Governor: Restore citizens' faith, trust DAVID WHITE News staff writer MONTGOMERY Gov. Don Siegelman said Sunday he will ask state lawmakers to pass a "government accountability package" in a special session of the Legislature likely to start either Aug. 27 or Aug. 28. Lawmakers in the special session, which could last as long as 30 days, also will try to redraw Alabama's seven congressional districts and eight state school board districts to reflect population shifts since 1990. But Siegelman said he also will ask them to pass proposed laws designed to boost voters' confidence in government, to make it easier later to rewrite Alabama's constitution and argue that public schools need more money. "I think it's important that we move as quickly as possible toward constitutional reform, but for us to get there, we've got to fix the accountability and responsibility part of government," Siegelman said in an interview. "First, we've got to restore people's faith and trust in their government before I think we'll be able to successfully argue that we need more money for education," he said. "This is a first step, but it's a very critical and important first step, and a step I'm absolutely committed to, and a step we're going to get done," Siegelman said. He said that in coming days he would give details of his plans to make state government reach "new standards of accountability and responsibility." Siegelman declined to give specifics Sunday. But he hinted the proposals would ban pass-through pork, the millions of dollars that state lawmakers add to state budgets each year for unlisted projects of their choosing. This year, dozens of lawmakers have brought to their districts at least $3.66 million in grants awarded by state agencies for baseball fields and other projects of lawmakers' choosing, projects not listed in the state General Fund. Siegelman also hinted that his proposals would ban state lawmakers from being able to walk around for months with million-dollar state checks in their pockets. State Sen. Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, for months tried to get the Marion County Commission to accept a $2 million state check to buy land from a friend of Bedford's. But the commission rejected Bedford's offer and Bedford a few months ago handed the check back to the state, uncashed. Siegelman said, "When you have a system that lets a legislator walk around with a check in his pocket, or when you have a system that allows for pork to be put in a budget when you're in proration, the system is broken and needs to be fixed." "I'm going to fight to fix it," he said. Siegelman earlier this year declared proration, or across-the-board cuts in state education spending caused by lower-than-expected tax collections. The proration chopped this year's expected spending by $266 million, or 6.2 percent. Copyright 2001 al.com. All Rights Reserved.