1. Court hears appeal.

• The Alabama Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday morning in former House Speaker Mike Hubbard’s appeal of his conviction on ethics charges.
• The prominent Republican was convicted in 2016 of improperly receiving consulting contracts and business investments from company executives.
• Hubbard’s attorney will argue that Hubbard committed no crimes and that prosecutors were stretching the bounds of the ethics law in their bid to send him to prison.
• The Attorney General’s office will ask justices to uphold the conviction. They argue Hubbard monetized his public position for personal profit.
• Hubbard was one of the state’s most influential Republicans, but his political career ended with the 2016 conviction. A judge sentenced Hubbard to four years in prison, but he is free on bond as he appeals.
• The fact that the state’s high court agreed to take up the case and hear oral arguments is significant unto itself, not just for Hubbard, but for everyone who has to operate under the state’s ethics laws.
• Last month, the Alabama Council of Association Executives filed an ex parte amicus brief asking the Court to “address and correct” the decision of Court of Criminal Appeals as it pertains to the definition of “principal” in the code. But the Attorney General’s office pushed back, and the Supreme Court ultimately denied the ACEA’s motion.
• The Court’s docket has a helpful “Cliff’s notes” explanation of questions being addressed in the Hubbard appeal. You can read that document attached to the full AP story HERE.

2. Disaster aid passes.

• A long-delayed $19.1 billion disaster aid bill has sailed through the House and headed to President Donald Trump for his expected signature, overcoming months of infighting, misjudgment and a feud between Trump and congressional Democrats.
• Lawmakers gave the measure final congressional approval on Monday by a 354-58 vote. The 58 “no” votes were each Republicans, including many of the party’s most conservative members. They said the legislation — which reflects an increasingly permissive attitude in Washington on spending to address disasters that sooner or later hit every region of the country — shouldn’t be rushed through without a recorded vote.
• Alabama Republican Reps. Mo Brooks and Gary Palmer were the only Alabama delegation members voting against final passage.
• Alabama Reps. Terri Sewell, a Democrat, and Martha Roby, a Republican, each applauded the final passage of the bill. Roby represents Southeast Alabama, which was impacted by Hurricane Michael last October.
• Their comments and the rest of the story HERE.

3. POTUS in London.

• President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were welcomed to the United Kingdom in true royal fashion by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on Monday.
• Trump and the queen exchanged toasts at Buckingham Palace before about 170 guests at an elaborate state dinner held Monday in honor of the president and first lady.
• Trump noted that the liberation of millions from tyranny in World War II “forever sealed” the bond between the United Kingdom and United States.
• The queen told Trump that security and a shared heritage link the U.S. and U.K., saying, “tonight we celebrate an alliance that has helped to ensure the safety and prosperity of both our peoples for decades, and which I believe will endure for many years to come.”
• Moving from pageantry to policy today, Trump on Tuesday urged embattled Prime Minister Theresa May to “stick around” to complete a U.S.-U.K. trade deal, adding to this recent chapter of uncertainty in the allies’ storied relationship. May is set to resign on Friday as leader of the Conservative Party, and will remain Prime Minister until a successor is chosen.
• The leaders’ top priority is a possible bilateral trade deal to be negotiated once – or if – the U.K. leaves the European Union.
• Following Tuesday’s focus on business and trade, Trump will use the next two days to mark the 75th anniversary of the June 6, 1944, D-Day landing, likely the last significant commemoration most veterans of the battle will see.
• Full story HERE.

4. Judge won’t grant request to block border funding.

• A federal judge on Monday denied a House request to prevent President Donald Trump from tapping Defense Department money for his proposed border wall with Mexico, saying Congress lacked authority to sue.
• U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, wrote that the House’s lawsuit was “about whether one chamber of Congress has the ‘constitutional means’ to conscript the Judiciary in a political turf war with the President over the implementation of legislation.”
• McFadden said Congress didn’t have authority in this case but that he didn’t mean to imply the legislative body could never challenge the president in court over separation of powers.
• “An old maxim in politics holds that, ‘Where you stand depends on where you sit,'” he wrote. “At law too, whether a plaintiff has standing often depends on where he sits. A seat in Congress comes with many prerogatives, but legal standing to superintend the execution of laws is not among them.”
• The Justice Department welcomed the decision, saying the judge “rightly ruled that the House of Representatives cannot ask the judiciary to take its side in political disputes and cannot use federal courts to accomplish through litigation what it cannot achieve using the tools the Constitution gives to Congress.”
• Trump’s victory is muted by a federal ruling in California last month that blocked construction of key sections of the wall. The administration plans to appeal the ruling by Haywood Gilliam Jr., an appointee of former President Barack Obama.
• Full story HERE.

5. Steve Flowers: Celebrating Boys & Girls State.

• Summer in Alabama means it’s time for Boys State and Girls State, the annual high school leadership gatherings where rising juniors dabble in state politics for a week.
• Steve Flowers is reminiscing about his Boys State days and also celebrating how the unique program has shaped so many state leaders.
• In particular, Steve mentions the state’s top leader – Gov. Kay Ivey, and a rising one, Business Council of Alabama President Katie Boyd Britt – both products of Girls State from different generations. Also mentioned, Cathy Johnson Randall, a close friend of Ivey’s that went on to serve as President of Girls Nation.
• Here’s an excerpt:

• Read the full column HERE.

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