Birmingham Blues

The waters are warming up nicely and the last few weeks in the Legislative pool have been busy! Time to look back on some highlights as to where we are in improving the lives of all Alabamians.
So when you think of the Legislature improving lives, a good foundation for this is through a tide [...]

Note from Kathy: Rep. Todd sponsored HB360, which makes the Poverty Task Force permanent. It’s unfortunate that we need this in Alabama, but we do. The bill passed the House on Thursday.
As you know, poverty affects all Alabamians whether it is through raising crime rates, declining neighborhoods and even through our [...]

The Alabama 2008 legislative session opened with budget conflicts, ethics reform and the age-old mix of hope and disgust. Let the games begin…
We have been hearing for the past several months as to the dire condition of both of our state budgets—education and general. The Governor presented his proposed 2008 budget to the [...]

(My apologies for the delay in posting this — and big thanks to Patricia for taking the time to post here.  Of course, politics doesn’t take a break even when the Legislature does, so I hope she’ll keep us up-to-date in the off season.  –Kathy) 
In case you haven’t heard, the 2007 legislative session ended with a bang!
I [...]

As the House completed its 21st day in session (we have only 9 session days left) it has become apparent that the Senate will keep the Legislature from having a meaningful legislative session. The Senate is still deadlocked in a power struggle with no compromise in sight. If the Senate fails to pass the two [...]

The federal government has failed to raise the minimum wage in over 10 years.  While both the House and Senate passed a raise to $7.25 an hour phased in over 2 years, the US Senate amended the bill which sent it to a Conference Committee.  The Conference Committee has failed to schedule a meeting on [...]

The legislative session is getting interesting.
This week the House failed to pass the Budget Isolation Resolution (BIR) that would allow the body to consider a Gourmet Beer Bill permitting a higher alcohol content in gourmet beers such as those manufactured by micro-breweries.  Of course, the religious lobby worked to defeat the measure by proclaiming that teenagers would get drunk faster [...]

UPDATE:  The Alabama Democratic Party Blog has linked to Patricia’s first post here.  Thanks! 
Rep. Todd highlights the pay raise vote, discussion of a bill that would penalize state contractors who hire illegal immigrants, and her proposed minimum wage bill:
Yesterday was the countdown vote on the legislative pay raise and I again voted in opposition to this [...]

Following the lead of some of my favorite Alabama bloggers, who are going straight to the source for information and commentary on the legislature, I’ve asked freshman Representative Patricia Todd (D-District 54) to give us a newcomer’s perspective.  Some of you followed the District 54 election dispute here; I’m happy to say that’s all behind us now [...]