Office of Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh
Press Clips
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
· Alabama Accountability Act scholarship donations drop by half with lawsuit pending (AL.com)
· $110M Remington plant ramping up in Huntsville, hiring underway for firearm assembly, machining (AL.com)
· Will Alabama, Nebraska Be Next to Join the Charter Movement? (Education Week)
· Alabama Supreme Court sets execution date for longtime death row inmate Tommy Arthur (AL.com)
· Judge allows ALDOT widening of Eufaula's 'Sweet Home Alabama' road (AP)
Alabama Accountability Act scholarship donations drop by half with lawsuit pending
Organizations that give scholarships through the Alabama Accountability Act have gotten only half the donations they did last year as a lawsuit against the school choice law remains unresolved.
The Alabama Department of Revenue said today that it had verified $12.4 million in donations to scholarship granting organizations created under the AAA.
Last year, the groups received $24.8 million, just under the $25 million cap set by the law.
Wednesday is the last day to qualify for a 2014 tax credit for giving money for scholarships for the 2015-2016 school year.
Donations to the Alabama Opportunity Scholarship Fund, which received by far the most of any scholarship organization last year, are off sharply in 2014.
AOSF Executive Director Lesley Searcy said it has received $641,000 from 46 donors this year, down from $17.8 million last year.
Searcy said there are individuals and corporations who want to donate but first want certainty from the court.
Montgomery County Circuit Judge Gene Reese ruled in May that the Accountability Act was unconstitutional. Reese wrote that the Legislature violated the state Constitution by putting more than one subject in the bill and changing it from its original purpose.
He wrote that the law allocated public funds to private schools and charitable organizations (the scholarship granting organizations) without the two-thirds vote of House and Senate members required by the Constitution.
Lawyers for the state and for parents who are using the Accountability Act programs appealed. The law has remained in effect while the appeal is pending.
The Alabama Supreme Court had not issued a ruling in the case as of today.
Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh and House Speaker Mike Hubbard filed an emergency motion with the Supreme Court on Dec. 2, asking for an expedited ruling.
In the motion, they said some donors were considering withholding substantial donations until after the court ruled.
A shortage of donations could result in some students who used Accountability Act scholarships to transfer to private schools this year without scholarships next school year.
"This would mean that many students' lives would be turned upside down due to the loss of their scholarships," the emergency motion said.
The nine justices held a hearing in the case on Dec. 3. Chief Justice Roy Moore said at the end of the hearing that the court would rule soon.
Hubbard issued a statement today, calling the Supreme Court's "failure to act" disheartening.
"The Alabama Accountability Act is working as evidenced by the thousands of parents utilizing school choice across the state and the schools and school districts that are choosing new and innovative ways to teach our students," Hubbard said.
"Despite a concerted effort by Senator Marsh and me to encourage an expedient ruling, it is disheartening that the Supreme Court's failure to act could limit hundreds, if not thousands, of students access to a quality education.
The AOSF's Searcy said all of the approximately 2,800 scholarships it awarded for the 2014-2015 school year have been paid.
Searcy said she was confident that if the court issued a favorable ruling early next year that AOSF would be able to raise the funds to allow those students to continue to receive scholarships.
The lawsuit challenging the Accountability Act was filed by Alabama Education Association President Anita Gibson, state Sen. Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery, and Lowndes County School Superintendent Daniel Boyd.
The AEA and Democrats in the Legislature opposed the passage of the law in 2013, saying it would siphon public funds to private schools.
Supporters of the law say it provides a new option for low-income parents who want to send their children to private school.
Marsh, who spearheaded passage of the law, has said he might propose legislation to raise the $25 million cap on tax credits for scholarship donors.
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$110M Remington plant ramping up in Huntsville, hiring underway for firearm assembly, machining
It was a big year for Remington Outdoor's new $110 million gun facility in the former Chrysler building near Huntsville International Airport.
In February, a packed auditorium at the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County buzzed with energy as state and local leaders joined Remington executives to announce a firearms assembly and machining plant that would hire up to 2,000 workers when it reached full capacity.
More than 10 months later, that momentum continues as the North Carolina gunmaker retrofits the space, which is already in pre-production and has an indoor firing range for product quality control.
Chamber CEO Chip Cherry called Remington's decision to expand to Alabama "significant" for the region and state.
"The big reason the community was so aggressive in going after this project and believed it was a really good fit is we need more people on the touch-labor side of things to be able to round out our economy," he said.
Progress in 2015
Teddy Novin, director of public affairs for Remington, said renovations are moving forward rapidly at the sprawling Huntsville plant, which is off Wall Triana Highway and was purchased by Huntsville's Industrial Development Board for $10.5 million earlier this year. Remington has agreed to rent the facility, which is led by Vice President of Operations Trip Ferguson, for $1.25 million annually.
"We have not announced a grand opening at this time; however, we are looking forward to celebrating our progress in 2015," Novin said. "As we approach this event, we will share information with the media and all of Alabama."
Remington has pledged to have 280 employees at the Huntsville plant by the end of 2015, 680 in 2016, 1,018 in 2017 and 1,258 in 2018.
Cherry, who said Remington's annual payroll will top $105 million when it reaches full employment, said workers will generate nearly $12 million annually in income taxes, and their presence will create more than 3,400 spinoff retail, restaurant, service and support jobs across the community.
Remington is working with Alabama Industrial Development Training (AIDT) to identify, train and hire workers for the Huntsville site. In July, the state agency said it had received more than 4,000 applications from prospective Remington employees.
AL.com was unable to reach AIDT, which is closed Dec. 24 to Jan. 1 for the holidays, but the organization is taking applications for qualified machine operators and maintenance and machine technicians for the gun plant.
"I'm not going to discuss specific headcount information, though I'll tell you that we're growing steadily and encourage anyone interested in employment to visit AIDT.edu for more information on opportunities at Remington," Novin said.
On the radar
Remington announced this fall it was seeking local suppliers for an "Industry Day" event at the firearms facility. Cherry said the company had a large response from applicants, which should translate to some additional work and employment for local companies.
The Chamber is currently working about 44 projects, almost double the organization's normal load. Cherry, who noted 2014 was the Chamber's best year for private-sector job announcements, said they're seeing an uptick in activity related to advanced manufacturing.
"Remington making a decision to come to Huntsville put us on the radar screen for some site selection consultancy companies we may not have been on before," he said. "2015 is already shaping up to be a great year."
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Will Alabama, Nebraska Be Next to Join the Charter Movement?
There are murmurs of charter school legislation coming down the pike in two of the eight remaining states without charter laws: Alabama and Nebraska.
Several Alabama Republican lawmakers said they plan to attempt passing another charter school law this upcoming session, according to the Associated Press. The last substantial push for a charter school law in Alabama was in 2012.
Charter school advocates put Alabama on the top of their list of holdout states that may join the other 42 states, plus the District of Columbia, with charter school laws this coming year.
There's a large push for charters in Alabama coming from outside the statehouse fueled by groups such as the Black Alliance for Educational Options; StudentsFirst, the education advocacy group founded by former District of Columbia schools chief Michelle Rhee; and the Business Council Alabama. However, there's arguably an equally strong effort to pull the state back from making the charter jump. The counter effort is led by the state's teachers' union.
Another state charter advocates have see as potentially warming up to the idea of charter schools is Nebraska. Its Governor-Elect, Republican and businessman Pete Ricketts, has said he supports charter schools, although it's unclear if school choice is a priority for him.
But, Omaha Public Schools is preparing for charter legislation should it materialize, reports the Omaha World-Herald. Several school board members say that in order to be part of shaping school choice in the state, they need to be proactive, according to the World-Herald. The board discussed earlier this week supporting an idea called 'opportunity schools', which would essentially be charter schools running under local school board oversight and other guidelines.
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Alabama Supreme Court sets execution date for longtime death row inmate Tommy Arthur
The Alabama Supreme Court has set a Feb. 19 execution date for Tommy Arthur, who has been on death row since 1983.
Arthur was convicted in the 1982 murder-for-hire killing of Muscle Shoals businessman Troy Wicker.
A lawyer for Arthur said the order setting the execution date would be contested.
Arthur would be the first inmate Alabama has put to death since 2013.
The state has since changed the combination of drugs it uses for lethal injection after it ran out of pentobarbital, the first drug used in the mix, and could not obtain more.
A federal appeals court issued a stay of Arthur's execution in 2012 because of his lawsuit challenging the state's use of the former drug combination that included pentobarbital.
This year, Arthur's attorneys opposed the state's request asking the state Supreme Court to set the execution date.
Suhana Han, Arthur's attorney, issued a statement today, saying that the new drug protocol should be reviewed by courts.
The first drug used in place of pentobarbital, midazolam hydrochloride, would not prevent intense pain from the third drug administered, potassium chloride, which stops the heart, Han wrote in an earlier court filing. The same drug was used in botched executions in other states, she wrote.
"It is wrong for the State of Alabama to execute Mr. Arthur when crucial litigation is under way, and we intend to contest the most recent order," Han said in today's statement. "The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay in March 2012 to allow Mr. Arthur to challenge Alabama's lethal injection protocol. That stay remains in effect and judicial review of Alabama's new protocol is particularly important, given that the State plans to execute Mr. Arthur using the same drug involved in botched executions in other states."
According to the Associated Press, the Alabama attorney general's office argued there was no proof the inmates suffered and called Arthur's federal claims part of a long pattern of trying to delay his execution by repeatedly challenging the execution method.
The federal appeals court decision in 2012 marked the fifth time his execution had been postponed.
The Supreme Court set Arthur's new execution date in a Dec. 23 ruling. The decision was 8-1, with Justice Greg Shaw dissenting.
The order setting the execution date means that the court denied any claims challenging the constitutionality of Alabama's method of execution, Assistant Attorney General Clay Crenshaw said in an email. Crenshaw heads the capital litigation division for the AG's office.
The Supreme Court also scheduled the execution of William Kuenzel. His is set for March 19.
Alabama death row inmate Christopher Lee Price has also filed a challenge to the new lethal injection formula.
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Judge allows ALDOT widening of Eufaula's 'Sweet Home Alabama' road
The Alabama Department of Transportation may proceed with widening a highway through a historic town made famous by the movie "Sweet Home Alabama," despite opposition from those who fear it will diminish the area's charm, a judge ruled in a decision made public Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson issued a 22-page opinion denying Eufaula officials' request for a temporary restraining order.
Department of Transportation spokeswoman Haley Ansley said Tuesday that work is expected to begin on the nearly $1.3 million project in early January.
U.S. 431 on the east side of the state is a major route to Florida Panhandle beaches. The state has widened it to four lanes from Interstate 85 in Opelika to the Florida line -- except for 0.8 miles through Eufaula's historic district. The stretch, known as North Eufaula Avenue, is lined with Southern mansions that draw thousands of tourists to the Southeast Alabama town each year, and was used as the backdrop for the 2002 movie "Sweet Home Alabama." The historic homes were built when Eufaula was an economic and social center along the Chattahoochee River.
The highway is divided by 30-foot to 50-foot-wide medians. The state plans to shave 3 feet off each side of the median to provide four lanes to relieve traffic congestion that backs up for a mile or more on spring and summer weekends. Eufaula officials contend the project will permanently damage the town's calling card.
They sued in federal court along with historic preservation groups, arguing the project did not comply with federal environmental and historic preservation laws.
The judge denied the temporary restraining order because the state is paying for the project entirely with public funds.
The judge said city officials presented a strong argument that the historic area should not be put in jeopardy. "However, in view of the fact that this is not a federal project, this is a local concern. It should be resolved at the local level -- that is between the State of Alabama and the City of Eufaula," he wrote in the decision.