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If you haven't joined our mailing list, please click the link below |
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Greetings from PARCA | |
Dear PARCA Supporter,
As fall begins, we are anxiously awaiting release of the 2012 ARMT results. PARCA performs an annual test-score analysis of each school system in order to provide comparisons that may be used by internal and external stakeholders to improve student performance. To view our previous analyses, go to Statewide ARMT Test Score Comparisons for Alabama Schools. Return to our website for the 2012 data very soon!
We are also beginning a new section of the Perspective this month titled "Strange But True." In an effort to share our discoveries from the Local Acts of Alabama, we will be providing you with a unique local act(s) each month. The first edition of "Strange But True" can be read below!
Please feel free to contact us with any comments. We value your feedback and support.
Marci Edwards
Director of Communications |
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Alabama's Economic Outlook | |
As the economy slowly rebounds, state governments are beginning to see some fiscal stabilization. However, some state budgets, including Alabama's, still face considerable challenges.
A current survey released by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) shows state reporting of estimated fiscal year 2012 year-end balances. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia report year-end balances of more than five percent of general fund spending, which is the level recommended by most rating agencies. Alabama, along with Connecticut, reported zero end-of-year balances. California and Washington are the only states to anticipate deficits.
The following map shows states' estimated year-end balances as a percentage of general fund spending. With a zero end-of-year balance, you can see that Alabama is one of a small minority of states in the red.
Along with the year-end balances, the NCSL report titled "State Budget Update: Summer 2012" contains data on the changes in state revenues and spending, a state economic outlook for FY 2013, and a review of the strengths and challenges affecting budgets.
To view this interactive map and a link to the report, click here.
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Strange But True | |
Local Acts are laws of the State of Alabama that pertain only to a single county, city, or group of counties or cities, not to the entire state. There are more than 35,000 Local Acts in Alabama. Most are only available in printed form through the Acts of Alabama, for the year in which they were enacted.
Recognizing the importance of access to these laws, PARCA has created a comprehensive, searchable database of the local acts. The database is now available through subscription, and it is being utilized by libraries, law firms and individuals statewide.
In the process of creating the local act database, we have found many interesting acts. These acts provide us with a sense of history, but also a view of a very antiquated, inefficient process. This month we are beginning a new regular section in the Perspective titled "Strange But True." This section will give you examples of acts that display the inefficiency of the local acts system, but also other acts that simply make us scratch our heads. We hope you enjoy!
STRANGE BUT TRUE - #1
The Jefferson County Personnel Board was created in 1945. The enabling legislation, Act No. 248 of the Regular Session of the Legislature of Alabama of 1945, can be viewed here. In searching the local acts database, we found 28 amendments to Act No. 248 that have been passed since it was enacted. It is a big research project just to gather all of the pieces. None of these amendments have been assembled into the original law, which makes it very hard to determine how the law reads currently, except by cutting and pasting. There is also no codified record of which acts have been affected by court action or attorney general opinions. Sound confusing? It is. The local acts system makes it difficult for localities to know when changes have been made and whether or not they are operating under the most current version of the law. A few years ago, a county attorney shepherded through the legislature an amendment to a local act affecting his county, only to find out later that the act had been repealed!
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PARCA Friends on the Move | |
- PARCA Board member John L. Carroll, dean of Samford University's Cumberland School of Law, has delayed his announced retirement a full year to enable the university to conduct a more complete search for his successor. Read more here.
- PARCA Board Member Bruce P. Ely, partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, received the 2012 President's Award for Exemplary Service to the Profession at the Alabama State Bar's annual meeting. For more information, click here.
- PARCA Board member Jim Hughey, partner at Lightfoot, Franklin & White, was recognized by the Metro Birmingham Branch of the NAACP as one of its 2012 "Men of Distinction." Click here to read more.
- Energen Corporation has named PARCA Board member Sid McAnnally the new senior vice president of marketing and customer service at its Alagasco subsidiary. Read more here.
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