Mooncat is not impressed by what she saw in Montgomery yesterday.
The outcome of the 3/24 PACT Board meeting wasn’t exactly awful, but it wasn’t good either. The process was eminently predictable and went something like this:
- Put several dry, lengthy, financial reports up early and spend a lot of time on them.
- Put forward only two options for dealing with the current financial situation, the first of which is so obviously impossible it is voted down immediately.
- Resolve to pursue the remaining, less bad, option without significant discussion of anything else.
It’s quite a coincidence that the three-member committee Kay Ivey appointed to work with the Legislature just happens to be the three prospective gubernatorial candidates on the board, huh?
We need to keep a close eye on this situation and be ready to make a LOT of noise if we see any indications that the Legislature is considering granting the power to dissolve the program to the board. Mooncat notes, quite rightly, that if the board gets that authority, PACT participants will have to choose between whatever they are offered or dissolution.
I would be especially alert to what happens in conference once both houses have passed a bill. I would check the Secretary of State’s site and the PACT homepage every day and be on the lookout for “special called meetings.”
And how about that Rep. Artur Davis? He had a thing or two to say:
Left unaddressed was the question of whether the Board accepts a moral obligation to the parents and students who contributed to PACT, and whether any explanation can be provided for how a fund advertised as a prudent, conservative investment is apparently the only fund in the country in jeopardy of collapse.
Reps. Craig Ford and Johnny Mack Morrow have introduced bills to provide short-term funding ( HB 748) and a five-year appropriation (HB747) from the Alabama Trust fund to stabilize PACT until the stock market (hopefully) starts to recover.
Here’s what I would do:
- Take a look at those bills and make a decision about them as quickly as possible. If they are acceptable, support them, and if not, explain what needs to be done to fix them.
- Thank Reps. Ford and Morrow for moving quickly to offer a plan for public consideration, and for acknowledging that the state has an obligation to PACT contract-holders.
- Contact my state Representative and state Senator immediately, and by phone if possible. Use this zip code finder if you are not sure who represents you in Montgomery.
Tell them you expect all PACT contracts to be honored.
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Thanks, geno! Everything we need to know, all in one place.
Comment by mooncat 25 March, 2009 @ 10:37 amgeno, Me thinks Reps. Craig and Morrow are offering a solution to make the PACT parents shut up and go away.
Comment by redeye 25 March, 2009 @ 7:39 pmMay be. I am not plugged in enough pr familiar enough with these Reps to say one way or another. but, some money is going to have to be put into the program. and having a bill that people can read and publicly debating it is better than a bunch of whispering behind closed doors.
Important to keep an eye on this. Can’t let them think people have lost interest, or that people are believing that it’s saved.
Comment by Gene'O 25 March, 2009 @ 8:32 pm