Volume
1 Issue 3- May 2001
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Version
Guest
Feature By U. S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama)
SENATOR SESSIONS' COLLEGE BILL MAKES TUITION 100 PERCENT TAX-FREE
As a parent who has put two children through college and who has another currently enrolled in college, I know first-hand that America's families are struggling to meet the rising cost of higher education. In fact, American families accrued more college debt in the 1990s than during the previous three decades combined. The reason is two-fold: the federal government encourages borrowing by subsidizing student debt with interest rate breaks and penalizes savings for college by taxing the interest earned on those savings. These policies do not foster the highest and best values. Ideally, families should be encouraged, not discouraged, from saving for college. In recent years, many families have tackled rising college tuition costs by taking advantage of tuition savings and prepaid tuition plans. This is a wonderful development. Theses plans allow families to purchase tuition credits years in advance. Families across the country are locking in tomorrow's college education at today's price. 49 states have or are in the process of establishing a tuition savings plan, a prepaid plan, or both. These plans are extremely popular with parents and students. Alabama was one of the first in the nation to establish a prepaid college tuition plan. Nearly 50,000 Alabamians are currently enrolled in the Alabama Prepaid Affordable College Tuition Plan. Families across the state are setting aside a few dollars each month to pay for the future college education of their children. Congress has supported participating families by expanding the scope of the prepaid tuition plans and by deferring the taxes on the interest earned until the beneficiary goes off to college. I believe that we must go one step further and make all of the interest earned in state or private prepaid plans tax-free. Currently, the interest earned by families saving for college is taxed twice. They are taxed when they earn the money, and then again on the interest that accrues from the savings. This is why I introduced the Collegiate Learning and Student Savings (CLASS) Act in the senate. I am pleased to be joined in this effort by a bipartisan group of 19 co-sponsors. This legislation is both sound education policy and tax policy that completely eliminate the federal taxes on the interest earned in all tuition savings and prepaid plans. We must stop penalizing families that are doing the right thing and saving money for their children's education. Passage of this bill will allow us to meet this goal. The cost is small, but it will give an extra incentive for families to be prudent savers for their child's college education.
(Editor's note: Session's legislation passed the Senate Finance Committee on March 13, 2001).
WATKINS SEEKS OWNERSHIP OF MLB FRANCHISE, DEVIL RAYS
Voter News Network publisher, Donald V. Watkins, is spotlighted as pursuing ownership of a Major League Baseball franchise, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, in numerous sports/news outlets.
(Reprint of sports brief from USA Today)
Alabama businessman interested in Rays
Birmingham, Ala., businessman Donald Watkins seems ready to buy the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The attorney-entrepreneur informed Major League Baseball that he's interested. The Devil Rays said last week that they have discussed retaining an investment banker for advice, "including the possible sale of the club." Watkins, who is black, would be MLB's first minority owner. "That is not what drives me," he said.
Editorial by Donald V. Watkins: SENATOR SESSIONS' COLLEGE SAVINGS BILL ON TARGET
Voter News Network focuses on "pocketbook" issues. We know that a large body of middle class voters is politely ignored by many elected officials. Typically, these voters have combined household incomes exceeding $100,000. These voters receive very little support from our federal and state governments for their efforts to provide affordable college education for their children. For this reason, Voter News Network is very excited about a federal bill introduced by Senator Jeff Session (R-Alabama) that will make all of the interest earned in pre-paid college tuition plans 100 percent tax-free. Senator Sessions' bill expands the scope of pre-paid tuition plans, which currently allow the taxpayers to defer the taxes on the interest earned until the money in the plan is used for college education. The Collegiate Learning and Student Savings (CLASS) Act helps middle class voters by making college education more accessible. It also provides a welcomed incentive that encourages working voters to save money and participate in pre-paid tuition plans. As stated in his guest commentary (click here) families saving for college are taxed when they earn the money and again on the interest that accrues from the savings. Senator Sessions adds, "we must stop penalizing families that are doing the right thing and saving money for their children's education." We agree. Voter News Network supports Senator Sessions' bill. It is in the best interests of those we represent. This bill will make it easier for our children to attend college and easier for us to afford it.
ALABAMA NEEDS NEW CRIME LAWS FOR SAFE SCHOOLS, IDENTITY THEFT, AND METH DRUG LABS
By Bill Pryor, Attorney General of Alabama
The Legislature is in session, and discussions of constitutional reform and education funding are the rage. I have an interest in a separate subject, however. As the chief law enforcement official of Alabama, my primary concern is punishing and reducing criminal behavior. In this legislative session, my office has drafted three bills to address high priorities in fighting crime: school safety, identity theft, and methamphetamine laboratories. Safe Schools For the last few years, I have worked to train school and law enforcement officials and reform the juvenile crime laws to promote school safety. We have made progress in this area. The Amendments to the Juvenile Information Act in 1999 allowed law enforcement officials more access to juvenile arrest records, such as fingerprints and DNA records, so that police and sheriffs can solve the crimes committed by repeat juvenile offenders. There is a missing element, however. To promote the safety of teachers and students, school officials need better information about potential criminal activity by their students. Last year, a joint legislative committee on school violence, chaired by Senator Ted Little (D-Auburn), held hearings around Alabama that confirmed this need. Working with Senator Little, my office drafted amendments to our juvenile information law (S.B. 219 and H.B. 372) to share with key school officials information about the arrest of students for serious crimes. This legislation, which has the bipartisan sponsorship of Senator Little and Representative Albert Morton (R-Birmingham), also provides high confidentiality requirements to prevent misuse of this information. This legislation is also supported by the Alabama Education Association. Identity Theft On a second front, my office is working to reduce and punish one of the fastest growing crimes in America: identity theft. This crime occurs when someone steals the valuable, personal information of a consumer, such as credit card numbers or bank account information, for fraudulent purposes. Alabama does not currently have an identity theft law. My office drafted the Consumer Identity Protection Act (S.B. 144 and H.B. 123), which has the bipartisan sponsorship of Senators Lowell Barron (D-Fyffe) and Jabo Waggoner (R-Birmingham) and Representatives Mike Hubbard (R-Auburn) and Neal Morrison (D-Cullman), to remedy this problem. This legislation creates the crime of identity theft, provides stiff penalties, and allows consumer victims of this crime a civil action and a right to correct their credit reports. This legislation is supported by business organizations, such as the Alabama Retail Association, and consumer groups, such as the American Association of Retired Persons. Meth Labs Finally, one of the worst problems with illegal drugs involves the growing number of clandestine laboratories for the manufacture of methamphetamine (or meth), a highly addictive and dangerous drug. In 1997, Alabama narcotics officers reported finding three meth labs, but last year reported finding nearly 300 meth labs. My office, at the request of Senator Curt Lee (R-Jasper), worked closely with various law enforcement organizations to give narcotics officers better tools and stiff penalties to combat this problem. One feature of our legislation (S.B. 523 and H.B. 761) is to create the new crime of unlawful possession of anhydrous ammonia, an explosive ingredient of meth. This legislation is sponsored by Senator Curt Lee and Representative Ron Johnson (R-Sylacauga). This legislative session offers the opportunity of improving the criminal justice system and making our schools and neighborhoods safer. The three bills described above represent answers to important problems of criminal behavior. I urge you to contact your Senator and Representative to urge their support of these bills. (Editors note: Voter News Network supports these legislative proposals. Each has merit and will serve Alabamians well, if passed by lawmakers.)
