During the month of September, both major candidates for governor of Alabama visited the offices of The Alabama Baptist for interviews about topics ranging from their personal religious faith to public education to “electronic bingo” gambling. Both candidates were asked similar questions. The responses reflect the candidates’ answers in their own words although some editing was done because of space limitations. The result is a straightforward comparison of views, which we hope will help readers as they pray about which candidate to support in the Nov. 2 election.
Q: You are a Baptist. Tell us about your relationship with the Lord.
A: I became a Christian when I was 9. I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. Since that time, He has guided my life. It has been a wonderful walk. … I remember the time and place that God wanted me to be a doctor. … I truly believe God controls my life. In retrospect, I know that God’s will is always done. We approach doors by faith, but it is confirmed in retrospect to see how doors opened and closed.
I’ve been blessed.
I’ve been a member of First Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, for many years; chairman of deacons four times; and a Sunday School teacher.
Q: How has your faith influenced your public service?
A: I try to live a lifestyle that exemplifies the way Christ wants me to live, live in a way people see me and can see Jesus through me.
They know I’m a Christian, know what I believe in; they know I want to treat people right, want to glorify Him with my life. … Integrity is wholeness. Your walk and talk should be the same. In my public and private life, I try to be consistent. If I’m consistent, then that shows. Decisions you make, make them with prayer.
I want God to use me. I don’t want to use God in politics. A lot of politicians use God. I want to live a lifestyle to glorify God in that way. I don’t want to use God to benefit me.
Q: You have been a strong advocate for anti-abortion legislation. Are there additional steps you would like to see Alabama take in behalf of the unborn?
A: I did some things the last two years in the Legislature. I’ve had some bills I would like to see passed that would, as much as possible, change our laws to protect the unborn. Nobody is going to protect them but us. … The bill I will push the strongest is the personhood bill … which has a 24-hour waiting period. You have to inform the young lady that this is a unique, separate human being, not part of her body, and that the abortion will destroy a separate human being. This brings in line our criminal code and abortion code. (Criminal code says if a pregnant woman is murdered, then it is a double murder.) … I’d also like to pass a freedom of conscience bill, which would protect a health care provider from being forced to participate in an abortion or euthanasia. New Hampshire, Vermont and Alabama are the only three states without this.
Q: How important is public education to the future of Alabama? What will you do differently to support public education?
A: I think public education is extremely important. I think though that we have a lot of rules and regulations in education. If we would allow teachers to teach and principles to administer and have more local control in school systems, we would be much better off. … I don’t like federal government telling people how to teach. I don’t like the state doing this either. The further you get away from those involved in teaching, the worse it gets. … There are so many rules and regulations, even on curriculum and testing, that teachers don’t have time to teach. … Methods change, tends to confuse people, confuses the kids. We don’t really expect enough out of the teachers, principals and the kids in public education.
Still there are some good things we are doing. The Alabama Reading Initiative has been a good program. I believe there are children who are reading at a better level because of this program. The Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative is a good program, one of the model programs in the country. Access to [distance] learning, especially in rural schools, allows them to take AP courses and classes like Russian.
But we can also become bureaucratic with these programs. We don’t need to spend millions of dollars every year retraining people how to do it when they should come out of higher education knowing how. If we did it right from the beginning, it wouldn’t cost us that much money.
There’s a lot of bureaucracy in education. … We should allow teachers to really teach, expect high standards from them, and they will expect it from their children.
Q: What are your thoughts on charter schools and the PACT program?
A: I never said I was against charter schools, but I believe you should try things before doing a wholesale change. We looked at charter schools and listened to five hours of testimony (with a legislative committee). I was never convinced they were a panacea. I would like to see a pilot program. Set up however many, maybe 20, half technical, half regular. … Put some in areas of the state that can benefit from them for four or five years and evaluate them. If they work well, then spread them throughout the state.
Q: The recent history of Alabama’s community college system has been checkered with abuses and convictions. What reforms do you support to increase the contribution of the community college system to the state and its people?
A: Steps need to be taken to make them more service-oriented toward Alabama, freer of scandal and abuse. … The vast majority of our two-year systems are very, very good. The problem that we had was on the administrative side, primarily Roy Johnson. It really was the chancellor, the governance, the corruption that went on related to that. These people became greedy and lost sight of what was right and what was wrong.
