‘Lip service over public service?’: Billboard slams Sen. Britt over UAB funding cuts
A digital billboard along a busy Birmingham highway offers a scathing criticism of Alabama Senator Katie Britt and a demand for action as looming federal cuts threaten to yank millions from UAB and end jobs within the region.
A photo of Britt speaking with a raised hand flashes with the caption, “Lip service over public service? Raise your hand.”
Proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health could cost the University of Alabama at Birmingham about $70 million a year, officials have estimated. Those cuts could also cause a negative ripple effect throughout the area, several have warned.
The sign chiding Britt appears on a billboard along U.S. 31 near the Red Mountain Expressway and the U.S. 280 interchange.
“She should be speaking up for what’s best for Alabamians and not just what’s best for her career, and the same goes for Sen. Tuberville,” said Joellyn Beckham, one of the message organizers using the name BBD. “Part of what we’re trying to do is help people understand that there is stuff going on that they would not like if they knew about it.”
The sign urges people to call their representatives with a number to the U.S. Capitol switchboard.
The signs have been up about a week. The billboard is the project of a small group of Birmingham area residents who pooled their resources to raise their political voices and call for resident action, Beckham said.
“If you don’t believe what you’re reading, then call your rep and ask them what this means,” she said. “It’s important for Alabamians right now to be engaged, more so than probably ever.”
The location of the ads is intentional.
“They are aimed at people who are coming into town from work, some of whom will be coming to UAB. It’s that group of people who will be coming into town from the southern suburbs – from Vestavia, Homewood, Mountain Brook and Shelby County,” Beckham said.
A second digital image on the same billboard shows billionaire Elon Musk making his highly debated outward salute on Trump’s inauguration day.
“Gutting B’ham funds & jobs? Raise your hand.”
Critics are using billboards to accuse Senator Katie Britt of siding with Donald Trump over Alabamians budget cuts that could cripple UAB funding and hiring.Contributed
Musk has amassed considerable power as he leads President Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency.
“What he’s doing is directly affecting us in Birmingham and Alabama. It’s important for people to know who’s directly responsible for that, and he is,” Beckham said. “Katie Britt through word and deed is supporting him.”
Beckham said she and her grassroots associates wanted to use the billboard images to make motorists curious about current events and then to take action.
She called Musk an “unelected shadow president.”
“This is not a partisan issue. This is a factual issue. And the fact is we have an unelected billionaire with radical ideas who is not being opposed by anybody Alabama has elected to office,” she said. “His policies and the policies of the administration who brought him in are going to truly, truly hurt every Alabamian and especially everybody in Birmingham.”
Musk’s operation has already slashed funding, closed agencies and is expected to enact more cuts to make good on Trump’s pledge to reduce government, save billions and end “woke” ideology within the government.
Britt this week talked to Robert Kennedy Jr., the nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and expressed her support for research that takes place in Alabama.
Britts’ office issued a statement to AL.com in response to the signs.
“Senator Britt is always grateful to hear from her constituents, especially as she works to ensure every cent of hard-earned taxpayer money is spent efficiently, judiciously, and accountably,” the statement reads. “She appreciates the outpouring of support for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s nomination from so many Alabamians who want to Make America Healthy Again.”
Britt early in the Trump administration has become a mediator of sorts. For example, Britt stepped in when the Department of Defense removed training videos featuring the Tuskegee Airmen. The move was quickly reversed after bipartisan calls, including a message from Britt.
However, in public hearings and on social media, she has strongly defended Trump and his confidence in Musk against criticism from Democrats.
“Now that President Trump is back in office, we have a true Commander in Chief again,” Britt tweeted. “Democrats can’t stand his team is helping execute his agenda and fulfill his electoral mandate.”
Britt is known to have a strong relationship with Trump, even accompanying him for an Alabama vs. Georgia football game and the Superbowl last week.
Britt, who took office in 2023, is already a government veteran as a former chief of staff to longtime Senator Richard Shelby. As a lawyer, Britt went on to lead the Business Council of Alabama and then succeeded Shelby when he retired.
Nevertheless, Beckham said the aim of the billboard is a clarion call for residents to speak up and for their local leaders to act in their best interest.
The grassroots group earlier also arranged a billboard targeting Musk and mocking his trustworthiness for the task assigned by Trump.
The images have delivered the intended reaction, causing discussion on social media and calls from some offering to sponsor additional political protest messages.
“We know that it is helping people get the courage up to make the calls,” she said. “We’re one of the reddest states on the planet and this should be encouraging to everyone who is feeling like their voices don’t matter. Make your voices matter.”
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