FINANCIER AND HEALTHCARE POLICY ADVISOR FEATURED IN NATIONAL STORY
When Dr. Levi Watkins joined Voter News Network last January, he probably didn't expect to be in the spotlight of national political and media attention. But that is exactly what happened. Dr. Watkins became the subject of a front page Sunday Edition story published by The Birmingham News on April 8, 2001. The story was later circulated around the nation on the Associated Press wire and by links to various internet sites. An announcement in the April edition of Voter News Network that its organizers will spend $1 million in Alabama's 2002 state and federal elections generated tremendous media attention. In addition to Dr. Watkins, the donors include his brother Donald Watkins, a Birmingham banker and publisher of Voter News Network; Donald Watkins, Jr., a Montgomery businessman; Milton C. Davis, a Tuskegee lawyer; Kenneth Thomas, a Montgomery lawyer who serves as General Counsel for Voter News Network; Alfred Seawright, owner of a Montgomery medical supply company; Edmond Watters of Birmingham, a part owner in Alamerica Bank, Buford Crutcher, owner of an engineering consulting firm in Huntsville; Dr. Clifton Youngblood, an Atlanta physician, and Christopher Bazuaye, chief executive officer of Jesse Lewis and Associates advertising firm in Birmingham. Dr. Watkins, a heart surgeon and medical pioneer, spent several hours over two days with The Birmingham News Washington Bureau Chief Mary Orndorff, sharing his reasons for supporting Voter News Network. Having learned of Dr. Watkins' long involvement in the civil rights struggle, Orndorff wrote, "perhaps it's fitting then, that the associate dean of the school of medicine at Johns Hopkins University is sinking personal funds and professional expertise into a Birmingham-based movement to challenge the traditional black allegiance to the Democratic Party". "Education, independence and the skillful use of intellectual resources in the political arena will enable Voter News Network to have its greatest impact," according to Dr. Watkins. He believes the organization is a needed vehicle for educating voters and affecting political change. In addition to providing financial resources, Dr. Watkins will head the organization's task force on national healthcare policies.
Alabama physician a study in success
04/09/01 By Mary Orndorff, News Washington correspondent
BALTIMORE - Doctors aren't supposed to operate on their daddies. Too much potential for blame, guilt, family conflicts. Too great a chance of emotion running roughshod over sound medical judgment. Dr. Levi Watkins Jr. did it anyway. Blacks weren't supposed to attend certain medical schools in the South in the late 1960s. Too much hate, fear. Too many reasons for their mommas to worry. Watkins, then a 22-year-old activist, did it anyway. Young black teenagers weren't supposed to go to the old Paramount Theater in downtown Montgomery to stare down segregation. Too much danger. You guessed it. And he has a thin white scar from a razor's scratch to prove it. A perfect 3-0: Watkins repaired his father's weak heart in 1992, giving him two more family Christmases and time to write a book; he integrated Vanderbilt's medical school, class of 1970; and as an adolescent admirer of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he confronted and irritated the people who would have stood in his way. Perhaps it's fitting, then, that the associate dean of the school of medicine at Johns Hopkins University is sinking personal funds and professional expertise into a Birmingham-based movement to challenge the traditional black allegiance to the Democratic Party. "I'm a Democrat and have always been a Democrat, but I share deeply the concept of independent thinking," said Watkins, 56. "I'll never be a Republican, but I do say that Democrats have not done as much as they could for black people." For Watkins, a self-described left-wing liberal who calls Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas not Uncle Tom but "super Tom" and who believes President Bush is intellectually stunted, the challenge is less about endorsing Republicans and more about holding Democrats accountable. "Every day in my work, I'm held accountable. I have a team of 12 people, and our accountability is quite impressive. It's death." Barefoot on a sofa in his harborside home in east Baltimore, Watkins explained recently how his profession intersects with his politics and why. Mostly, he said, it's about race and mortality. "My life span is a decade shorter than yours, and you won't find anybody investigating that," he told a white reporter. Black women and infants are more likely than whites to die during or right after childbirth. The rate of heart disease in black men is twice that of white men. And blacks, particularly women, aren't tested or treated the same as whites for heart disease even if their economic conditions and symptoms are identical, a 1999 New England Journal of Medicine study found. Such statistics drive Watkins' support for affirmative action in medical school admissions. He worries about its future under a Republican president and a conservative U.S. Supreme Court. "This is not about black airline pilots or the number of Fortune 500 CEOs. When you get down to life and death, it's a whole different issue." Watkins, one of about 100 black cardiothoracic surgeons in the United States, said, "I'm a product of affirmative action - Vanderbilt is very happy about it now - and I try to promote it because it translates into life and death, ultimately." Organizing labor Watkins hasn't lived in Alabama since he finished Alabama State Laboratory High School as valedictorian and enrolled in Tennessee State University. But he never stopped being a distant student of the state's politics. He begins a more formal role this year through Voter News Network, the loose affiliation of mostly black businessmen organized by his younger brother, Donald Watkins of Birmingham. The group has pledged to spend $1 million in the 2002 elections on candidates they favor, Republican or Democrat. "You can't impact policy if you have to come begging," Levi Watkins said. "We don't need coffee at the White House or the governor to give us tea. We have freedom. Nobody owns us." It is a natural extension of how Watkins, whose patients include Rosa Parks, melds the movement with medicine. Holding advanced degrees and a top administrative position at world- renowned Johns Hopkins provides Watkins a platform, but his childhood in segregated Alabama completes the package. Traveling in South Africa to discuss advances in the automatic defibrillator, Watkins chastised his white audience for apartheid. At a fund-raiser for then-Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington Jr., he reminded a racially mixed group of executives that not all of the city's racial wounds had healed. "I think some of the people there were a little bit surprised he was as direct in his talk about what the challenges were and what the racial barriers were," Arrington said. "One or two of them mentioned it to me, not in a very negative way, but they made it clear they wouldn't have come had they known that's what we were going to talk about." Watkins' ready smile and friendly demeanor disarm but don't diminish his passion for confrontation. Like