Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr. will be speaking today at noon in Room 172 of the UA School of Law.

Folsom served as the 50th governor of Alabama from 1993 to 1995, and served as lieutenant governor from 1987 to 1993 in addition to his current term, in which he has been serving since his election in 2006.

Folsom won his Democratic re-election primary in June and will face Republican State Treasurer Kay Ivey in the November general election.

Folsom said he will discuss a wide range of topics, including education, economic development and the future of Alabama.

“I’ll be talking about economic development and how we could continue to keep Alabama moving forward in that arena,” Folsom said. “Naturally I want to talk about amount of funding for education, secondary and higher education, how that looks, what we need to do to keep our funding at a maximum as well as we can. My speech will be a preview of how things are looking for the future, and what are some of the things we can do in the future, and that kind of thing.”

Folsom has received endorsements from groups typically identified with the Republican Party, including the NRA and Business Council of Alabama. He attributes that to his willingness to reach across partisan lines over the past two decades.

“I think it shows in the past and throughout my career, I have tried to build bipartisan coalitions on both sides of the isle, and that’s the way you really get things done,” Folsom said. “Working in a bipartisan fashion, quit trying to think about what we are going to do tomorrow instead of who is going to win the fight today.”

Folsom also said being an independent thinker and not being concerned with the election cycle is the key to government efficacy.

“If we want to accomplish anything, we have to take a real partisan approach to problems,” he said. “If our main concern ends up being the next election, the next problem, the next problem isn’t the problem of the day, instead it’s a long term problem.”

Folsom said the issue at the top of his priorities is campaign finance reform, and the only clear solution is transparency.

“Its top priority on my list, and I think the time has come,” Folsom said. “Of course, the real solution to the form is transparency. It is clear transported transparency on who you support. The candidate is going to run, and if he has financial support from any group organization he ought to state it and let everyone know that.”

Lunch will be provided for those who attend, and it is open to the entire law school.