A year of battles: Alabama's top political stories of 2015
Brian Lyman, Montgomery Advertise
Montgomery, AL
Even by Alabama standards, 2015 proved a contentious year. The state entered the national spotlight thanks to same-sex marriage, refugee settlement and driver’s license bureaus. A teachers' group struggled to rebuild itself. One of the Legislature’s most powerful men fought for his political and personal life.
Storm clouds build over the Alabama State Capitol Building in Montgomery in this July 23 file photo. (Photo: Mickey Welsh/Advertiser file)
Gov. Robert Bentley and both Houses of the legislature found themselves in a three-way standoff over the General Fund budget. But the governor and the Legislature also managed to pass major legislation addressing education and prison reform. The budget standoff already affects plans for 2016. The impact of the education and prison bills will emerge throughout the year.
Below, the top 10 political stories of 2015.
10. Gov. Robert Bentley and refugees: Following terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13 that killed at least 130 people and left hundreds more injured, Gov. Robert Bentley said he would resist efforts to move Syrian refugees into the state. The governor’s Nov. 15 announcement said there were no credible threats to the state, but that he “would not place Alabamians at even the slightest possible risk of an attack on our people.” The governor issued an executive order preventing state agencies from cooperating in the settlement of Syrian refugees in the state.
Other governors,most Republicans, made similar moves. To date, none of the Paris attackers have been identified as a refugee. No refugees admitted to the United States since 2001 have been arrested on domestic terrorism charges. According to the U.S. Department of State, 13 refugees settled in Alabama in October and November. None came from Syria.
Refugee aid groups questioned the practicality of Bentley’s order, noting that refugees go through an intense screening process and have legal status once admitted.
9. Turmoil at the AEA: The once-powerful Alabama Education Association went through a rough 2015 that saw one leader resign in the face of termination and one of the groups’ founding fathers lead opposition to efforts aimed at resolving the crisis in the organization.
The AEA’s Board of Directors moved to fire Executive Secretary Henry Mabry in February after an audit raised questions about “a lack of financial controls” at the organization. Mabry resigned at the end of March. The AEA entered into a trustee agreement with the National Education Association, and the board moved to make changes to the organization’s constitution that gave the elected Board of Directors greater oversight over staff decisions.
Former AEA associate executive secretary Joe Reed led the opposition to the changes, accusing NEA of trying to take over the organization. But the membership of the AEA approved the amendments after a lengthy debate in early December. AEA leaders said the approval will be a critical step in ending the NEA trusteeship.
8. Charter schools authorized: The Legislature’s Republican leadership suffered a rare defeat in 2012 when a bill to bring charter schools to Alabama went to defeat. The second attempt this spring proved much more successful.
In March, the Legislature approved legislation to create up to 10 start-up charter schools a year for five years, as well as an unlimited number of conversion charter schools. Supporters say they will better serve populations underserved by traditional schools and foster innovation. Opponents say charters put public money in private hands and note a mixed track record for charter results.
The Alabama Charter School Commission is finalizing an application draft. Charter schools could open as early as next fall.
7. The driver’s license controversy: Citing budget cuts, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency announced on Sept. 30 it would close 31 rural driver’s license bureaus. The moves would only save the agency $100,000, but ALEA officials said chronic understaffing required driver’s license examiners at more permanent locations. The affected offices issued about 8,900 driver’s licenses and identification cards in 2014, in counties with a total population of active or inactive voters of 551,000.
Critics, noting that 12 of the offices were in Black Belt counties, accused the Bentley administration of trying to make it harder for black voters to get voter identification required under state law. U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the closings, and the Department of Transportation has opened its own investigation. Former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also condemned the moves.
Both Gov. Bentley and ALEA officials strongly denied any racial motivations behind the plans to close the offices, saying the budget dictated the moves. Bentley announced in November the offices would remain open on a limited basis.
6. District lines: The fate of Alabama’s House and Senate lines is, again, in the hands of federal judges. In a 5-4 decision in March, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a three-judge panel to reconsider a 2013 ruling upholding the maps.
Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for the majority, said the judges needed to look at the individual districts to determine whether they were racially gerrymandered, as the Alabama Legislative Black Caucus and the Alabama Democratic Conference allege in a lawsuit. The plaintiffs claim legislators tried to “pack and stack” black voters in majority-minority districts, muting their voice in the political process. The state argues they were meeting the criteria of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and attempting to maintain minority representation there.
In August, the panel ordered the plaintiffs to submit maps to show whether they could meet the Alabama Legislature’s criteria for redistricting without creating districts with high minority populations. The plaintiffs did so in September. The state calls the maps “bizarre” and suggests they create new racial representation issues; the plaintiffs said the existing map “entrenches” racial divisions.
5. Mike Hubbard case: The Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives won’t go on trial for ethics violations until spring (at the earliest), but the ongoing battles between his attorneys and the state created drama inside and outside the courtroom. Responding to defense demands for a more definitive statement of the charges against the Auburn Republican, prosecutors released hundreds of pages of emails sent by Hubbard to friends and supporters in 2011 and 2012 in which he asked for investments in business enterprises, sought work and mulled quitting politics altogether.
