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Byrne pitches three E’s: ethics, education, economics in race for governor
To establish his bona fides as a reformer, Byrne told of his family’s background in politics, describing his grandfather’s efforts as sheriff in the 1920s to clean up the notorious Mobile County political machine known as “The Ring,” a gang so tough that elections required “police officers with machine guns to guard the ballot boxes,” he said. Relating that to his own experience, Byrne said he spent the last two years “cleaning up the most corrupt part of state government,” referring to his role as chancellor of the two-year college system. Convictions of several employees and state officials resulted from the probe, which is still in progress, he said. Byrne said his efforts culminated in the “no double-dipping” policy which forbids individuals from working for a community college while serving in the state Legislature, because of the conflict of interest inherent in the practice. Fourteen legislators served in both jobs at the time the policy was announced. That number is now down to six and will decline to none by the time the policy goes fully into effect this November. In addition, during his time as chancellor, “we had to swallow $70 million in budget cuts and still deliver services in the face of a 15-percent enrollment increase,” he said, adding that when the next governor takes office he will face “the worst budget crisis since the Great Depression.” Ethics reform On ethics reform, Byrne said: “State government is dirty. People down there are doing things that are wrong every day.” Referring to lobbyists, he said “They’re buying legislators.” Byrne said he favors full disclosure of every penny spent by lobbyists, observing that the current $250-per-day limit lobbyists are allowed to spend on each legislator totals an astounding $90,000 per year in potential cash and gifts. He said he also favors banning PAC-to-PAC transfers in order to allow the public to understand who is contributing to each candidate’s campaign. He also favors granting subpoena power to the state ethics commission to allow it to more effectively investigate ethics violations. “Twenty-two different boards in Montgomery have subpoena power,” he said, adding that to date, the ethics commission does not. “As I did in the two-year college system, I will require annual mandatory ethics training and background checks for elected officials and state employees,” Byrne said. Education reform On education, Byrne listed a number of reforms he would pursue. • Address the statewide dropout rate of 37 percent. “Why do they drop out? Because they can’t read and get bored,” Byrne said •Expand the Alabama Reading Initiative through grade 8 in public schools. The program now extends only through grade 3. •Bring back technical education in high school. That would dovetail with the emphasis on enhancing work-forcedevelopment training in the two-year college system, he said. “My son graduated a couple of years ago with an English degree from Sewanee. I sure wish he could weld,” Byrne said. •Enact tenure reform. Byrne said in order to fulfill their mission, public schools need to be able to remove incompetent teachers and reward teachers who are performing well. He acknowledged pursuing this goal would make him a target of Alabama Education Association lawsuits. •Allow charter schools. “They work,” Byrne said. “The governor of Florida told me ‘the single most important thing I did in my term of office was to initiate charter schools.’” Economics On economics and economic development, Byrne made the following points. •He favors giving small and medium businesses tax credits for hiring new employees. •He favors providing incentives to businesses who offer health insurance to employees. •He believes in personal promotion of Alabama’s advantages by the governor. “We’ve got a lot to sell in Alabama,” he said, giving as examples the high-tech science and aerospace industry of north Alabama, the new automotive manufacturers and suppliers of central Alabama and the budding shipbuilding and shipping industry of south Alabama. “We need a governor who wakes up every day and thinks ‘what can I do to sell Alabama today?’” Byrne told of stopping at a gas station in north Alabama over a year ago during the height of media reports of corruption in the colleges and controversy over double dipping. A hard-bitten-looking older man approached him with a not particulary friendly look and said, “Are you that Byrne fella?” “Yes, I’m Bradley Byrne,” Byrne answered, not knowing what to expect but bracing for the worst. The man came closer to him, pointed his index finger at Byrne, then poked him in the chest with it. “Don’t back down,” the man said. “You make me governor, and when the time comes to make tough decisions on critical issues against powerful special interests, I won’t back down,” Byrne said. Questions from the audience on gambling: “I’m against gaming. I’ve never been a gambler myself. It’s bad for our people and bad for our state. It’s illegal everywhere. The attorney general is not enforcing the law. That’s why it’s having to be done piecemeal. These are not bingo machines out there. They’re electronic gambling machines. What’s going to happen is that the gaming interests are going to put tremendous pressure on the Legislature to redefine these machines and make them legal. I don’t know if that can be stopped. If it can’t and if it goes legal, I think we should regulate them and tax them for the revenues.” On constitutional reform: Byrne said he favors constitution reform, without elaborating further. On state support of improving local roads: “Roads in Alabama are in bad shape and are impeding our economic development efforts. I have problems with some of the details, but I support in concept the bill in the Legislature that would fund a billion-dollar road program. Some of that would go to counties. I’d like to get the interested parties together and come up with a plan and go to the people of Alabama with it.” On illegal immigration: “Some say there’s nothing states can do on illegal immigration, and it is a federal problem, but there are things we can do. We implemented a policy of proving you’re a citizen of the country in order to attend college. I believe we can e-verify anyone hired as a state employee or as a contractor for the state.” On personal values: Byrne said he is a committed Christian and a pro-life advocate. On religion in the schools Byrne said: “I think it’s terrible how the federal courts have taken religion out of the schools. We’ve got to get appropriate religion teaching back in our schools.” Byrnes’s appearance was one in a series of visits of gubernatorial candidates at the monthly breakfasts hosted by the countycity Chamber of Commerce. |
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