The expansion of gambling passed a hurdle in the Senate last night. After negotiating privately for two weeks, the Senate debated and passed their version of gambling bills in a substitute to HB 151 and HB 152. The Senate bills attempted to create a ...
Stephanie Holden Smith: The Casino Coast?
Baldwin County is not included in the initial list but if the voters pass a Constitutional Amendment, the un-elected, un-accountable, politically-appointed Gaming Commission will have the ability to transfer casino licenses to other locations. Locati ...
What voters should know about constitutional items on the November ballot
Election Day 2022 is now less than three weeks away. And while the focus for many voters may be on races for governor, U.S. Senate and the Alabama Legislature, there are also 10 constitutional amendments and a vote on the revised Constitution of Alab ...
Progressive politics drive the ‘S’ in ESG
This week, Missouri became the 14th state in the past several months to divest funds from large asset management companies and banks the state believes are making loan and investment decisions based on environmental, social, governance (ESG) standar ...
As states divest from ESG, Alabama is not leading, but will it follow?
“Simply put, we cannot be party to the crippling of our own economy.” Those were the words of Louisiana’s Treasurer, John Schroder, informing BlackRock that the Pelican State had already divested $560 million and would be liquidating all BlackRo ...
The free market should drive electric vehicle sales, not the government
“I believe Alabama is uniquely positioned to be a leader in the EV industry.” Those were the words of Alabama Governor Kay Ivey delivering the opening remarks at the Drive Electric Alabama EV Summit this past week. She continued, “We need to lean ...
ESG and the collapse of the free market
Last month, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall joined 19 other states in a letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, challenging BlackRock’s use of ESG as investment criteria when managing state pension funds. While many people know what ESG stands ...
Excuses are easy — Meaningful policy change takes bold leadership
As summer turns to fall, the drumbeat for the Alabama Legislature to enact meaningful tax reform legislation has picked up its pace. But there is still no action — only discussion of temporary relief and the same old excuses as to why long-term refor ...