The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act has been reintroduced in U.S. Congress, according to the public radio station WNYC. The bill, which is designed to protect government workers who expose fraud, waste and wrongdoing, earned a majority of votes in both houses of Congress last year. However, under special Senate voting rules, one senator was able to halt the bill by putting a hold on the bill. A secret hold. A few weeks ago, WNYC began working with the public and with media organizations -- including Bama Fact Check -- to get members of the Senate to go on the record, either confirming or denying that they were the source of the secret hold. The effort has narrowed down the list of possible secret holders to two -- either Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, or Sen. John Kyl, R-Arizona. Weeks ago, Sessions' spokeswoman told Bama Fact Check that the senator doesn't comment on holds. Kyl has sent constituents a letter saying senators "did not have sufficient time to review" changes to the House version of the bill. To learn more about the bill and the WNYC effort, go to the radio station's website.

Lots going on in Montgomery today. Here's a quick rundown of just a few items being discussed: * An Arizona-style immigration bill, which some say may prompt a lawsuit * Changes to teacher tenure rules. * A "clarification" of the word "corruptly" in ethics laws, which most experts say is a watering-down of a December ethics bill. And then, of course, there's Gov. Bentley's proposed budget. By the way, in a speech in Lee County, the governor said the 2013 budget situation could be worse.

Here’s a story that began as a fact check. A few days ago, someone wrote to The Anniston Star to protest a rumored proposal to close Confederate Memorial Park in Marbury. The park, the letter-writer said, is funded by the state’s fund for Confederate widows. A Confederate widows’ fund in 2011? Really? The Star just had to check that one out. And what they found was a story that shows just how complicated a state budget can be. You won’t believe how recently the state has been paying Confederate widows’ pensions. Read the story to find out. From The Anniston Star – Confederate park unscathed in budget battle

This week, Gov. Robert Bentley proposed a jobs plan that would offer a $1,000 tax credit to small businesses for every new employee they hire. The plan even defines "small business," something one rarely sees in political rhetoric. (For purposes of the bill, a small business is one with fewer than 50 employees.) Bentley's proposal, the Full Employment Act of 2011, is based the Alabama Reemployment Act of 2010, which Bentley sponsored last year. Bentley made much use of the 2010 act during his gubernatorial campaign, saying his bill brought 5,000 jobs to the state. Here's the kicker: we still don't know if that 5,000-job estimate is correct. Bama Fact Check looked into the claim last year. Tuscaloosa News reporter Brian Reynolds found that Bentley's numbers were based on a good estimate -- 4,600 jobs were created in Alabama by a similar federal program -- but noted that we won't really know the full impact until businesses file their tax returns this year. Well, those returns are still not in, as The Anniston Star noted today. And, by extension, we don't know how much the program has cost the state, in terms of lost revenue. Mind you, no one is saying Bentley's tax credits won't create jobs. In fact, the business community has welcomed both the 2010 and 2011 bills. But it turns out to be fairly hard to quantify just how much good any one reform has done.