I spent Wednesday making the rounds in Montgomery, meeting with parties who will likely be interested in the 2010 Treasurer’s race. Major topics of discussion included PACT’s present and future, state banking, and various trust funds that the Treasurer’s office manages.Also, for your information, many Alabamians might not be aware that the Treasurer sits on the board of 17 state commissions. These commissions range from health care, roads, and industrial development entities.

During my conversations Wednesday, it was not surprising that I made happenstance contacts with PACT holders and PACT family members. The near 49,000 enrollment of PACT in no way captures the vast network of Alabamians that PACT touches.

Another happening yesterday was the announcement of Alabama State University increasing their tuition by more than 21%. Such unpredictably large annual increases in tuition pose perhaps the largest threat to insuring PACT’s future. For any kind of college investment plan to succeed, predictable forecasts for future tuition rates must be made. And, higher education institutions can only reasonably predict what their tuition rates might be if they have some idea of their future state budgetary funding.

Also, the liquidation of the Birmingham based company Meadowcraft has begun. The Meadowcraft plant based in Selma, AL has been sold to a Wisconsin-based group, Home Casual LLC. The Selma plant will reopen this coming Monday. Hopefully, the week of not being able to work or be compensated for such will not traumatically impact these families in Selma.

The town of Wadley still awaits the fate of the Meadowcraft plant located there. My opposition to Wachovia/Wells Fargo’s forced liquidation of Meadowcraft was based upon the likelihood of what is presently occurring in Wadley. Wadley is an old-school factory town, where most everyone – ~700 employees – in town works at the Meadowcraft plant located there, or their business is dependent upon it. Additionally, the local government is dependent upon the plant’s taxes. Presently, those 700 workers still wait for some resolution to their fate, their utilities are being shut off, and the local government has had to absorb the loss of more than 5/6 of what Meadowcraft owed the town.

As Treasurer, my daily goal would be to best serve the economic interests of Alabamians and Alabama businesses. I intend to work to strengthen the financial stability of local businesses and financial institutions, thus preventing similar predicaments to the ones that both Meadowcraft and Wachovia/Wells Fargo presently find themselves within.

Please give your thoughts and prayers to those in Wadley.