“When You Make A PACT….” Who’ll Keep Alabama’s PACT Promises?

by: countrycat

Wed Jan 06, 2010 at 15:51:08 PM CST

Mooncat asked this question when she blogged about Byrne’s contention that a “moral obligation” is “more important” than a legal obligation. Oh really?  Hey, I can’t wait to go to court and ask the judge to enforce someone’s “moral obligation” to me.  How about you?

Now, other candidates for governor and other statewide offices are asking the question that many PACT contract holders asked when they saw Byrne’s comment:

“Just how committed is Byrne to PACT?  If there’s no legal obligation, what recourse to contract holders have?  Are they to be dependent solely on Byrne’s good will if he’s elected governor?”

Candidate for Alabama Treasurer, Jeremy Sherer, is unequivocal in his support:

“The recent actuarial study conducted by the Retirements System of Alabama found that Alabama had a legal obligation to honor all PACT contracts. Further the RSA reported that any compromise of PACT contractual benefits would amount to a breach of contract, resulting in litigation that the State of Alabama would likely lose. I share RSA’s opinion, and believe that today’s decision by the PACT Board is a step backwards in solving PACT”.

Now, Congressman Artur Davis has weighed in and is urging voters to sign a petition urging Bradley Byrne to keep his promises:

Alabamians need to know we can trust our government. Bradley Byrne, show that you understand our legal responsibility to uphold Alabama’s promise to the 48,000 families whose children need PACT money for college.

Byrne will no doubt try to write off this effort as “politics,” but it’s “politics” that’s going to resolve this issue.  His statements about “no legal obligation” call his support of PACT into doubt and he shouldn’t whine when people criticize him for it.

Davis’ press release is on the flip.  Ron Sparks hasn’t issued a statement, but his speech to the Save Alabama PACT group in August had a succinct, “veni vidi vici” rythm to it:

“You paid for it.
You ought to get it.
It’s that simple.”

Yes it is, Commissioner!

You’ve probably heard a lot of politicians make political promises to win elections.

But rarely do you hear a politician say he’ll actually break a promise, which is what the leading Republican candidate for governor, Bradley Byrne, said he would do last week.

Last week Byrne said Alabama has no legal obligation to fix PACT — the pre-paid college tuition program that 48,000 families bought into, and which is now in dire financial trouble. While guest hosting a radio show in North Alabama, Byrne stated, “I’m not telling you there’s a legal obligation on behalf of the state to fix this problem. There’s not.”

Alabama’s next governor will likely have to take a stand either for or against PACT families and the promises made to them when the question comes up in court. How easy do you think it would be for families to get those promises honored with the governor himself fighting against them?
Sign our petition today telling Bradley Byrne that he should keep Alabama’s promises.

Whether or not you and your family have invested in PACT, every Alabamian needs to know we can trust our Governor to uphold our state’s word.

As a former member of the board specifically charged with oversight of the PACT program, Bradley Byrne has a responsibility to uphold Alabama’s promise to 48,000 families whose children need this money for college.

As governor, Artur Davis will make sure Alabama lives up to its legal and moral obligation to honor the contracts these PACT families signed.

It’s a disturbing thought that the leading Republican in the race for governor does not take seriously the state’s promise to keep college affordable for Alabama families, and it’s also a little hypocritical to then hear him talking about using higher education to help create jobs.

Bradley Byrne doesn’t want to keep Alabama’s word to 48,000 families. Sign our petition and let Byrne know you take this promise seriously.

If Bradley Byrne becomes governor of Alabama, who knows how many pacts he’ll break.