A Uniter, Not a Divider

Gov. Riley is to be commended for including the Alabama State Employees Association and the Alabama Education Association from the get-go in crafting his health insurance plan. He also insisted that the scope of the special session be limited to the 5 bills constituting his plan. As a result of the Governor's leadership, the legislature passed all 5 bills by large margins within 5 days, the minimum time required to pass legislation.

The Governor admits that this is only a first step in addressing exploding health insurance costs for state employees, but it should set the stage for future, more comprehensive reforms.

Another tidbit...with the bills' passage, Alabama becomes only the second state to require employees who are tobacco users to pay higher insurance premiums.

Under Riley's legislation, workers or retirees caught lying about smoking
face stiff financial penalties.

The governor, who lights up occasionally, was asked in an interview if
he would be among the group of state employees paying more.

"No. I'm going to quit," he said.