Hubbard maintains his innocence. His team, meanwhile, pushed hard on accusations that prosecutors improperly influenced the grand jury that indicted Hubbard in 2014, citing comments allegedly made by lead prosecutor Matt Hart. Courtroom hearings in the case were almost always tense, with both sides trading accusations of bad faith on a regular basis. The hearings could also take on an unusual cast. In April, Hart cross-examined Rep. Mike Ball, R-Huntsville, about comments Hart himself made to Ball.
The case also had ramifications in the House itself, which Hubbard kept a firm grip on from 2010 to 2014. Members of the Republican caucus challenged Hubbard on tax and budget issues during the protracted budget fight. One, Rep. Will Ainsworth, R-Guntersville, attacked one of Hubbard’s rulings from the chair during a tense debate. Rep. Phil Williams, R-Huntsville, announced in September he would challenge Hubbard for the speakership, saying the criminal case was a distraction for Hubbard. Hubbard called Williams’ challenge a result of the frustrations of the protracted budget fight.
4. Gambling wars move toward armistice: After years of doing battle with the gambling industry, state officials signaled an end to the battle, if not the coming of peace. On Jan. 7, Attorney General Luther Strange wrote a memo to district attorneys around the state signaling that his office would step away from leading enforcement of the state’s gambling laws. Following up, Gov. Bentley in November rescinded his 2011 order moving gambling enforcement to the attorney general’s office.
The moves clear the way for VictoryLand in Macon County to reopen, although its legal battles are not over. The attorney general’s office is fighting an August ruling from Montgomery County Circuit Judge William Shashy ordering the office to return gambling machines seized in a raid in 2013.
In September, the state lost an appeal suit brought by Strange over electronic bingo at the Poarch Band of Creek Indians’ facilities. The attorney general’s office said it would not pursue the case further.
The moves came as legislators, while not endorsing gambling, began to see it as a solution to the endless woes in the General Fund budget. The Alabama Senate considered gambling as a possible solution to the ongoing woes in the General Fund budget.
3. Same-sex marriage becomes legal: Alabama became a surprise battleground in the final months of the same-sex marriage fight. On Jan. 23, U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade ruled that the state’s 1998 law and 2006 constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage were both unconstitutional. The decision led to joyous scenes when judges issued the first same-sex marriage licenses on Feb. 9, as well as moves in the Legislature to change the manner in which probate judges issue marriage licenses.
While most state officials were somewhat muted in their reactions to the ruling, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was not. A day before Granade’s order went into effect, Moore ordered probate judges not to follow it. Montgomery County Probate Judge Steven Reed and others, saying Moore had no authority, began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on February 9.
But a month later, the marriages came to a halt. Responding to a lawsuit brought by two conservative groups, the Alabama Supreme Court ordered a stop to the issuance of licenses on March 3, saying that they had equal power to interpret the Constitution as Granade and that the couples’ rights were not violated. Granade said that reading was incorrect, but stayed her order in May before a final resolution by the U.S. Supreme Court, which came in June.
2. Prison reform: The contentious year on Goat Hill did produce one major piece of legislation with broad support and, at least, a promise to address a major problem for the state.
The Legislature in May approved and Gov. Bentley signed a sweeping bill aimed at reducing overcrowding in the state’s prisons. In September, Alabama’s prisons were at 182 percent of their built capacity. The crowding contributes to violence in the system and has raised the possibility of a federal takeover.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster and based on recommendations from the Council of State Governments approved by the Alabama Prison Reform Task Force, aims to address the problem by focusing on pardons and paroles and attempting to reduce recidivism. The bill authorizes the hiring of 123 new probation officers and staff; creates a Class D Felony for the least serious offenses (and not subject to the Habitual Offender Act); limits incarceration time for those convicted of Class C felonies, with mandatory supervision upon release. The bill also reduces punishments for technical violations of parole.
On its own, the legislation will not solve prison overcrowding. Advocates say that the bill, paired with separate legislation to add beds to the facilities, could bring capacity down to 140 percent over five years. The Prison Reform Task Force plans to address mental health issues in the prisons in the next year.
1. General Fund woes: Most officials knew a crisis loomed in the General Fund budget, and that the fight to address it could be difficult. That fight to wound through six months and three legislative sessions – and in the end, left the chronic revenue problems in the budget only partially resolved and many agencies dealing with a new round of cuts.
The budget, which pays for most noneducation programs in the state, faced a shortfall of $200 million before the start of the current fiscal year in October. Everyone agreed there was a problem, but the governor and the Legislature split three ways on addressing it. Bentley first proposed $541 million in new revenues – mostly from closed loopholes and increased cigarette and automobile sales taxes – that never gained traction in the Legislature.
The Alabama Senate resisted most revenue measures. Leaders there pushed for the legalization of gambling and the creation of a lottery to solve the problems. Most senators opposed that. Alabama House leadership ran into fierce resistance to taxes from some members.
In the end, the Legislature approved a limited revenue package. Legislators voted to raise the cigarette tax by 25 cents, bringing in about $70 million in new revenue, and to shift $80 million in use tax money from the Education Trust Fund to the General Fund. The move gave the latter budget a needed source of growth revenue. But the new money wasn’t enough to stave off cuts to many state agencies. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management saw its General Fund budget almost wiped out.
The fight may play all over again in 2016. With revenue issues still pending, and resistance to new taxes still present, budget chairs are already warning more cuts may loom.