a preacher named King he grew up with at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Watkins can put an audience on its heels with blunt honesty, but he doesn't leave them bitter, say those who have heard him speak. Watkins' activism extends beyond race. He is credited with helping organize a legion of underpaid, unappreciated researchers at Hopkins, a labor movement that has taken hold at several medical schools. "He is probably the hero for post-docs at Hopkins and across the country," said Eliene Augenbraun, one of the disaffected who approached Watkins in 1992. The 1,200 others she represented were working long hours for little pay or benefits. Watkins was their dean and was the person to approach to register complaints about working conditions. They didn't know about his civil rights record. "We all thought he was a nice man, but it could be a bit scary and intimidating," Dr. Augenbraun said. "We knew if he doesn't want to help you, he just won't. But somewhere in there he definitely took us under his wing." Watkins was struck by foreign-born post-doctoral researchers being paid less than Americans and women earning less than men for equal work. "His insight was that if we were going to fight it, it was on the issue of fairness for everybody. He sort of focused us on it being a civil rights issue," said Dr. Augenbraun, now president of ScienCentral, a New York company that produces science news for television and the Web. Watkins liked the analogy: "All these white people asked me to help them get to the front of the academic bus. Isn't that a trip?" Watkins said his first positive interaction with a white person was at Vanderbilt, a friendship that has lasted more than 30 years. John Tarpley remembers that Watkins didn't let the burden of being the first black student distract from his studies. It was a significant feat when, on the day of the assassination in 1968, the poster of King on his dorm door was defaced with the words, "We finally got the coon." Tarpley said Watkins handled it with class and sophistication. "He channels a lot of his activism to try to improve the system by working within the system when it's conducive and by calling it into question when things aren't right," said Tarpley, a general surgeon at the Nashville Veterans Administration Medical Center. "It's not like he's out of control. He's kind of a strategist and doesn't waste energy or influence but channels it in ways that are most likely to bear a return." Watkins believes the Voter News Network is a worthy vehicle for educating voters and affecting political change. "It's about education, independence and using intellectual resources," Watkins said of the venture, which includes a Web site and newsletter. "To say, 'We've got money and we will endorse you' is too much old boy-type stuff." He bristles when Republicans "fixate" on abortion, saying truly pro-life causes should delve into the shorter lifespan of blacks and the lifesaving possibilities of stem cell research. He reacts the same way when Republicans promote themselves as the party of individual responsibility. "I don't think you learn that through a party. You learn it through your parents who struggled. I guarantee you that neither Democrats nor Republicans taught me self-responsibility." That lesson clearly came from home. Family reunion Watkins' father, longtime Alabama State University President Levi Watkins Sr., ran a Montgomery household where attending college was automatic, studying was loftier than protesting and a work ethic didn't rest on weekends. Levi Jr. had always appreciated those lessons - all six chore-laden children went on to finish college - but it wasn't until he held his father's 81-year-old motionless heart in his hand that the blur of activism, education, faith and family came into focus. He had agonized over whether he should be the one to build bypasses and mend a valve inside his father chest. His father and brothers insisted on it; his mother and sisters were reluctant. Fellow surgeons, the ones he chose to consult, recommended against it. Poet Maya Angelou told him to be strong, and his pastor was on hand that November day in 1992 to help in exactly that department. "That's what faith is," Watkins said. "When you're willing to risk everything because you know it will be all right." The surgeon monitored his patient from afar in the 48 hours before surgery; father and son didn't talk. Junior didn't enter the operating room until senior was on the table, fully prepped and under, nothing but a bare chest peeking through the surgical drapes. The doctor's long, lean fingers - the very same that had performed the first-ever human implant of an automatic defibrillator 12 years earlier - rerouted the familial arteries with skill and confidence. But Levi Sr.'s heart didn't restart. "I couldn't believe it. I thought God had abandoned me. I just looked at this heart, not moving," Watkins said. While Levi the surgeon reacted, Levi the son flashed back: trips to the Y in Montgomery, driving lessons in daddy's black car. Eventually, the heart gained enough strength to beat on its own. The episode guaranteed Watkins wouldn't ever operate on a family member again. A few hours later, junior was there when senior woke up, and the look that passed between them guaranteed Watkins a permanent memory of the mutual respect they shared. Two years later, the day of Levi Sr.'s funeral, the galleys of the book he'd just finished about ASU arrived at the house. Levi Jr. learned then that his father had dedicated it to him.
© The Birmingham News. Used with permission.
(Reprint of article from Birmingham News)
LAWMAKER'S BID TO CAP ATM TRANSACTION FEES PRODUCES GOOD NEWS FOR CONSUMERS
Little more than a week after state Rep. William Parker (D-Birmingham) introduced a bill on April 3, 2001 aimed at capping automated teller machine fees in Alabama at $1 per transaction, one of the state's largest banks announced that it now offers totally free ATM usage. Compass Bank announced on April 11 that it offers "customers totally free ATM use, both at Compass Bank locations and at rival banks' ATMs." When Rep. Parker introduced his bill, he cited a recent survey by bankrate.com, a Florida research firm, that found consumers pay an average of $3 per transaction if they use an ATM owned by another bank, with the money split between the banks. Parker's bill would prohibit a bank from charging a non-customer using one of its ATM machines more than .50 cents. It would also cap at .50 cents the charge a bank imposes on its own customer using any other banks' ATM. The combined fee between banks would not exceed $1. "I have received a tidal wave of support from bank customers and voters since I introduced my bill," said Parker. "Bank customers feel that banks are using the ATM fees as a way of milking customer accounts. We had to do something." Birmingham-based Alamerica Bank initiated the industry practice last year of offering its customers totally free ATM usage. Compass Bank followed Alamerica's lead this year. Board chairman and founder, Donald V. Watkins, said that Alamerica gives ATM cards to bank customers and reimburses them for ATM charges they incur up to 10 times per month. Watkins expects other banks in the state to follow Alamerica Bank and Compass Banks' practice of totally free ATM usage.
