Tag: Steve Flowers

By Steve Flowers Well, folks, the 2018 political year has begun and all of the horses are in the chute. It is going to be a good year for horse races. Perennially, the year of the governor’s race has been the best year for Alabama politics. Historically, most Alabamians have been more interested in who they elect as governor than who is president. However, we have really been more interested…

By Steve Flowers As the June primaries for our statewide races get closer, there is a lot of media attention and stories written about the power being wielded by special interests, PACs and big money. They focus on the large amount of cash and influence being bet on the horses for governor and the legislature. The Business Council of Alabama and ALFA are getting prepared to protect their friends and…

By Steve Flowers The Alabama Legislature usually gets very little done during an election year session except passage of the budgets. However, the Legislature may have to address issues pertaining to prison health care. A Federal judge has ruled that our prison mental health care is “horrendously inadequate.” This year the solution will probably be to simply add $30 [million] to 50 million to the prison budget and kick the…

By Steve Flowers The 2018 legislative session will be short and sweet. It is an election year. Historically, during the last year of a quadrennium, the legislature convenes early and passes the budgets, then goes home and campaigns for reelection to another four-year term. Our forefathers, who wrote our 1901 Constitution, must have been thinking the same thing because they designed for the fourth year of the quadrennium legislative session…

By Steve Flowers I have written about the legendary capitol reporters who use to cover Goat Hill. There was Bob Ingram of the Montgomery Advertiser, Al Fox of the Birmingham News, Hugh Sparrow of the Birmingham News, Rex Thomas of the Associated Press, Don Martin of UPI and Clarke Stallworth of the Birmingham Post Herald. A young cub reporter named Jim Bennett joined the Post Herald in 1961 and later…