Representative Chad Fincher
Rep. Fincher, a Mobile-area Republican, was the eye of the School Flex storm this week. “Leadership relied on him to stay steady throughout the process,” one House insider told Yellowhammer Friday morning. “He really delivered.”
“I’m very excited about it,” Fincher told the Montgomery Advertiser. “I really feel like we broke the status quo of education in Alabama.”
The final vote was 65-37 — a resounding defeat for the AEA which had their lobbyists insisting to members that they had the votes to block Republicans from getting the BIR. Democrats Patricia Todd and Charles Newton join Republicans in voting for the bill. “Republicans” Steve Hurst, Todd Greeson and Mike Millican voted with the Democrats.
For successfully shepherding one of the sessions’ most contentious bills, Rep. Chad Fincher had the best week in Montgomery.
Teachers’ Union Boss Henry Mabry
As we mentioned in this week’s Rumors & Rumblings, a fierce battle has been raging for a couple of months between Mabry and RSA head David Bronner over control of the Teachers’ Retirement System board. Sources inside AEA told Yellowhammer this morning that it looks like Mabry has lost the battle. It’s yet to break publicly, but both of his candidates appear to have lost. For getting trounced in the House on School Flex, and for his failure to execute the hostile takeover of the TRS board, Henry Mabry had the worst week in Montgomery.
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