Presented by

The Stop The HIT Coalition

 

 

 

 

1. Previewing the session

• The 2020 Regular Session of the Alabama Legislature starts tomorrow and there’s a lot of high-profile issues on tap this year.
• There’s the normal stuff like the budgets, which are in exceedingly good shape, and whether teachers and state employees will get another pay raise.
• There are heavy lifts like addressing the state’s prison crisis via various reform proposals we have yet to see.
• And then there are the controversial items like legalizing medical marijuana and the annual fight over a lottery and casino gambling.
• Starting tomorrow, the Legislature has 105 calendar days and 30 legislative days to get it all done.
• You can be the most informed going into session by reading Mary Sell’s extensive preview story HERE.

 

 

2. Inside Alabama Politics

• Ivey harkens to 1920 drawing State of the State parallels;
• ‘Mini rolling reserve’ legislation coming;
• Senators support each other for political runs
• The Money Go ‘Round: U.S. Senate;
• Mo’ Money: AL-2;
• Still More Money: AL-1;
• BCA weighs in;
• Campaigns not spending much on Facebook;
• Will Califf joins Reed’s staff;
• Johnny Crawford has left the building.

• Working across the aisle to repeal the Health Insurance Tax
• Supporting small businesses
• Fighting to provide cost savings to 765,000 hardworking Alabamians and millions of Americans across the country

 

 

 

 

 

3. Trump to project optimism in State of the Union address

• Standing before lawmakers in the grand-domed Capitol where his impeachment trial is still underway, President Donald Trump on Tuesday night will declare the state of the union strong, even when it is bitterly divided as he asks Americans for a second term.
• After becoming just the third president in U.S. history to be impeached, Trump will try to move forward, aides say, offering an optimistic message that stresses economic growth in his annual address before Congress.
• “We’re really looking to giving a very, very positive message,” Trump told reporters Sunday during a Super Bowl watch party.
• Read more about the president’s upcoming speech HERE.

 

 

4. Impeachment trial heads to historic end in frenetic week

• President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial heads toward a historic conclusion this week, with senators all-but-certain to acquit him on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress after narrowly rejecting Democratic demands to summon witnesses.
• There’s still plenty of drama to unfold before Wednesday’s vote.
• The vote is expected to cap a months-long investigation spurred by a whistleblower complaint that Trump improperly withheld U.S. military aid from Ukraine in a bid to pressure it to launch investigations into 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden.
• In the Senate, Republicans hold a 53-47 advantage and there’s nowhere near the two-thirds needed for conviction and removal. On Friday, Republicans blocked consideration of new witnesses and documents, setting up the speedy acquittal vote for the coming week.
• It will be a frenetic next few days, beginning today as closing arguments begin in the Senate.
• Read more HERE.

 

5. Alabama firm’s ad airs during Super Bowl

• Were you watching the commercials last night during the Super Bowl? Of course you were.
• One ad in particular stood out because it was produced by Alabama PR and marketing firm BIG Communications.
• The octane-fueled spot promoting the Daytona 500 ran at least once during the game, plus a few times before and after.
• It’s a big deal for an ad agency to land a Super Bowl spot, so congrats to the team at BIG.
• Read more and watch the ad HERE.

 

 

 

A message from

Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy

 

 

 

Headlines

INSIDE ALABAMA POLITICS – February 3, 2020

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Mary Sell: Prisons, lottery, raises, mental health on legislative agenda

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Alabama-based BIG Communications lands Super Bowl ad

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Trump speech to project optimism at time of bitter division

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Impeachment trial heads to historic end in frenetic week

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Trump acquittal now likely Wednesday; Senate nixes witnesses

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Make it count: Alabama Community Colleges kick off census effort

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – 2020 candidates brace for frenzied, final weekend in Iowa

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Emails show the fallout from Trump’s claims about Dorian

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Weekend Digest- January 2, 2020

 

AL.COM  – Joe Biden in Iowa: Trump is more George Wallace than George Washington

 

AL.COM  – Amid Birmingham’s $1 billion construction boom, will minority- and women-owned firms finally prosper?

