FOI At Work: State Senator Guides Grant, Gets Paid...

A nice, nice piece of FOI-driven work in Alabama, that spins a motley tale...

State Sen. E.B. McClain received about $4,000 a month for several years from a nonprofit program after he helped persuade Alabama's two-year college system to fund it, records show.

The college system paid Heritage to Hope, a Birmingham nonprofit, more than $310,000 from February 2004 through September 2006 to operate a computer-based tutoring program that helped 13 people complete at least one level of training, according to system records. The program, canceled last year, was supposed to recruit high-school dropouts for training that would help them acquire a GED, a high-school equivalency certificate.

McClain, a Birmingham Democrat, was paid as a consultant by the program after helping it receive the two-year college funding, said the Rev. Sam Pettagrue, the retired pastor of Sardis Baptist Church and creator of the nonprofit.

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