As far as the community colleges, I’ve been very pleased with them. They do a great service for rural areas. … They do a great service not only in the technical part but also in the first two years of education. I’m a strong proponent of the two-year system.
Studies show that if students start in a two-year program and go to a four-year institution, then more will graduate than if they had gone to only the four-year school.
In some cases, the education in the first two years in some community colleges is superior to what you get in some four-year colleges.
There are instances in the two-year system where there are people who have gotten jobs because they are legislators. Actually we have more in the four-year system than in the two-year system. It is in both but that is being cleaned up. It is an issue that will probably not cause a problem down the road. I support those efforts to clean it up. No one should be given a job, any job, just because they are a legislator. That is quid pro quo and illegal.
I think [following Virginia’s example] would clean up the Legislature. They vote yes or no or conflict of interest. It puts the burden on the legislator. If he votes yes or no and has a conflict of interest, then he can be brought up on ethics charges.
You could not vote on your own budget if a legislator. It would make you think on every vote you take whether you have a conflict of interest.
You also shouldn’t serve on a committee with a conflict of interest if voting on a budget. When I was elected to the House of Representatives, I called the University of Alabama and turned down the (money) I was getting for teaching because I would be voting on their budget and felt that was a conflict of interest.
When I go on state trips, I always pay my own way. I’ve never taken a penny.
Q: According to the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, more than 50 percent of Alabamians believe the state Ethics Commission should have subpoena power. What is your appraisal of the work of the Ethics Commission and its need for subpoena power?
A: I think it should have subpoena power. If you don’t have subpoena power, you are not able to get testimony. We had a bill passed out of the House this year that would have done this. I was a co-sponsor of that bill. Fourteen other agencies have subpoena power. The Ethics Commission should also. … I think we need a strong Ethics Commission.
Q: For years, efforts have been made to get more transparency in Alabama elections by banning PAC-to-PAC transfers. What is your position on that issue?
A: I don’t think we need complicated ethics law. I just think we need total openness and total transparency. When the light shines on everything else, it cleans things up. People hide things because they don’t want it seen.
I don’t even think PACs should be allowed. If companies want to give, give whatever they want and put it down. … If we had that, people would trust government more.
However, the impediment to that is that there are companies who would be hurt by the other side by giving money. They would be penalized, might not get work if they support the losing candidate.
That’s the reason PACs were created to begin with, but they are many times used to hide money.
When dealing with special interests such as Alfa and AEA, sometimes I’m with them, sometimes I’m against them. I gave up a third of my income … to serve the public. … I would never have done that and let a lobbyist tell me how to vote. I’m just too stubborn to do that. I’m not going to let someone tell me how to vote. I just worked to make the best decision for my area.
I don’t have a real problem with AEA. I know people think that is the enemy of government, and they do things I don’t agree with. I don’t agree with their union mentality, and there are things I vote against them on, but I don’t look at them as evil like I do gambling. They are not inherently evil. They are trying to protect teachers and workers.
Paul Hubbert and the Sweet Home Alabama bill, I disagreed with that. There are issues on which I disagree with him like the teachers’ code of ethics and the way they want a budget. I prefer a 15-year rolling budget. I’m against him on using gambling money to fund education. I don’t think that is the answer. There are things I disagree with them on, but I do know where he stands.
I don’t trust Alfa as much as AEA because I always know where AEA stands. It is very consistent. I know if I’m going to vote for or against them. Alfa tends to be all over the board. I’m not always sure. Alfa has some things I agree with like anti-gambling, but sometimes it is harder to know where they stand.
Q: Do you support efforts for a new constitution for the state of Alabama? Why or why not?
A: The constitution does hamper us. It does hold us back in a lot of ways. I think we will probably not get a constitutional convention. It (the changes) will be an article by article (updating). We have done that like the judicial article. There are parts of the constitution that need looking at, need changing. It is not an issue that is high on people’s agenda because they are hurting right now and worried about putting food on the table. … Is earmarking too high, too low? We have to look at it from both sides. If we unearmark, then we allow legislators to decide.
