Glenn Stephens

Ivey Signs Spending Oversight, Teachers’ Benefits Bills

MONTGOMERY -- Alabama’s state agencies wanting to spend more than $10 million on purchases or projects will soon have to answer more questions from a panel of lawmakers. Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday signed House Bill 392 from Rep. Mike Jones, R-Andalusia. Though the final version of the bill significantly scaled back from what Jones originally filed, the bill will give the existing Legislative Contract Review Committee, made up of about a dozen lawmakers, the ability to question the spending of more than $10 million by state agencies and departments from their General Fund appropriations. The committee can delay state contracts and expenditures for 45 days, but can’t outright kill them. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Melson: Support of ‘Solid Legislators’ Key for Medical Marijuana; What’s Next for Access

MONTGOMERY -- Going into this year’s legislative session, Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, said he knew the Senate would pass the medical marijuana bill he sponsored. It was the House where the bill would face a tougher vote. But when some “solid legislators” in the House said they’d vote for his bill, Melson became hopeful. “I'm not gonna say solid conservatives or liberals or whatever, but guys who are solid legislators," Melson said, mentioning specifically Reps. Allen Treadaway, R-Birmingham, and Allen Farley, R-McCalla, both former law enforcement leaders, and Rep. Bill Poole, R-Tuscaloosa, the pragmatic House budget committee chairman. "When they realized that this wasn’t about Republican or Democrat issues, it was about taking care of people, I thought we had a good chance,” Melson said. “… I knew then that the opposition wasn’t as strong as everyone anticipated.” The bill to allow people with certain medical conditions access to forms of medical marijuana cleared the House on one of the final nights of the legislative session, and Gov. Kay Ivey signed it into law last week. Now the work begins to set up the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission. The 14 members will be appointed by July 1 and will be in charge of creating the rules, regulations and best practices for growing, cultivating, processing and selling a medical cannabis product in the state. Read more.

by Mary Sell and Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

Low Likelihood of Matched Bone Marrow Donors Among African Americans

Finding a 100% bone marrow match is a challenge for most people with cancer, but it’s even more difficult if you’re Black. Be The Match, the largest and most diverse marrow registry in the world, only carries 4% of their registry from African Americans. Research showed bone marrow matches are best among people of the same race and ethnicity. This makes Black people far less likely to find a bone marrow match when searching for a cure for blood cancer. Stephanie Jackson, an account manager with Be The Match, said African-Americans have an especially hard time matching with donors compared to whites. “If you are Caucasian, and you do not have a match in your family, you have a 77% chance of finding a match,” Jackson said. But for African Americans, that drops to 23%, because only a tiny fraction of registered donors are African American, Jackson said. Read more.

by Cody Short, WBHM

Supreme Court Ruling on Online Sales Tax Could Benefit Schools Statewide

A recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling will mean millions of dollars in online sales tax revenue for Morgan County schools and is a win for schools statewide, supporters say. Some expect more local legislation similar to the north Alabama county’s in the next legislative session. The court earlier this month upheld the constitutionality of a 2019 local law, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, that directed the bulk of revenue from online sales tax, referred to as SSUT, received by the county commission to the county’s public schools. Orr said the local bill mirrored that of the county’s existing bricks-and-mortar sales tax distribution — revenue that has dipped as more people shop online. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Alabama GOP Reps Vote Against Jan. 6 Commission

Alabama’s House congressional delegation split along party lines on the vote to create a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on Congress, with at least one Republican agreeing with the complaint that the panel wouldn’t consider political violence from the left. The six Alabama Republicans were among the 175 lawmakers who voted against the creation of the commission. All Democrats, including Rep. Terri Sewell of Birmingham, voted for the bill. “I cannot vote in favor of a partisan commission that will not look at all political violence against Members of Congress and Capitol Police,” Rep. Mike Rogers , R-Saks, said in a statement. Read more.

