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www.ccweek.com March 22, 2010 19
Ala. House Passes Bill To Ensure Prepaid Tuition Contracts
BY BOB JOHNSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
MONTGOMERY, Ala.
(AP) — The Alabama
House passed three bills
that supporters say will ensure
classroom costs are paid for
44,000 children whose parents
bought contracts in the state’s prepaid
college tuition program.
The bills would commit $236
million from the state education
budget to guarantee that tuition is
provided for students whose parents
and grandparents invested in
the Prepaid Affordable College
Tuition plan, or PACT. One of the
bills would prevent colleges from
increasing tuition for PACT participants
by more than 2.5 percent.
That cap on tuition was
opposed by colleges and universities
and was not included in a version
of the bill that passed the
Senate earlier.
The sponsor of the Senate bill,
Sen. Ted Little, said it would be
unconstitutional for the Legislature
to tell universities how much
they can charge for tuition.
House members voted 104-0
to pass the main bill by Rep. Craig
Ford after voting 53-40 to reject
an amendment to remove the
tuition cap. The House and Senate
both must pass the same version
of the bill before it can become
law.
Little said he doesn’t believe
the Senate will agree with the language
capping tuition, and he
expects the main bill to end up in
a House-Senate conference committee
to work out the differences.
Parents and grandparents who
bought PACT contracts filled the
House balcony during the debate.
Amy Mallett of Montgomery
said she bought two PACT contracts
— one for a child currently
Alabama Lobbyists Violate 2-Year College Rules
in college and the other for one
still in high school. She said she
was sure her contracts were guaranteed
when she bought them.
“It was a shock to me when I
got the letter saying there was a
problem,” Mallett said.
She said she supports capping
how much the colleges can raise
tuition.
“I think they can handle it,”
Mallett said.
Rep. Mike Hubbard, whose
district includes Auburn University,
said he supports guaranteeing
the PACT contracts, but opposes
capping tuition increases.
“By putting a cap on you are
putting an enormous burden on
higher education to solve this
problem,” Hubbard said.
One of the bills, by Rep. Greg
Wren, set up a separate board to
operate the PACT program.
Comments: editor@ccweek.com
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Toyota, from page 18, col. 5
landowners cashed in by setting
up places for out-of-town workers
to live in trailers. Those trailer
hook ups are mostly empty now,
and it’s easier to find a seat during
lunch at Gentry’s.
Many customers at the small
store, who sit at folding tables and
wash down barbecue with sweet
tea, wonder if the plant will ever
open.
One of them is 76-year-old
Lamar Pannell.
“I hope it opens. A lot of people
around here could use the
work. Mike (Gentry) says it’s
going to open, but I don’t know.”
Gentry responds, “I tell it this
way, they’ve put a lot of money
into it for it not to open.”
Toyota says $300 million has
been invested at the site, and the
company has pledged $50 million
to Mississippi schools for educational
programs.
About 70 people, including
management, security and others,
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP)
— Lobbyists have been
representing Jefferson State
and Central Alabama community
colleges in the state Legislature,
which is a violation of a systemwide
ban on the practice, officials
said.
The Birmingham News reported
that records indicate lobbyists
representing both schools have
rescinded their state registrations.
System spokeswoman Martha
Simmons said presidents of the
colleges met with Chancellor
Freida Hill, and that any lobbying
activity not authorized by the
chancellor “constitutes insubordination”
on the part of the colleges.
The two-year system barred
lobbying by individual colleges in
2005 after some lobbyists and college
officials were implicated in a
wide-ranging federal investigation.
Lobbying was limited to the
system, rather than the individual
schools, as part of the effort to
clean up the corruption.
But the limits haven’t always
been strictly enforced and Simmons
said registered lobbyists
Wayne Shaddix and Steve Mahaffey
were reported to be on the
floor of the Legislature.
Both Shaddix, who represented
Jefferson State, and Mahaffey,
who represented Central Alabama,
have filed with the Alabama
Ethics Commission to rescind
their registrations as lobbyists for
the schools, according to state
records.
Judy Merritt, president of Jefferson
State, said Shaddix is a
full-time employee in the college’s
office of governmental relations
who was registered erroneously
and as a matter of routine.
His registration was rescinded
immediately after Hill raised concerns.
”It was a mistake. We haven’t
hired a lobbyist,” Merritt said.
Merritt said that system policy
bars the hiring of outside lobbyists,
not the use of full-time
employees.
Efforts to reach officials with
Central Alabama were unsuccessful.
But a man identified as Steve
Mahaffey was paid $2,617 by the
college during the 2009 legislative
session, according to financial
disclosure records.
Mahaffey, who is not listed as
a college employee on the school’s
Web site, had been registered as a
lobbyist for the institution since at
least 2008, according to Ethics
Commission records.
Comments: editor@ccweek.com
work at the plant now in “production
preparation activities,”
Copenhaver said.
Other international companies
have expressed interest in
opening plants in Mississippi
since Toyota announced it would,
said Randy Kelley, director of
Three Rivers Planning and
Development District, the fiscal
and administrative agency for the
PUL alliance, a joint venture of
three counties around Blue
Springs that worked to bring the
plant here.
Kelley wouldn’t name those
companies, citing a need for
secrecy in economic development
projects.
In any case, new jobs are
sorely needed in Mississippi,
where the statewide unemployment
rate has topped 10 percent,
above the national average of 9.7
percent.
At Itawamba Community
College, many students are pondering
their next move.
Barry Emison, a tool and dye
technology teacher at ICC, said
“about 100 percent” hoped to get
a job at Toyota or one of the suppliers
that plan to set up shop in
Mississippi.
“Yeah, there’s disappointment,
but (the students) all are
still looking forward to that day
Toyota does come,” Emison said.
“We still believe they’re gonna
be here (and) they’re going to be
a driving force in the local economy.”
Toyota thinks so, too.
“We’re still here,” Copenhaver
said.
So is McShan, who says he’ll
do whatever it takes to provide
for his little girl while waiting and
hoping for a job at Toyota.
“I drive by (the plant) all the
time,” he said. “It gives me a
glimpse of hope.”
Comments: editor@ccweek.com
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