Filed under: Economy, Politics, Progressive | Tags: Alabama, Alabama PACT, Alabama Prepaid College Tuition Program, PACT
State Representatives and state Senators. Use this zip code finder if you are not sure who represents you in Montgomery. Numbers for some Senators.
Tell them the state must honor all PACT contracts.
Tell them that political football with the college educations of 50,000 Alabamians is not acceptable.
I’ve had a bit of success diggining for some documents over the past couple of days, and hope to have a bit more today. I plan to do some serious writing late in the weekend and early next week.
Filed under: Economy, Politics, Progressive | Tags: Alabama, Alabama PACT, Alabama Prepaid Affordable Tuition Fund, Alabama Prepaid College Tuition Program, PACT
From Patti Lambert, via Facebook:
Event: SAVE Alabama PACT! CALL YOUR LEGISLATOR RALLY!
“Call you legislator Friday – LETS show our VOICE to Montgomery!”
What: Rally
Host: SAVE Alabama PACT!
Start Time: Friday, March 27 at 8:00am
End Time: Friday, March 27 at 5:00pm
Where: Phone
This might help:
State Representatives and state Senators. Use this zip code finder if you are not sure who represents you in Montgomery. Numbers for some Senators.
Tell them the state must honor all PACT contracts.
And do call Rep. Holmes Alvin Holmes of Montgomery. Tell him filibusters are unacceptable on this issue.
And stay tuned for Left in Alabama for more on the board meeting.
Filed under: Economy, Politics, Progressive | Tags: Alabama PACT, Alabama Prepaid College Tuition Program, PACT
I picked up these links this morning, and just didn’t have an opportunity to post them until now.
The Huntsville Times reports a very interesting statement from State Senate Majority Leader Zeb Little [emphasis added]:
State Senate Majority Leader Zeb Little of Cullman, also sitting in on the editorial board meeting, said while it is important for the Legislature to be aware of the problem, “the worst thing we could do would be to overreact and make a quick, bad law.”
Little said one solution may be to take the PACT program away from Ivey, who is a potential Republican candidate for governor in 2010, and give it to Retirement Systems of Alabama Chief Executive Dr. David Bronner.
a la Rob has some interesting thoughts on the PACT situation, along with discussion of other happenings in Mongomery today.
Forbes carried a story ahead of the board meeting by Phillip Rawls of the Associated Press. It mentions the lawsuit; but this snippet caught my eye:
But copies obtained by The Associated Press show that its assets fell from $899 million on Sept. 30, 2007, to $431 million on Feb. 28. Its future liabilities for tuition for all participants were estimated at $933 million as of Sept. 30, 2008.
Good idea to compare this information to the numbers reported at the board meeting today.
Filed under: Economy, Personal, Politics, Progressive | Tags: Alabama, Alabama PACT, Alabama Prepaid College Tuition Program, PACT
I want to wish everyone who is going to Montgomery good luck and a safe trip. I am grateful for the hard work everyone has done up to this point to draw attention to the PACT issues and resolve them.
Many opinions have been offered on this. I am in agreement with those who have argued:
PACT participants are contract holders, and the only acceptable outcome is for those contracts to be honored.
If anyone is able to get a first-hand account, photos, or videos from the meeting, I will be thankful for the reports. I will do what I can to attract attention to them.
I do not think it is good for anyone to have a protracted debate or a political fight about whether or not the contracts will be honored. I hope the board will clear this issue up at the meeting, and that the Legislature will follow up quickly as appropriate.
Regardless of the outcome of the board meeting, I think there is still plenty of work to do on this issue for anyone who wants to do it. I am planning to continue devoting a significant amount of my research and writing time to PACT. I will also continue to reach out to other people who are working on it.
Once we see what happens tomorrow and do what we can to shine a spotlight on the meeting itself, I’ll post my next steps in a diary here. I will update the PACT page , or add additional pages to the sidebar, and post diaries with new information at Left in Alabama as necessary.
I’m back to my 8-5 life now. That means back to blogging mainly in the evenings. I won’t be able to respond to communication or turn out posts as quickly as I have been for the last 10 days or so, but I am still paying attention to this. Still willing to devote a large part of my blogging time to it. Still trying to answer many of the questions we’ve raised.
I am hoping for a large crowd and a good decision at the meeting.
Cross-Posted at Left in Alabama
Filed under: Community, Economy, Politics, Progressive | Tags: activism, Alabama, Alabama PACT, Alabama Prepaid College Tuition Program, PACT
Much better and more complete contact information than I’ve got, including phone numbers for most board members, is here.
And check out this phone list, too. Looks like state legislators to me.
You’ve got one day — TODAY! to call or e-mail these people and tell them to to hold up their end of the deal.
So. If you’re concerned about what’s going to happen on Tuesday, better get it done.