SENATE APPROVES IMPORTANT LEGISLATION
By Senator Lowell Barron (D) President Pro Tempore, Alabama Senate
The State Legislature has reached the halfway point of the 2001 Regular Session, and we have passed some very good legislation. With the on-going issue of proration, I believe the Superintendent Accountability Act is very timely. This bill stipulates that all superintendents and relevant school personnel attend financial and legal courses to enable them to better manage the school system's finances. We have also passed legislation to aid in protecting our schools from violence. The School Violence Protection Act will open the criminal records of juveniles to school principals and superintendents if the crime was of a violent nature. This will allow school principals to more closely monitor the student's behavior and hopefully prevent any acts of violence on a school campus. As we work to make our education system better, we cannot ignore the state's economic development. Our recent passage of what has become known as the Brownfield's Act is one way we hope to improve our potential for economic growth. The Brownfield's Bill offers immunity to an industry that chooses to conduct a voluntary analysis and cleanup of an existing industrial site in order to locate at that site. We know that industries often choose not to locate in a vacated facility from fear of the future discovery of some type of environmental damage caused by the previous inhabitant. Passage of this act will remove the fear of liability if the industry conducts a voluntary cleanup and assessment prior to moving to the facility. This should assist in filling the vacant buildings and sites that exist throughout the state. While this will help in locating industries to our communities, we also hope to pass a Business Licensure Act that will help make the licensing process easier for existing and future businesses. This piece of legislation will correct the decades-old requirement that retail business owners buy a separate business license to sell anything from playing cards to sewing machines. This legislation will make it possible to streamline the licensing procedure through a more uniform application process, and the funds will be allocated back to the appropriate governing body. We've also passed one of the most important pieces of consumer legislation in recent history. The Identity Theft Bill will make it a crime to steal or sell an individual's identity. Currently, under Alabama law, it is not unlawful to use someone else's identity. This bill will make it a felony to use someone's identity to perpetrate such acts as opening financial accounts and making purchases. The bill also opens an avenue for the victim of identity theft to seek restitution for the damages incurred. While we have managed to pass some very important legislation in the recent weeks, there is still much to be done. We have begun to address the issue of constitution reform. This will be a very consuming task, but it is certainly one of great importance.
THE BIRMINGHAM BLACK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: HELPING BUSINESSES TO START AND GROW
By Del Bloomer, Executive Director
The Birmingham Black Chamber of Commerce is actively engaged in advocacy and public policy research on behalf of the Black business community in Birmingham, Alabama. Most of Birmingham's most prominent corporate citizens have historically underutilized Birmingham's Black business community, particularly over the last twenty years. The BBCC's current focus on UAB has been precipitated by the disparate treatment that Black businesses have received in their attempts to gain fair and equal access to partnering opportunities with UAB, while at the same time the university is receiving unprecedented amounts of federal funding in the form of grants and contracts. Although UAB asserts that they have a "good record" in partnering with Birmingham's Black business community, their own data belies this assertion. According to purchasing data produced by UAB (click here for the graph), the "Top 20" White businesses received $68.7 million over a three-year period while the "Top 20" Black businesses received only $9.3 million during that same three-year period. In other words, White businesses received over 734 percent more business from UAB than did Black businesses over the last three years. The top two White businesses received over $24 million during the three-year period, almost three times the total dollars received by the "Top 20" Black businesses! UAB is currently stuck in a pattern of denial that a problem exists in the way that they do business. The Alabama State Bid Law and bonding requirements are often sited, by UAB officials, as reasons why Black businesses are not successful in procuring more business at UAB. Here again, UAB's argument is contradicted by the fact that their record in awarding professional service contracts, which are not regulated by state bid law or bonding requirements and include such services as legal, architectural, interior design, consulting, research, etc., has been equally egregious. When inquiring about such contract opportunities at UAB, the response is often "Those contracts are very individualized and based upon relationships…", translation: "We're giving these contracts to who we want, and that's not you". Unless and until senior management at UAB develops a grasp of the fact that they are using public dollars and are required to make good faith efforts at utilizing Small and Disadvantaged Businesses to the maximum extent practicable in all their purchasing and contracting activities, they will be a target of those who remain excluded from the business process. NOTE: The Birmingham Black Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1997 and consists of business owners and professionals who believe that power concedes nothing without a struggle, and who are willing to educate, agitate, and litigate to remove the vestiges of racial discrimination in business, particularly among businesses and organizations that receive significant public dollars and/or large Black consumer patronage. The BBCC is a separate and independent organization from the Central Alabama African American Chamber of Commerce. While we support the efforts of this fine organization, we believe that education, agitation, and litigation still have a place in Black business development in the new millennium.
DR. JOE L. REED SET TO LEAD STATE DEMOS IN 2002 ELECTIONS
Alabama Democratic Party leaders and elected officials gathered in Montgomery last month in a unity rally aimed at rejuvenating the party's grassroots support. Led by long-time Democratic Party Chief Joe L. Reed, party loyalists, including Governor Don Siegelman, Senate President Pro Tem Lowell Barron, House Speaker Seth Hammett, pledged to renew the Democratic Party's status as a dominant force in statewide Alabama politics, starting with the 2002 elections. Former North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt was the featured speaker for the April 17, 2001 gathering of Democrats. Dr. Reed, who was soundly defeated by black voters in his 1999 reelection bid for a Montgomery City Council seat, is a key political strategist for the Democratic Party. Dr. Reed, along with Alabama Education Association Executive Director Dr. Paul Hubbert, enjoys such an influential grip on the Party's Executive Committee that statewide candidates running on the Democratic ticket typically must ingratiate themselves to Reed and Hubbert for the Party's political and financial support. Last summer, it was Dr. Reed, not Governor Siegelman, who headed the Alabama delegation to the Democratic National Convention.
