Thanks Dave,  I'd feel like Cleopatra!  LOL  I think I'm getting a little slap happy.  I just spent about 30 minutes and called or (mostly) copied and pasted an email to every senator except the dead or "gone" ones as follows:

"PLEASE, PLEASE PASS SB581 TOMORROW.  WE DESPERATELY NEED IT."

You can go to the following website: http://www.legislature.state.al.us/sena … alpha.html

and simply click on the senator's name to get his email.

I urge everyone to do this or call them and leave your message.

Last edited by dhpeacher (05-04-2009 4:59:36 pm)

Mary said, "When this was getting discussed about PACT paying the average tuition-you were the one I was thinking about (won't you have 3 in college at one time?).  That's a lot of up-front money to come up with -even with parents giving in by getting the tax credit."

You're right, Mary.  I will have 3 at UA in the fall. 

If my figures are correct (and the rates stay close to my estimates), I would have to pay UA $2,384.85 in additional tuition above the PACT for the fall, 2009 PLUS other expenses.  Since their own 2009-10 estimate is $12,084 in additional expenses for the year per student, that would be $2384.85 + $18,126 = $20,510.85 for the rest of the year!  Who do they think we are??? Warren Buffett?

So, would I just stop having state tax cut out of my check and send it to the school??? I don't think they would allow this, and I do NOT agree with this.

My husband is retired, so his RSA payment has already been pre-taxed.  I think most teachers also paid state taxes on their state retirement prior to retiring, as well as many others who have retired.  This reduces the amount of state taxes owed so it wouldn't work unless we could get the whole amount paid to the school refunded if it was greater than the tax liability and withholdings.

If we purchased a tuition package, it should pay tuition, not some portion of it just because our kids choose to attend a state school which provides their major!  We are not choosing private school, but a STATE school.  I would HAVE to fight this.  It is entirely ridiculous!

I'm sure there are other people out there with students who had budgeted and planned for the tuition to be paid in full, and this would throw everything we had planned all those years into turmoil!

Email reply directly from Senator Bedford Monday night 5/4, the orginator of SB581:

Wrong [we] can pass this week.

  Hope we can get it done !!

  Thanks,

  Roger

In a message dated 5/4/2009 12:10:19 P.M. Central Daylight Time, [Huckaby] writes:

My understanding is that the last day for the Senate to pass a bill on the Senate floor is tomorrow Tuesday, May 5, 2009. That would have to pass and go to the House and be passed and final before May 18th, 2009, the last day of the regular session.

The next session starts in January of 2010…a long time to practice marching!!!!!

Richard Huckaby
Cofounder, SaveAlabamaPACT.com

GO ROGER>>>Git er done...please!!!!

SaveAlabamaPACT is supporting SB581 Amended as posted April 16th on ALISON (Alabama Leg. website)

11399-4 : g : 04/16/2009 : BEDFORD / ma
SENATE F&TG COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR SB581, AS AMENDED

CALL...CALL and keep calling today to you Senator...let them know we are out there!...see the home page of our website...they is over a thousand other bills out there....we are one of them!!!

They need to hear our voices!!!

I just spoke with my state Rep. Jim McClendon on the House floor. He said that the budget is being discussed in the Senate today. I told him of my concern that we are running out of time to get a bill passed for the PACT during this legislative session. His response was that there is still plenty of money in the PACT fund. If a bill for the PACT does not get passed during this session, it will be addressed in the next session. I told him that we need this resolved sooner rather than later. I told him that the lawsuits being filed may deplete the administrative fund for the PACT. He said he supports SB581 but I sense there is not much urgency amoung the lawmakers to get this resolved for this session. I hope I am wrong.

It sounds like it is going to be a long night, but I can not confirm that SB581 is on any rules calendar to be read...

It is also my understanding that this is the last day (and night) to read any other Senate sponsored bills unless by unanimous decision of the Senate to do so...that does not sound good

umgrad...great information, thanks and keep posting

Listening to the lack of bipartisan support down there, I think we need to hack into some heads instead of the computer...

The Senate has adjoined for the evening. No reading of SB581. Pretty much assured now that no bill will be passed for PACT this session without a unanimous vote to read the bill and that won't happen

People, we have alot of work to do...lets get started...we need more organization and support...we need the list of all PACT contract holders also.

Be prepared...as a stopgap measure, someone may propose a RESOLUTION to keep PACT solvent...that would be about what I would expect as the best we could hope for this session....or a miracle would be ok

Mary, I remember the guy, too.
I think he said he was an assistant to Wallace at the PSC.  I remember asking him why Wallace wasn't there at the church meeting.... sound like he knows back-room politics!

Several people have inquired as to the gentleman stranger at the PACT public hearing in Montgomery. I believe it was Mark Montiel of Montgomery, attorney, former judge. He was dressed in a dark suit and was the one that accused the board of scaring everybody to death.

Rich Donnell
Montgomery

Per my Senator Benefield's quote this Wed. morning:

"I am supportive of the bill by Senator Bedford as passed out of committee.
I believe this is a good bill and it has many good points. 
However,  I do not believe the votes are here to pass the bill as there are several in this body that do not believe this is the appropriate approach.  I can't speak for those that are opposed. Starting today, if a bill should pass, any one person in the senate can object to the transmittal of the bill to the house, thus, killing the bill.  That is not to say that nothing can be done.  I am just not optimistic in the legislature passing Senator Bedford's bill."

Thanks Senator for your words...we need them all right now

It's too bad that we can't have a debate in the senate about SB581 as heated as the one going on this afternoon about firearms and booze.  I guess they are are a lot more important than our children.

Last edited by dhpeacher (05-06-2009 4:24:31 pm)

Feeling very discouraged... sent the following to Folsom's man, Chip Hill after reading his response to Dr. Huckaby...

While I appreciate your comments, I wanted to share my concerns that they raise. I hope you will in turn share them with Mr. Folsom.

While you may consider the PACT problem a short term crisis, those of us who have children currently attending college are not in a position to share that view. It will be a major crisis for families depending on PACT to pay tuition in the upcoming shool year.

Yes, I understand that members of the Legislature believe the PACT program has the money to cover current expenses. However, I am worried that if action is not taken, the lawsuits will come and the funds will, in fact, NOT be available when my feshman at UA needs them. We are among those who actually hold a contract, purchased in 1991, that does say GUARANTEED. How can the legislature guarantee that these funds won’t be locked down by the courts leaving thousands of families floundering in the very  financial mess that we tried our best to avoid by purchasing a PACT contract. 

While I appreciate the Lt. Governor’s commitment to meeting the obligation of a program that he helped develop and promote, I would like to understand how, as you wrote, “we remain in a position to adequately remedy any short-term crisis…”   Please explain how a “strongly worded resolution” accomplishes this?

You say “the law restricts the financial commitments that a legislature can impose on future legislatures.”  In theory that is true, but the Legislature consistently funds programs that effect small groups and are funded year after year. Unlike these program, to fund PACT is to fund education of the next generation— this will only reap rewards for this state for years to come.

Parents are beginning to fear that the rhetoric of February and March by PACT leaders and other politicians was just for show. We are not stupid; we understand that the comments about our “whining over making a bad investment” come from failure to understand the difference between an investment and a contract. However, we PACT holders also know that we signed a contract that our STATE put its stamp on and has continued to promote.

At times like this, a Friday posting on the official PACT website leaves a lot to be desired. We are dependent on the Lt. Governor and others to keep us informed. Please keep us posted