Sung to the tune "Stars Fell on Alabama":
Rep. Greg Wren, who has represented eastern Montgomery in the Alabama House of Representatives for 16 of the last 20 years, announced Thursday he would not seek re-election this November.
In a statement, Wren, a Republican, did not give a specific reason for his decision, but thanked the voters of the 75th District “for giving me the honor to serve.”
“Humbled by the trust and confidence placed in me by the voters over eight primary and general elections during my sixteen year career, I stand and offer my hands and heart of gratitude for the blessings of serving my constituents and the State of Alabama,” Wren said in the statement.
.... Currently a boot-shaped district with its heel in Montgomery County and a shaft in Elmore County, House District 75 will be re-centered around Pike Road for the June 2014 primary, due to redistricting. Much of the new territory will come from House District 76, currently represented by Rep. Thad McClammy, D-Montgomery.
The other shoe falls -- below the fold:
MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- An Alabama lawmaker has agreed to plead guilty to state charges in a deal that will secure his cooperation with authorities investigating corruption in the Alabama State House.
Rep. Greg Wren, R-Montgomery, appeared in state district court in Montgomery this morning, where he agreed to plead guilty to using his office for personal gain and to pay $24,000 restitution, within 90 days, in addition to his cooperation with the investigation.
Seems the lawmaker tinkered with legislation to "add language to the state General Fund budget that would have effectively made a pharmacy cooperative he did business with, the Bessemer-based American Pharmaceutical Cooperative Inc., the sole supplier of drugs for Medicaid."
Mike Hubbard, Republican Speaker of the AL House and lawyered up, was ready:
That pharmaceutical company has also done business with a company owned by Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn.
Hubbard declined comment, saying he knew of Wren's resignation but that was all. But his attorneys, J. Mark White and R. Lance Bell, issued a statement on Tuesday morning that said Hubbard was not involved in Wren's actions.
"The matters related to Rep. Wren's actions today do not involve or affect Speaker Hubbard," the statement by White and Bell said.
But then, Hubbard had his own little run-in with a Grand Jury:
MONTGOMERY—Evidence gathered by the Alabama Political Reporter shows that Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) and Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard (R-Auburn) threatened to kill more than 100 jobs in Moore’s home district, as political retribution against Moore's primary campaign opponent.
Barry Moore and Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard are believed to be the subjects of the special grand jury investigation in Lee County this week.
Over the last year and a half, speculation about the special grand jury investigation has centered mostly on Speaker Hubbard.
The Wren indictment also sent another legislator, Steve Clouse, Alabama House District 93, running for cover:
Wren acknowledged to the media that he was responsible for inserting the language into the budget. Rep. Steve Clouse (R-Ozark) was asked last year if he and Speaker Hubbard had spoken about the 23 word addition to the budget. “You know we (Clouse and Hubbard) talk about a lot of things with the budget. I don’t remember in particular.” Clouse said he recalled Wren suggested the passage benefiting APCI. Wren was “concerned about independent pharmacists and he wanted to add language in there… Greg wanted to put the language in there, so I told him to go ahead and write it up.”
Neither Hubbard or Wren responded to multiple phone messages and emails seeking comment for this story.