SENATOR SESSIONS' COLLEGE BILL MAKES TUITION 100 PERCENT TAX-FREE
As a parent who has put two children through college and who has another currently enrolled in college, I know first-hand that America's families are struggling to meet the rising cost of higher education. In fact, American families accrued more college debt in the 1990s than during the previous three decades combined. The reason is two-fold: the federal government encourages borrowing by subsidizing student debt with interest rate breaks and penalizes savings for college by taxing the interest earned on those savings. These policies do not foster the highest and best values. Ideally, families should be encouraged, not discouraged, from saving for college. In recent years, many families have tackled rising college tuition costs by taking advantage of tuition savings and prepaid tuition plans. This is a wonderful development. Theses plans allow families to purchase tuition credits years in advance. Families across the country are locking in tomorrow's college education at today's price. 49 states have or are in the process of establishing a tuition savings plan, a prepaid plan, or both. These plans are extremely popular with parents and students. Alabama was one of the first in the nation to establish a prepaid college tuition plan. Nearly 50,000 Alabamians are currently enrolled in the Alabama Prepaid Affordable College Tuition Plan. Families across the state are setting aside a few dollars each month to pay for the future college education of their children. Congress has supported participating families by expanding the scope of the prepaid tuition plans and by deferring the taxes on the interest earned until the beneficiary goes off to college. I believe that we must go one step further and make all of the interest earned in state or private prepaid plans tax-free. Currently, the interest earned by families saving for college is taxed twice. They are taxed when they earn the money, and then again on the interest that accrues from the savings. This is why I introduced the Collegiate Learning and Student Savings (CLASS) Act in the senate. I am pleased to be joined in this effort by a bipartisan group of 19 co-sponsors. This legislation is both sound education policy and tax policy that completely eliminate the federal taxes on the interest earned in all tuition savings and prepaid plans. We must stop penalizing families that are doing the right thing and saving money for their children's education. Passage of this bill will allow us to meet this goal. The cost is small, but it will give an extra incentive for families to be prudent savers for their child's college education.
(Editor's note: Session's legislation passed the Senate Finance Committee on March 13, 2001).
WATKINS SEEKS OWNERSHIP OF MLB FRANCHISE, DEVIL RAYS
Voter News Network publisher, Donald V. Watkins, is spotlighted as pursuing ownership of a Major League Baseball franchise, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, in numerous sports/news outlets.
(Reprint of sports brief from USA Today)
Alabama businessman interested in Rays
Birmingham, Ala., businessman Donald Watkins seems ready to buy the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The attorney-entrepreneur informed Major League Baseball that he's interested. The Devil Rays said last week that they have discussed retaining an investment banker for advice, "including the possible sale of the club." Watkins, who is black, would be MLB's first minority owner. "That is not what drives me," he said.
Editorial by Donald V. Watkins: SENATOR SESSIONS' COLLEGE SAVINGS BILL ON TARGET
Voter News Network focuses on "pocketbook" issues. We know that a large body of middle class voters is politely ignored by many elected officials. Typically, these voters have combined household incomes exceeding $100,000. These voters receive very little support from our federal and state governments for their efforts to provide affordable college education for their children. For this reason, Voter News Network is very excited about a federal bill introduced by Senator Jeff Session (R-Alabama) that will make all of the interest earned in pre-paid college tuition plans 100 percent tax-free. Senator Sessions' bill expands the scope of pre-paid tuition plans, which currently allow the taxpayers to defer the taxes on the interest earned until the money in the plan is used for college education. The Collegiate Learning and Student Savings (CLASS) Act helps middle class voters by making college education more accessible. It also provides a welcomed incentive that encourages working voters to save money and participate in pre-paid tuition plans. As stated in his guest commentary (click here) families saving for college are taxed when they earn the money and again on the interest that accrues from the savings. Senator Sessions adds, "we must stop penalizing families that are doing the right thing and saving money for their children's education." We agree. Voter News Network supports Senator Sessions' bill. It is in the best interests of those we represent. This bill will make it easier for our children to attend college and easier for us to afford it.
ALABAMA NEEDS NEW CRIME LAWS FOR SAFE SCHOOLS, IDENTITY THEFT, AND METH DRUG LABS
By Bill Pryor, Attorney General of Alabama
The Legislature is in session, and discussions of constitutional reform and education funding are the rage. I have an interest in a separate subject, however. As the chief law enforcement official of Alabama, my primary concern is punishing and reducing criminal behavior. In this legislative session, my office has drafted three bills to address high priorities in fighting crime: school safety, identity theft, and methamphetamine laboratories. Safe Schools For the last few years, I have worked to train school and law enforcement officials and reform the juvenile crime laws to promote school safety. We have made progress in this area. The Amendments to the Juvenile Information Act in 1999 allowed law enforcement officials more access to juvenile arrest records, such as fingerprints and DNA records, so that police and sheriffs can solve the crimes committed by repeat juvenile offenders. There is a missing element, however. To promote the safety of teachers and students, school officials need better information about potential criminal activity by their students. Last year, a joint legislative committee on school violence, chaired by Senator Ted Little (D-Auburn), held hearings around Alabama that confirmed this need. Working with Senator Little, my office drafted amendments to our juvenile information law (S.B. 219 and H.B. 372) to share with key school officials information about the arrest of students for serious crimes. This legislation, which has the bipartisan sponsorship of Senator Little and Representative Albert Morton (R-Birmingham), also provides high confidentiality requirements to prevent misuse of this information. This legislation is also supported by the Alabama Education Association. Identity Theft On a second front, my office is working to reduce and punish one of the fastest growing crimes in America: identity theft. This crime occurs when someone steals the valuable, personal information of a consumer, such as credit card numbers or bank account information, for fraudulent purposes. Alabama does not currently have an identity theft law. My office drafted the Consumer Identity Protection Act (S.B. 144 and H.B. 123), which has the bipartisan sponsorship of Senators Lowell Barron (D-Fyffe) and Jabo Waggoner (R-Birmingham) and Representatives Mike Hubbard (R-Auburn) and Neal Morrison (D-Cullman), to remedy this problem. This legislation creates the crime of identity theft, provides stiff penalties, and allows consumer victims of this crime a civil action and a right to correct their credit reports. This legislation is supported by business organizations, such as the Alabama Retail Association, and consumer groups, such as the American Association of Retired Persons. Meth Labs Finally, one of the worst problems with illegal drugs involves the growing number of clandestine laboratories for the manufacture of methamphetamine (or meth), a highly addictive and dangerous drug. In 1997, Alabama narcotics officers reported finding three meth labs, but last year reported finding nearly 300 meth labs. My office, at the request of Senator Curt Lee (R-Jasper), worked closely with various law enforcement organizations to give narcotics officers better tools and stiff penalties to combat this problem. One feature of our legislation (S.B. 523 and H.B. 761) is to create the new crime of unlawful possession of anhydrous ammonia, an explosive ingredient of meth. This legislation is sponsored by Senator Curt Lee and Representative Ron Johnson (R-Sylacauga). This legislative session offers the opportunity of improving the criminal justice system and making our schools and neighborhoods safer. The three bills described above represent answers to important problems of criminal behavior. I urge you to contact your Senator and Representative to urge their support of these bills. (Editors note: Voter News Network supports these legislative proposals. Each has merit and will serve Alabamians well, if passed by lawmakers.)