 

AL.COM  – Household incomes rising rapidly in most of Alabama, five counties left behind

 

AL.COM  – Register to vote soon: Alabama’s deadline is around the corner

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Man found fatally shot in southwest Montgomery, police say

 

Montgomery Advertiser – More fights, drugs, guns, police calls: MPS incident reports show safety concern increase

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Meth trafficking suspect an Alabama prison guard, department says

 

YellowHammer News – Trump Super Bowl ad features former Alabama prisoner whose sentence he commuted

 

YellowHammer News – Birmingham’s Legion Field preparing to host World Games 2021 opening ceremonies

 

YellowHammer News – University of Alabama among Forbes’ Best Employers for Diversity

 

Tuscaloosa News – Driver sentenced to 15 years in Shell Station clerk’s death

 

Tuscaloosa News – Man runs into burning house for girl, age 2; both die

 

Decatur Daily – Prisons, lottery, raises, mental health on legislative agenda

 

Decatur Daily – Fight over online sales taxes coming to a head

 

Decatur Daily – Editorial: State must keep commitments to mental health care

 

 

Times Daily  – 2020 Legislative session convenes Tuesday

 

Times Daily – Santorum to appear at Conservative Leadership Conference

 

Times Daily – UNA, NACOLG Ink deal for reduced tuition

 

Anniston Star – Prisons, lottery, raises, mental health on legislative agenda

 

Anniston Star – Habitat hands over keys for new house in Piedmont

 

Anniston Star – Phillip Tutor: Marsh’s decision about this divided city

 

Dothan Eagle – 10 years after recession, unemployment in Dothan area is at all-time low

 

Dothan Eagle – Former principal arrested for having inappropriate sexual relationship with student

 

Dothan Eagle – Al-Qaida in Yemen claims Florida naval base shooting that killed Enterprise naval officer

 

Gadsden Times – Man extradited from Mexico on a Marshall Co. murder charge

 

Gadsden Times – Corrections, gambling to be focus of legislative session

 

Gadsden Times – 1 year later: Family ask for answers to why teen was killed

 

Andalusia Star News – LBW hosts local high schools for FOCUS rally

 

Andalusia Star News – MOBILE MAN FOUND GUILTY IN FLORALA MURDER

 

Andalusia Star News – Two arrested for breaking into OMS cafeteria

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Opelika roundabout almost done, says city

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Special Olympics plunge brings out all kinds

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Auburn city officials to step up recycling awareness

 

Daily Mountain Eagle – Mr. Ant a calming presence at Sumiton Elementary

 

Daily Mountain Eagle – Sheriff’s department receives vests

 

Daily Mountain Eagle – Reed giving rural healthcare priority in session

 

Athens News Courier – Corrections, gambling to be focus of legislative session

 

Athens News Courier – AMS makes 100 encouraging phone calls to parents

 

Athens News Courier – Athens City Schools honors board members

 

Sand Mountain Reporter – Evans Elementary gets name change

 

Sand Mountain Reporter – Voters can end money misuse | March 3 Primary ballot to feature jail food money amendment

 

Sand Mountain Reporter – Legislature reconvenes Tuesday | Lottery, prison reform, gun permits slated for state’s 2020 session

 

WSFA Montgomery – 2 crashes, 1 fatal, shut interstate down for hours near Evergreen

 

WSFA Montgomery – 1 person found outside Montgomery house fire, total taken to hospitals now 10

 

WSFA Montgomery – Sunny and warm today ahead of potential storms midweek

 

Fox 6 Birmingham – UPDATE: Woman missing, felony arrest warrants issued for second person of interest in Brookside prostitution case

 

Fox 6 Birmingham – Survey finds Ala. drivers more likely to speed through yellow light

 

Fox 6 Birmingham – 2 crashes, 1 fatal, shut interstate down for hours near Evergreen

 

WAFF Huntsville – City council to discuss plan to convert old Athens KMart to Publix

 

WAFF Huntsville – Huntsville Police investigating late night shooting

 

WAFF Huntsville – Funeral arrangements announced for mother, children killed in marina fire

 

WKRG Mobile – MCSO says Grand Bay shooting may be case of self-defense.

 

WKRG Mobile – Heavy police presence at Daphne gas station

 

WKRG Mobile – Man arrested for domestic violence, suspected of burning his own house down

 

WTVY Dothan – Al-Qaida in Yemen claims deadly Florida naval base shooting

 

WTVY Dothan – China reports 361 dead from new virus, total of 17,205 cases

 

WTVY Dothan – Empty Bowls Dothan to feed more than 400 families

 

WASHINGTON POST  – Virus threatens U.S. companies’ supply of Chinese-made parts and materials

 

WASHINGTON POST  – Senate Republicans defend decision to bar new evidence as Trump acquittal vote nears

 

WASHINGTON POST  – Iowa caucuses 2020: Candidates make a final, frantic push before caucus night.

 

NEW YORK TIMES  – Wuhan Coronavirus Looks Increasingly Like a Pandemic, Experts Say

 

NEW YORK TIMES  – Republicans’ Emerging Defense: Trump’s Actions Were Bad, but Not Impeachable

 

NEW YORK TIMES  – SARS Stung the Global Economy. The Coronavirus Is a Greater Menace

Front Pages (images link to newspaper websites, which you should visit and patronize)