that incentive legislation, contained in a proposed constitutional amendment, must be approved by state voters next Tuesday. Also on the ballot is another important amendment, one that will help ease the state's burden of covering the future health care costs of teachers and state employees. The ThyssenKrupp amendment (Amendment No. 1) would up the state's ability to borrow under the Capital Improvement Trust Fund from the present ceiling of $350 million to $750 million. The new plant, scheduled to be built in northern Mobile County, is slated to employ 2,700 workers on site, but the overall impact could create as many as 40,000 jobs in Alabama. The state has only committed about half of the increased borrowing power contained in the amendment to the steelmaker. The remaining $200 million could aid in landing up to ten other projects around the state, including a plant with 1,500 news jobs for the Shoals area and an operation with the potential of adding up to 1,000 news jobs in Montgomery. The health care proposition (Amendment No. 2) would place in the constitution these health care funds for state employees and teachers whereby money can be set aside to offset future liabilities of these funds and the interest and dividends created could be used to cover future health care costs for which the state is obligated to pay. Health care costs are now funded annually by the state, but new federal accounting mandates force states to identify future liabilities and that could cause greater interest rates on borrowed money. Placing these funds in the constitution would ensure a future legislature could not raid the funds for other spending. Both amendments are worthy of a YES vote.... This is nothing new, but Alabama has again set a record in fundraising by State Supreme Court candidates…$13.4 million, an amount that was the highest in the land and nearly four times the amount raised in Texas, which finished in second place. Said The Birmingham News in an editorial…" Alabama is no longer tort hell, but it remains another form of judicial hell by leading the way in costly, embarrassing and destructive political campaigns for judges."... Gov. Riley has announced that Maj. Gen. John M. White, the senior ranking officer in the Alabama National Guard, has assumed command of the Guard following the resignation of Adjutant General C. Mark Bowen. As the senior two-star general and commander of the National Guard's Air Force component, Maj. Gen. White became the acting commander of the Alabama National Guard upon General Bowen's resignation. White is a pilot for Delta Air Lines. According to The Birmingham News, an Army Inspector General's report concluded that Bowen had an "improper relationship" with and "improperly provided preferential treatment" to a female National Guard officer. The report states that, after Bowen's appointment to head the Guard, the relationship between him and the officer "gained momentum and visibility." In 2006, it states, the two became closer because the officer was having marital problems. During that year, according to the report, Bowen loaned the officer $1,000. At other unspecified times, Bowen gave her gifts that included a necklace and a purse. Bowen told The News he didn't have a comment, "but I will tell you that I didn't do anything for a soldier I wouldn't have done for you or anybody else that needed any help," he said. The newspaper obtained the report under the Freedom of Information Act. Bowen was in Washington to testify at a congressional hearing about National Guard readiness last Friday and said at the hearing that Alabama's Army National Guard is below 50 percent readiness, mostly because of equipment that was left behind in Iraq during the first two rotations of Alabama troops. He said, however, that the state guard has enough equipment to handle up to a Category 4 hurricane.
Columnist Bob Ingram is taking a leave because a fall that has caused him problems. Bob Martin, a friend of Ingram, is editor and publisher of The Montgomery Independent. He will fill in for Ingram until his column returns.
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