FINANCIER AND HEALTHCARE POLICY ADVISOR FEATURED IN NATIONAL STORY
When Dr. Levi Watkins joined Voter News Network last January, he probably didn't expect to be in the spotlight of national political and media attention. But that is exactly what happened. Dr. Watkins became the subject of a front page Sunday Edition story published by The Birmingham News on April 8, 2001. The story was later circulated around the nation on the Associated Press wire and by links to various internet sites. An announcement in the April edition of Voter News Network that its organizers will spend $1 million in Alabama's 2002 state and federal elections generated tremendous media attention. In addition to Dr. Watkins, the donors include his brother Donald Watkins, a Birmingham banker and publisher of Voter News Network; Donald Watkins, Jr., a Montgomery businessman; Milton C. Davis, a Tuskegee lawyer; Kenneth Thomas, a Montgomery lawyer who serves as General Counsel for Voter News Network; Alfred Seawright, owner of a Montgomery medical supply company; Edmond Watters of Birmingham, a part owner in Alamerica Bank, Buford Crutcher, owner of an engineering consulting firm in Huntsville; Dr. Clifton Youngblood, an Atlanta physician, and Christopher Bazuaye, chief executive officer of Jesse Lewis and Associates advertising firm in Birmingham. Dr. Watkins, a heart surgeon and medical pioneer, spent several hours over two days with The Birmingham News Washington Bureau Chief Mary Orndorff, sharing his reasons for supporting Voter News Network. Having learned of Dr. Watkins' long involvement in the civil rights struggle, Orndorff wrote, "perhaps it's fitting then, that the associate dean of the school of medicine at Johns Hopkins University is sinking personal funds and professional expertise into a Birmingham-based movement to challenge the traditional black allegiance to the Democratic Party". "Education, independence and the skillful use of intellectual resources in the political arena will enable Voter News Network to have its greatest impact," according to Dr. Watkins. He believes the organization is a needed vehicle for educating voters and affecting political change. In addition to providing financial resources, Dr. Watkins will head the organization's task force on national healthcare policies.
Alabama physician a study in success
04/09/01 By Mary Orndorff, News Washington correspondent
BALTIMORE - Doctors aren't supposed to operate on their daddies. Too much potential for blame, guilt, family conflicts. Too great a chance of emotion running roughshod over sound medical judgment. Dr. Levi Watkins Jr. did it anyway. Blacks weren't supposed to attend certain medical schools in the South in the late 1960s. Too much hate, fear. Too many reasons for their mommas to worry. Watkins, then a 22-year-old activist, did it anyway. Young black teenagers weren't supposed to go to the old Paramount Theater in downtown Montgomery to stare down segregation. Too much danger. You guessed it. And he has a thin white scar from a razor's scratch to prove it. A perfect 3-0: Watkins repaired his father's weak heart in 1992, giving him two more family Christmases and time to write a book; he integrated Vanderbilt's medical school, class of 1970; and as an adolescent admirer of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he confronted and irritated the people who would have stood in his way. Perhaps it's fitting, then, that the associate dean of the school of medicine at Johns Hopkins University is sinking personal funds and professional expertise into a Birmingham-based movement to challenge the traditional black allegiance to the Democratic Party. "I'm a Democrat and have always been a Democrat, but I share deeply the concept of independent thinking," said Watkins, 56. "I'll never be a Republican, but I do say that Democrats have not done as much as they could for black people." For Watkins, a self-described left-wing liberal who calls Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas not Uncle Tom but "super Tom" and who believes President Bush is intellectually stunted, the challenge is less about endorsing Republicans and more about holding Democrats accountable. "Every day in my work, I'm held accountable. I have a team of 12 people, and our accountability is quite impressive. It's death." Barefoot on a sofa in his harborside home in east Baltimore, Watkins explained recently how his profession intersects with his politics and why. Mostly, he said, it's about race and mortality. "My life span is a decade shorter than yours, and you won't find anybody investigating that," he told a white reporter. Black women and infants are more likely than whites to die during or right after childbirth. The rate of heart disease in black men is twice that of white men. And blacks, particularly women, aren't tested or treated the same as whites for heart disease even if their economic conditions and symptoms are identical, a 1999 New England Journal of Medicine study found. Such statistics drive Watkins' support for affirmative action in medical school admissions. He worries about its future under a Republican president and a conservative U.S. Supreme Court. "This is not about black airline pilots or the number of Fortune 500 CEOs. When you get down to life and death, it's a whole different issue." Watkins, one of about 100 black cardiothoracic surgeons in the United States, said, "I'm a product of affirmative action - Vanderbilt is very happy about it now - and I try to promote it because it translates into life and death, ultimately." Organizing labor Watkins hasn't lived in Alabama since he finished Alabama State Laboratory High School as valedictorian and enrolled in Tennessee State University. But he never stopped being a distant student of the state's politics. He begins a more formal role this year through Voter News Network, the loose affiliation of mostly black businessmen organized by his younger brother, Donald Watkins of Birmingham. The group has pledged to spend $1 million in the 2002 elections on candidates they favor, Republican or Democrat. "You can't impact policy if you have to come begging," Levi Watkins said. "We don't need coffee at the White House or the governor to give us tea. We have freedom. Nobody owns us." It is a natural extension of how Watkins, whose patients include Rosa Parks, melds the movement with medicine. Holding advanced degrees and a top administrative position at world- renowned Johns Hopkins provides Watkins a platform, but his childhood in segregated Alabama completes the package. Traveling in South Africa to discuss advances in the automatic defibrillator, Watkins chastised his white audience for apartheid. At a fund-raiser for then-Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington Jr., he reminded a racially mixed group of executives that not all of the city's racial wounds had healed. "I think some of the people there were a little bit surprised he was as direct in his talk about what the challenges were and what the racial barriers were," Arrington said. "One or two of them mentioned it to me, not in a very negative way, but they made it clear they wouldn't have come had they known that's what we were going to talk about." Watkins' ready smile and friendly demeanor disarm but don't diminish his passion for confrontation. Like