Filed under: Politics, Progressive | Tags: Alabama, Alabama PACT, Alabama Prepaid College Tuition Program, PACT
I posted the numbered comments on Facebook last week, and promised do do a better job elaborating in it. I’ll go point-by-point and provide specific links to explain them. I am happy someone asked for this, and I should have done it sooner.
Here’s what we’ve accomplished so far.
1. Done a better job covering the meeting in-depth than any news organization, either inside our outside the state, and posted several videos from the meeting.
Meeting coverage part1, part2, part3, part 4 and part 5. There’s more than 15 minutes of video scattered through those five posts. You can go straight to youtube for the video if you’d like to use it. Critique of the way the meeting was handled. Plus, I’ve posted a other things that used the material in these posts and linked to them.
Combine all this with items in #2 below, and I don’t see how any news organization has produced more or better coverage of this issue.
2. Analyzed the investment strategy to see what the problem is.
Basic analysis. Elaboration and some other issues.
Excellent series making a valiant effort to investigate how the money was managed. Now into its seventh installment. Just scroll down to part one and read them all in chronological order. Or follow these links:
My PACTs and Their Fictions
Part 3: Clueless Kay. And the Caymans
Part 4: DIY Investigative Journalism
Part 5 : Hitting Bedrock, or Why This Isn’t an Investment Plan
Part 6: What $3,926,219 Buys These Days
3. Covered the possible effect on the governor’s race.
Here, and it’s been an off-and-on topic of discussion practically any time we’ve mentioned Ivey, Folsom, or Davis.
4. Proposed solutions, and stated unequivocally that people who paid into PACT must get what they have paid for.
I was a bit hasty with that first part and worded it poorly. We had a discussion aimed at proposing solutions, and apologies if that was misleading. I was in a hurry when I posted it at Facebook. I have been in a hurry for three weeks now. There is plenty of evidence in the comments threads over at Left in Alabama that we are very concerned about finding a solution.
Unequivocal statement in boldface. I consider the first blockquote here to be unequivocal as well. I blockquoted it as a way of endorsing it. And plenty more of that in the comments threads and in the other stuff we’ve written over the past 3 weeks.
5. Attracted a lot of attention, including from some people in D.C. and other parts of the country.
I think it is fair to call this a lot of attention.
Filed under: Economy, Politics, Progressive | Tags: Alabama, Alabama PACT, Alabama Prepaid College Tuition Program, PACT
I’ve tried very hard up to this point to stick to writing about the program and leave individuals out of it until we can find more evidnce. But Kay Ivey made public statements yesterday, and I think that makes this fair game.
Alabama State Treasurer Kay Ivey spoke to some Republicans in Huntsville yesterday and she said some things that I find interesting about Alabama’s Pre-Paid College Tuition Program.
The most interesting is this quote Mooncat highlights as part of a very helpful post on open meetings ahead of Tuesday’s board meeting.
Ivey told the breakfast audience at Trinity United Methodist Church that she has “been hunkered down” with the board and financial risk experts to find solutions to shore up the program for the short term.
“Hunkering down” is not the best choice of words here, and I think it is indicative of the accountability and transparency problems we’re having on virtually every other political and economic issue.
The Huntsville Times has so much more.
Ivey indicated that the board is going to announce a decision on Tuesday.
Ivey said after speaking to the Madison County Republican Men’s Club Saturday morning that the board that oversees the program will adopt a solution at its Tuesday meeting in Montgomery.
After she discussed PACT, she made a statement about how she will handle the issue if she runs for governor:
“I’m going to stay on the facts,” she said. “I’ve spent my time trying to find solutions, not making political hay.”
I do not find that very helpful. And I do hope someone will find a way to get her talking about specifics, like why more than 70 percent of the money was invested in the stock market when more than 70 percent of PACT’s obligations are short-term . At the very least, there’s a level of stupidity at work there that demands an explanation.
Then she floated some campaign speech.
“We could have a governor who knows state finances and budgets when they arrive,” she said, referring to herself.
Ivey said the state needs to continue the progress it has made under Republican Gov. Bob Riley, who can’t seek a third term.
She said she is the only candidate with experience working with the Alabama Development Office.
Yeah. Given the fact that she’s been, you know, the State Treasurer during this economic meltdown, that’s just what the State of Alabama needs from its next governor.
I think Ivey has some explaining to, and she’s not the only one. I just wonder if anyone is going to be successful in asking the right questions.
Cross-posted at Correntewire
Filed under: Politics, Progressive | Tags: activism, Alabama PACT, Alabama Prepaid College Tuition Program, PACT
To download the PACT letter from the Operation Keep the PACT document archive:
1. Click the link below.
2. You should receive a prompt that will allow you to open the document with Word or save it to your computer for later use.
Click here to download.
This works for me.
Let me know if you have trouble.
