1. Impeachment upshot

• President Donald Trump’s impeachment ended with a reminder of why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi resisted the idea for so long — an acquittal everyone saw coming, followed by a bombastic presidential victory lap and a bump in his poll numbers just as the 2020 campaign officially began.
• Pelosi stood as a bulwark against impeachment for months as pro-impeachment sentiment rose steadily in her caucus, but when Trump’s dealings with Ukraine came to light in September, the floodgates were forced open.
• “Once Ukraine happened, we had no choice but to proceed,” said Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt. “And had we not (acted), there would have been a huge price to pay politically.”
• Now Democrats have to decide how to navigate the legislative and political landscape that they’ve helped reshape.
• Democratic leaders say despite Trump’s acquittal, the trial trained prolonged attention on his sordid behavior and latched GOP senators to him with their votes absolving him. They say that will weaken their reelection bids of GOP senators in swing states like Colorado, Maine and Arizona.
• Republicans counter that the effort has electrified GOP voters just months before Election Day, citing a Gallup Poll showing Trump with a 49% job approval rating, the highest of his presidency. They say Pelosi made tactical errors that exposed Democrats’ impeachment drive as a blatantly political exercise, in the process weakening more than two dozen House Democrats from Trump-won districts.
• “The President has his highest approval rating since he’s been in office,” said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky. “I can tell you as a poll watcher who’s looking at polls in certain Senate races, every one of our people in tough races – every one of them – is in better shape today than they were before the impeachment trial started.”
• Read more about the political upshot of impeachment from Alan Fram and Andrew Taylor HERE.

2. Lawmakers pitch reserve account for General Fund

• Recent growth in Alabama’s General Fund revenues has some lawmakers wanting to save for future lean years.
• A bill filed Thursday in the Alabama Senate would create the General Fund Budget Reserve Fund.
• “Although we are currently enjoying the benefits of the longest period of growth that I am aware of, we will have an economic downturn – we always do,” Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, said. He’s sponsoring the legislation.
• “Creating a reserve and planning for a rainy day is just good public policy. When we save for a rainy day, we will be better prepared when tough times come.”
• Senate Bill 129 would annually deposit 20% of the ending balance in the General Fund from the previous year into the new fund. At the end of 2019, that ending balance was about $271 million.
• Read more, including details of the bill and reaction from other lawmakers, from ADN’s Mary Sell HERE.

3. Measure would abolish the State Auditor’s office

• A proposal in the Alabama State House would do away with the Alabama Auditor’s Office and transfer its duties to the Alabama Examiners of Public Accounts Department.
• The auditor’s position is created in the state’s constitution, so abolishing it would have to be approved by Alabama voters through a constitutional amendment.
• With voter approval, Senate Bill 83 from Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Gadsden, would shutter the office when current auditor Jim Zeigler’s current term ends in 2022.
• “As Republicans, we’re all about downsizing government and being more efficient with taxpayer resources,” Jones told Alabama Daily News. “It’s a very simple bill that I think could save some taxpayer dollars and we could use those to fund some other things that are important, like mental health and prisons.”
• Zeigler hadn’t seen the bill Tuesday evening, he said.
• “Usually, if you’re going to file a bill to abolish someone’s office, you send them a copy of it and talk to them about it,” he said. “That hasn’t happened.”
• He’s against combining the office’s work with another department.
• Read more from ADN’s Mary Sell HERE.

4. Crawford bill would allow colleges to get debtors’ tax refunds

• A bill from Rep. Danny Crawford, R-Athens, would allow the Alabama Department of Revenue to send a person’s state income tax refund to state institutions of higher education to pay outstanding debts.
• Crawford told Alabama Daily News that this will help students get out of debt more quickly and help colleges and universities resolve their own debts.
• “It’s sort of a win/win for the student and the institution of higher education,” Crawford said. ‘It doesn’t discourage further education; it would encourage it.”
• House Bill 60 would add colleges and universities to a 2019 law from Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, that allows a number of different state agencies to collect a person’s income tax refund to resolve debts.
• Read more from ADN’s Caroline Beck HERE.

5. Dem nomination moves forward

• We still don’t know who won the Iowa caucuses – probably former Mayor Pete Buttigieg or Sen. Bernie Sanders – but the campaign for the Democratic nomination for president rolls on to New Hampshire.
• That state’s “first in the nation” primary election is Tuesday and a big debate is tonight.
• Remember in 2016 when Republicans debated in New Hampshire and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s once hopeful chances for the nomination were spiked by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christy? This is the same debate stage, and the same type thing can happen as candidates are more eager to mix it up.
• Sanders and Buttigieg, enter the night as the top targets, having emerged from Iowa essentially tied for the lead. Those trailing after the first contest — including former Vice President Joe Biden, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar — have an urgent need to demonstrate strength.
• A Monmouth poll shows Sanders surging into the lead at 24%, with Buttigieg right behind at 20%, Biden at 17% and Warren at 13%.
• Read more HERE.

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