a preacher named King he grew up with at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Watkins can put an audience on its heels with blunt honesty, but he doesn't leave them bitter, say those who have heard him speak. Watkins' activism extends beyond race. He is credited with helping organize a legion of underpaid, unappreciated researchers at Hopkins, a labor movement that has taken hold at several medical schools. "He is probably the hero for post-docs at Hopkins and across the country," said Eliene Augenbraun, one of the disaffected who approached Watkins in 1992. The 1,200 others she represented were working long hours for little pay or benefits. Watkins was their dean and was the person to approach to register complaints about working conditions. They didn't know about his civil rights record. "We all thought he was a nice man, but it could be a bit scary and intimidating," Dr. Augenbraun said. "We knew if he doesn't want to help you, he just won't. But somewhere in there he definitely took us under his wing." Watkins was struck by foreign-born post-doctoral researchers being paid less than Americans and women earning less than men for equal work. "His insight was that if we were going to fight it, it was on the issue of fairness for everybody. He sort of focused us on it being a civil rights issue," said Dr. Augenbraun, now president of ScienCentral, a New York company that produces science news for television and the Web. Watkins liked the analogy: "All these white people asked me to help them get to the front of the academic bus. Isn't that a trip?" Watkins said his first positive interaction with a white person was at Vanderbilt, a friendship that has lasted more than 30 years. John Tarpley remembers that Watkins didn't let the burden of being the first black student distract from his studies. It was a significant feat when, on the day of the assassination in 1968, the poster of King on his dorm door was defaced with the words, "We finally got the coon." Tarpley said Watkins handled it with class and sophistication. "He channels a lot of his activism to try to improve the system by working within the system when it's conducive and by calling it into question when things aren't right," said Tarpley, a general surgeon at the Nashville Veterans Administration Medical Center. "It's not like he's out of control. He's kind of a strategist and doesn't waste energy or influence but channels it in ways that are most likely to bear a return." Watkins believes the Voter News Network is a worthy vehicle for educating voters and affecting political change. "It's about education, independence and using intellectual resources," Watkins said of the venture, which includes a Web site and newsletter. "To say, 'We've got money and we will endorse you' is too much old boy-type stuff." He bristles when Republicans "fixate" on abortion, saying truly pro-life causes should delve into the shorter lifespan of blacks and the lifesaving possibilities of stem cell research. He reacts the same way when Republicans promote themselves as the party of individual responsibility. "I don't think you learn that through a party. You learn it through your parents who struggled. I guarantee you that neither Democrats nor Republicans taught me self-responsibility." That lesson clearly came from home. Family reunion Watkins' father, longtime Alabama State University President Levi Watkins Sr., ran a Montgomery household where attending college was automatic, studying was loftier than protesting and a work ethic didn't rest on weekends. Levi Jr. had always appreciated those lessons - all six chore-laden children went on to finish college - but it wasn't until he held his father's 81-year-old motionless heart in his hand that the blur of activism, education, faith and family came into focus. He had agonized over whether he should be the one to build bypasses and mend a valve inside his father chest. His father and brothers insisted on it; his mother and sisters were reluctant. Fellow surgeons, the ones he chose to consult, recommended against it. Poet Maya Angelou told him to be strong, and his pastor was on hand that November day in 1992 to help in exactly that department. "That's what faith is," Watkins said. "When you're willing to risk everything because you know it will be all right." The surgeon monitored his patient from afar in the 48 hours before surgery; father and son didn't talk. Junior didn't enter the operating room until senior was on the table, fully prepped and under, nothing but a bare chest peeking through the surgical drapes. The doctor's long, lean fingers - the very same that had performed the first-ever human implant of an automatic defibrillator 12 years earlier - rerouted the familial arteries with skill and confidence. But Levi Sr.'s heart didn't restart. "I couldn't believe it. I thought God had abandoned me. I just looked at this heart, not moving," Watkins said. While Levi the surgeon reacted, Levi the son flashed back: trips to the Y in Montgomery, driving lessons in daddy's black car. Eventually, the heart gained enough strength to beat on its own. The episode guaranteed Watkins wouldn't ever operate on a family member again. A few hours later, junior was there when senior woke up, and the look that passed between them guaranteed Watkins a permanent memory of the mutual respect they shared. Two years later, the day of Levi Sr.'s funeral, the galleys of the book he'd just finished about ASU arrived at the house. Levi Jr. learned then that his father had dedicated it to him.
© The Birmingham News. Used with permission.
(Reprint of article from Birmingham News)
LAWMAKER'S BID TO CAP ATM TRANSACTION FEES PRODUCES GOOD NEWS FOR CONSUMERS
Little more than a week after state Rep. William Parker (D-Birmingham) introduced a bill on April 3, 2001 aimed at capping automated teller machine fees in Alabama at $1 per transaction, one of the state's largest banks announced that it now offers totally free ATM usage. Compass Bank announced on April 11 that it offers "customers totally free ATM use, both at Compass Bank locations and at rival banks' ATMs." When Rep. Parker introduced his bill, he cited a recent survey by bankrate.com, a Florida research firm, that found consumers pay an average of $3 per transaction if they use an ATM owned by another bank, with the money split between the banks. Parker's bill would prohibit a bank from charging a non-customer using one of its ATM machines more than .50 cents. It would also cap at .50 cents the charge a bank imposes on its own customer using any other banks' ATM. The combined fee between banks would not exceed $1. "I have received a tidal wave of support from bank customers and voters since I introduced my bill," said Parker. "Bank customers feel that banks are using the ATM fees as a way of milking customer accounts. We had to do something." Birmingham-based Alamerica Bank initiated the industry practice last year of offering its customers totally free ATM usage. Compass Bank followed Alamerica's lead this year. Board chairman and founder, Donald V. Watkins, said that Alamerica gives ATM cards to bank customers and reimburses them for ATM charges they incur up to 10 times per month. Watkins expects other banks in the state to follow Alamerica Bank and Compass Banks' practice of totally free ATM usage.