Q: In your opinion, why did Ronnie Gilley (developer of Country Crossing in Houston County) say he will be back in business at Country Crossing in January after you take office? (Gilley made that statement prior to his Oct. 4 arrest.)
A: I have no idea but that sure didn’t help me. I don’t know the guy. I think the reason he said it is because of the stand on gambling I have taken. I am personally opposed to gambling. There is no state where gambling has helped that state. … Nevada … has 15 percent unemployment right now. … The lottery income in Georgia is decreasing … but the state has to honor those promises for scholarships. That will come from taxpayers’ dollars. It hurts people, taking money totally off the top and using that money in a way that does not benefit anybody except the people who own the establishment. It is not helping K-12 in most states. It is used for college scholarships, so it is not helping in the places it needs to help.
If you could get a clear, clean vote of the people, a vote that is not written by the gamblers, a chance to vote against gambling of any kind … I trust the people of Alabama and believe they will make the right decision.
The (gambling) bill this year (Senate Bill 380) was not a vote of the people. I was opposed to that bill. That is not allowing the people to truly vote on gambling because voting that bill down means everything stays the same.
If we want to get rid of gambling, then we ought to have the right to vote no and no means we are getting rid of all gambling. … I will use my office to try to keep the kind of (gambling) bill (deemed ‘let the people vote’) from last year from coming up.
We have to have a vote because we have all these constitutional amendments. They are going to be able to open up according to those constitutional amendments. The only way to clean it out is have a vote of the people.
A lot of people don’t realize that Indian gambling will continue to be there and probably expand even if we close down the others. The only way to totally get rid of Indian gambling is to get rid of all constitutional amendments in the state.
As far as what is legal and illegal gambling, as long as they do not meet the standard of the law, we have to enforce the law. I’d like to turn it over to the attorney general. Hopefully he will feel the same way. If they are breaking the law, then they should not be open.
Q: What role should the state Supreme Court’s definition of bingo gambling play in the present and future status of bingo in Alabama?
A: The Supreme Court went beyond its power in defining bingo. I think it became an activist court. It does not have the right to make law and that’s what it did. They did and we’ll obey what the court said. But two of the three that voted against it did so because they felt the court didn’t have the right to do that. … I’m not sure they have the right to define bingo; only the Legislature does.
I am going to do away with the Governor’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling. That is not the way I’m going to handle it. I believe that becomes a little bit of a show and I don’t want that.
I believe we can do it by just sending the authorities in to look at the machines, can do it with a search warrant. The attorney general really ought to do that.
Gambling to me is an issue, but I’ve got a lot of other issues to deal with. I’ve got to get people back to work.
Q: Only 17 percent of Alabamians believe they are financially better off today than a year ago, and only one-third expect to be better off a year from now. What will you do to change the sentiment on the economic condition of the state?
A: A lot has to come from the federal government. We are going to see a change in our Congress [on Election Day]. I think on a state level, we have to do short-term [fixes], give tax breaks to businesses, short-term [resources] that help. We must try to get laws passed to help small business and work with banks to get capital and encourage people to buy homes, give tax breaks — get money moving is what we’ve got to do.
The problem is there is a cloud of uncertainty that covers businesses large and small, which leads to unemployment. … When fearful, people draw back and don’t spend. They don’t hire. … We need a government that says it’s going to be OK. Let people lend; let people hire. Unless we get some help from the government in relaxing things and giving some encouragement to businesses, then things will not get better. It’s not government that hires. It’s businesses that hire. Economic recruitment is very important. Gov. Riley is the best economic governor we’ve ever had. Neal Wade (director of the Alabama Development Office) has done an outstanding job. We’re going to find someone like Neal.
Q: Three out of four Alabamians do not believe government officials in Montgomery care about what they or people like them think about issues facing our state. Is that an accurate assessment? If not, then what will you do to change that assessment?
A: I think that is why I beat the established candidate; that’s why I won (the Republican nomination). Growing up the son of a sawmill worker and knowing that faith, family, a job are what’s important.
People trust me and believe me. When people are in fear, they want someone they can trust. … We’ve got to govern according to a way the people want us to govern. We’ve got to represent the people.
Share with others: