Legislature Adjourns Without Education Budget

Alabama Republicans Governor Bob Riley will call a special session

by Steve Alexander

Published: Tue, May 20, 2008 - 4:25 am CST Last Updated: Thu, July 31, 2008 - 1:06 am CST

It's back to the drawing board for Alabama state legislators.
The clock struck midnight Monday and senators still couldn't agree on an education budget.
Governor Bob Riley will have to call a special session to reconsider the budget.
The sticking point among legislators was whether to give an extra $25 million to universities.
Governor Riley said, "We've got to come up with a solution. It makes no sense to come back into session and end up with exactly the same stalemate we had tonight. Everyone will go home, take a deep breath, come back with a different attitude, with uncommitted votes across, both parties, then I think we can be successful."
Republican Senator Rusty Glover of Mobile said, "I'm very disappointed that we didn't come up with a budget. I know we're going to come back next week, week after and get a budget. I think it'll be a much better budget, but it was very disappointing that we couldn't come up and get one in before this session ended."
Senator Vivian Davis Figures, a Democrat from Mobile, said, "As Senator (Hank) Sanders (Democrat from Selma) so eloquently stated, its basically the two top universities that really sort of pushed this with their lobbyists, which is the University of Alabama and Auburn University, unfortunately. And I know there are lot of fans out there for these schools, but it's just so unfortunate."
And Republican Ben Brooks of Mobile said, "What we saw today is an absolute failure of leadership in the Senate, period. We should not as a body have been put in this situation. Now, I'm not going to make excuses for either side today. We should have been able to work through a compromise today, this body should have."
The governor hasn't decided when to call the special session as of yet.

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mari Says:

Wed, May 21, 2008 at 6:37 am

How many state legislators does it take to pass a good education budget in a regular session ? We have yet to find out.
It’s a real shame.

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mandygcasey24 Says:

Tue, May 20, 2008 at 7:24 pm

While the Senate sits back and enjoys their time until the next session, first year teachers remain in libbo of whether or not we will have a job next year. We will sit back and wonder where we will get the money to pay our bills and provide for our families while the cost of living keeps rising. Go ahead Alabama and Mobile County and keep telling yourselves that No Child Left Behind is working for our children while classrooms are cramped with 35-40 students next year. For once, think about the students and stop being greedy. Public schools need teachers! Try giving that $25 million to the public schools—-how many teachers’ salaries would that money pay for? Humm…what’s $25 million divided by $36,000?

Think about it!

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