SENATE APPROVES IMPORTANT LEGISLATION
By Senator Lowell Barron (D) President Pro Tempore, Alabama Senate
The State Legislature has reached the halfway point of the 2001 Regular Session, and we have passed some very good legislation. With the on-going issue of proration, I believe the Superintendent Accountability Act is very timely. This bill stipulates that all superintendents and relevant school personnel attend financial and legal courses to enable them to better manage the school system's finances. We have also passed legislation to aid in protecting our schools from violence. The School Violence Protection Act will open the criminal records of juveniles to school principals and superintendents if the crime was of a violent nature. This will allow school principals to more closely monitor the student's behavior and hopefully prevent any acts of violence on a school campus. As we work to make our education system better, we cannot ignore the state's economic development. Our recent passage of what has become known as the Brownfield's Act is one way we hope to improve our potential for economic growth. The Brownfield's Bill offers immunity to an industry that chooses to conduct a voluntary analysis and cleanup of an existing industrial site in order to locate at that site. We know that industries often choose not to locate in a vacated facility from fear of the future discovery of some type of environmental damage caused by the previous inhabitant. Passage of this act will remove the fear of liability if the industry conducts a voluntary cleanup and assessment prior to moving to the facility. This should assist in filling the vacant buildings and sites that exist throughout the state. While this will help in locating industries to our communities, we also hope to pass a Business Licensure Act that will help make the licensing process easier for existing and future businesses. This piece of legislation will correct the decades-old requirement that retail business owners buy a separate business license to sell anything from playing cards to sewing machines. This legislation will make it possible to streamline the licensing procedure through a more uniform application process, and the funds will be allocated back to the appropriate governing body. We've also passed one of the most important pieces of consumer legislation in recent history. The Identity Theft Bill will make it a crime to steal or sell an individual's identity. Currently, under Alabama law, it is not unlawful to use someone else's identity. This bill will make it a felony to use someone's identity to perpetrate such acts as opening financial accounts and making purchases. The bill also opens an avenue for the victim of identity theft to seek restitution for the damages incurred. While we have managed to pass some very important legislation in the recent weeks, there is still much to be done. We have begun to address the issue of constitution reform. This will be a very consuming task, but it is certainly one of great importance.
THE BIRMINGHAM BLACK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: HELPING BUSINESSES TO START AND GROW
By Del Bloomer, Executive Director
The Birmingham Black Chamber of Commerce is actively engaged in advocacy and public policy research on behalf of the Black business community in Birmingham, Alabama. Most of Birmingham's most prominent corporate citizens have historically underutilized Birmingham's Black business community, particularly over the last twenty years. The BBCC's current focus on UAB has been precipitated by the disparate treatment that Black businesses have received in their attempts to gain fair and equal access to partnering opportunities with UAB, while at the same time the university is receiving unprecedented amounts of federal funding in the form of grants and contracts. Although UAB asserts that they have a "good record" in partnering with Birmingham's Black business community, their own data belies this assertion. According to purchasing data produced by UAB (click here for the graph), the "Top 20" White businesses received $68.7 million over a three-year period while the "Top 20" Black businesses received only $9.3 million during that same three-year period. In other words, White businesses received over 734 percent more business from UAB than did Black businesses over the last three years. The top two White businesses received over $24 million during the three-year period, almost three times the total dollars received by the "Top 20" Black businesses! UAB is currently stuck in a pattern of denial that a problem exists in the way that they do business. The Alabama State Bid Law and bonding requirements are often sited, by UAB officials, as reasons why Black businesses are not successful in procuring more business at UAB. Here again, UAB's argument is contradicted by the fact that their record in awarding professional service contracts, which are not regulated by state bid law or bonding requirements and include such services as legal, architectural, interior design, consulting, research, etc., has been equally egregious. When inquiring about such contract opportunities at UAB, the response is often "Those contracts are very individualized and based upon relationships…", translation: "We're giving these contracts to who we want, and that's not you". Unless and until senior management at UAB develops a grasp of the fact that they are using public dollars and are required to make good faith efforts at utilizing Small and Disadvantaged Businesses to the maximum extent practicable in all their purchasing and contracting activities, they will be a target of those who remain excluded from the business process. NOTE: The Birmingham Black Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1997 and consists of business owners and professionals who believe that power concedes nothing without a struggle, and who are willing to educate, agitate, and litigate to remove the vestiges of racial discrimination in business, particularly among businesses and organizations that receive significant public dollars and/or large Black consumer patronage. The BBCC is a separate and independent organization from the Central Alabama African American Chamber of Commerce. While we support the efforts of this fine organization, we believe that education, agitation, and litigation still have a place in Black business development in the new millennium.
DR. JOE L. REED SET TO LEAD STATE DEMOS IN 2002 ELECTIONS
Alabama Democratic Party leaders and elected officials gathered in Montgomery last month in a unity rally aimed at rejuvenating the party's grassroots support. Led by long-time Democratic Party Chief Joe L. Reed, party loyalists, including Governor Don Siegelman, Senate President Pro Tem Lowell Barron, House Speaker Seth Hammett, pledged to renew the Democratic Party's status as a dominant force in statewide Alabama politics, starting with the 2002 elections. Former North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt was the featured speaker for the April 17, 2001 gathering of Democrats. Dr. Reed, who was soundly defeated by black voters in his 1999 reelection bid for a Montgomery City Council seat, is a key political strategist for the Democratic Party. Dr. Reed, along with Alabama Education Association Executive Director Dr. Paul Hubbert, enjoys such an influential grip on the Party's Executive Committee that statewide candidates running on the Democratic ticket typically must ingratiate themselves to Reed and Hubbert for the Party's political and financial support. Last summer, it was Dr. Reed, not Governor Siegelman, who headed the Alabama delegation to the Democratic National Convention.