[Speaker’s Commission members from left: (not pictured – Lynn Robinson), Rep. Ed Henry, Rep. April Weaver, Cliff Sims, Rep. Micky Hammon, John Killian, Rep. Kurt Wallace, Rep. Barry Moore]
Speaker Hubbard’s Commission on Alabama Values and States’ Rights held it’s second forum last night in Shelby County [See notes from the Decatur meeting HERE]. Leaders from numerous conservative organizations came out to talk about issues that are important to them and their members. A few of the organizations represented were the Alabama Federation of Republican Women, Rainy Day Patriots, Alabama Eagle Forum, Alabama Citizens For Life, Shelby County Republican Party, and the Alabama Policy Institute — among others.
House Majority Leader Micky Hammon chaired the meeting and facilitated the discussion that lasted well over two hours and covered a broad range of policy issues. Some of the topics put forth for discussion by the citizen leaders in attendance included:
Predatory lending practices of pay day loan companies
Common Core Standards
Forever Wild
Budget reform
Public pension reform
Various pro-life issues
School choice
Medicaid reform
Prison reform
Requiring disclosures by state agency lobbyists
Taxpayer bill or rights
Healthcare exchanges and the healthcare compact
The Commission is planning to hold a few more meetings around the state, compile the input, and present some recommendations to Speaker Hubbard and the House Republican Caucus as they formulate their legislative agenda for the 2013 session. I believe the agenda will ultimately be made stronger by the feedback the Commission is getting directly from people all across Alabama.
We’re also pleased to be accepting online input from people across the state.
The Commission launched a website that allows you to send your ideas directly to us online — so you can participate even if the Commission doesn’t make it to your city. If you have a few minutes, visit ALValuesAndRights.com and leave your thoughts. The website also allows you to select from a list the three conservative policy areas that are most important to you. That way you can contribute even if you don’t want to get too into the weeds on specific legislative ideas.
Below is a chart that gives a snapshot of the general feedback we’ve received online so far from thousands of Alabamians. I hope you will add your voice to the debate. Together we can continue bringing conservative reforms to our state.
On a quick side note, last night was Speaker’s Commission member Lynn Robinson’s birthday. She drove a couple of hours down from Addison to spend the evening serving on the Commission. Thank you, Lynn, for your sacrifice!
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