by Brett Davis

Jeffco Considers $5 Million Pledge to UAB’s Genomics Sciences Program

The Jefferson County Commission will consider on Thursday a pledge of $5 million for the genomics sciences program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. At their committee meeting Tuesday, commissioners placed the proposal on the agenda for this week’s meeting. The county is set to pledge $1 million a year for five years to help UAB with the expansion and construction of a new genomics sciences and research building. The move of the action to Thursday’s agenda came after an appeal from UAB President Ray Watts, who said the building will span 540,000 square feet. “It is perfectly situated to take genomic information and data science and predict what kinds of treatments might be effective for cancers,” Watts said. “You can also predict what diseases we might be a risk for so we can control those risk factors and avoid ever having that disease. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Legislative Briefs: Sexual Assault Survivor Rights, Yoga, Curbside Voting Bills Win Approval

The Alabama Legislature on Monday approved a bill setting out rights for victims of sexual assauts. Among the provisions of the Sexual Assault Survivor "Bill of Rights" are requirements on how long law enforcement must preserve evidence in sexual assault cases. Lawmakers also approved a bill that would allow the practice of yoga n public schools, but limit the use of any changing and mantras and ban the teaching of the greeting "namaste." Other action by lawmakers on the final day of the 2021 regular session included approval of bills that would ban curbside voting in Alabama and delay the student holdback provision under the 2019 Literacy Act. Read more.

by Alabama Daily News

Legislature Removes State Income Tax on Restaurants’ Federal Rescue Money

MONTGOMERY -- In one of its final moves of the 2021 session, the Alabama Legislature Monday ensured that restaurant owners don’t have to pay state income taxes on the newest round of COVID-19 federal relief. Sen. Dan Roberts, R-Mountain Brook, earlier in the session sponsored a bill to clarify the tax code to ensure restaurant grants in the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan don’t raise the state income tax liability for owners. It also would have untaxed the plan’s enhanced child tax credit, earned income tax credit and child and dependent care tax credit. But that bill didn’t move because legislative leaders said it could wait until a special session later this year, or even early in the 2022 session. Roberts instead got the restaurant language on the existing House Bill 227, which allows for an income tax credit for the construction of storm shelters. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Bill to Change Governor’s Control of State of Emergency Orders Dies

MONTGOMERY -- A bill that would have shortened state of emergency orders and given the Legislature a say in extending them died Monday, the final day of the legislative session. Senate Bill 97 from Sen. Tom Whatley, R-Auburn, would have limited state of emergency orders, such as those issued since last spring in response to the Coronavirus, to 45 days, with a possible 120-day extension. But any extension after that would have had to be approved by a joint resolution from the Legislature. Rep. Mike Holmes, R-Wetumpka, sponsored the bill in the House and told members on Monday that the bill was not about limiting the governor’s power but allowing Alabamians more say into wide, sweeping actions taken in state-of-emergency orders. Read more.

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

Legislature Passes General Fund Budget on Final Day of Session

MONTGOMERY -- The state’s General Fund budget received final passage Monday as lawmakers sent a record-setting $2.4 billion budget to Gov. Kay Ivey for her approval. House Budget Chairman Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, took to the House floor to explain that changes made to the budget by a House-Senate conference committee added about $900,000 from what the Senate had passed.   The House and Senate voted unanimously on Monday to agree with the changes made in the conference committee.  The approved 2022 fiscal year budget is $90.6 million larger than the current year’s budget and about $26.5 million more than what Ivey recommended in February. Read more. More from the Legislature on its last day: Legislative Briefs: Sexual Assault Survivor Rights, Yoga, Curbside Voting Bills Win Approval Legislature Removes State Income Tax on Restaurants’ Federal Rescue Money No Gambling or Transgender Bills on the Last Day, but Abortion Bill Passes the Legislature 'Vaccine Passports' Ban Passes Final Vote Bill to Change Governor’s Control of State of Emergency Orders Dies Changes to Civil Asset Forfeiture Law Passes Final Vote Bill to Allow Citations Instead of Arrests Goes to Ivey Legislative Briefs: Sexual Assault Survivor Rights, Yoga, Curbside Voting Bills Win Approval

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News