Beginning today, coronavirus vaccine eligibility has been extended to include people ages 55 and older, people 16 and older who have high-risk medical conditions, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and additional critical workers. That’s about 2 million more people becoming eligible for the vaccine, while the state receives between 110,000 and 120,000 first doses
The three COVID-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use in the U.S. are safe and effective is the message from President Biden to encourage more people to take the vaccine. “It’s just essential that everyone gets connected with vaccination,” said Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, senior advisor for the president’s COVID-19 response team. “That’s how we’re going to get to our new normal. That’s how we’re going to be able to reopen schools … reunite with our families, reopen our businesses, get our economy going again, and to be able to gather together.” Clinics and hospitals in Alabama have administered the two-shot vaccines from drug companies Pfizer and Moderna since December. The distribution of a one-shot vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson began this month. But Alabama has been consistently near the bottom among states for vaccines administered per capita. Read more.
MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Senate on Thursday unanimously approved a record-setting $7.6 billion education budget for 2022. The proposal includes a 2% across-the-board cost of living pay increase for K-12 and community college employees and two other more targeted pay increases for teachers. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives. The Senate also approved Senate Bill 327 to create a program to offer increased pay to middle and high school math and science teachers who meet certain qualifications. Additional money would also be available to those teachers who work in hard-to-staff schools. Read more. Read complete legislative coverage
MONTGOMERY — A day full of contentious bills in the House of Representatives Thursday was paired with multiple motions to cut off debate, which many Democratic members said were “unjust.” Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham, said at one point during the debate that the cloture motions were taking away her right to debate on legislation. “You’ve taken all my voice away when you give up that cloture,” Moore said. House Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter said the motions were necessary to keep Democrats from dragging out debate in an effort to delay or kill legislation. Read more.
Alabama K-12 schools are getting another $2 billion of federal relief funding from the President Joe Biden-pushed American Rescue Plan Act, state officials said Wednesday. That's on top of $1.1 billion schools received from the first two rounds of federal relief. In all, federal relief money to K-12 and higher education in Alabama will total about $4.5 billion in the three approved by Congress in the last year. About $3.2 billion of that is for K-12 alone, with much of it going directly to local school districts, according to Kirk Fulford, deputy director of the Legislative Services Agency’s Fiscal Division. “The investment of these funds is going to be critical,” Rep. Bill Poole, R-Tuscaloosa, said during a presentation Wednesday to the House education budget committee. Read more.
MONTGOMERY — Legislation dealing with absentee voting in Alabama overcame the first legislative hurdle Wednesday as the bills passed through the House Constitution, Campaigns and Elections Committee. A bill that would allow for more sites to be opened in a county to accept in-person absentee ballots was debated and approved, as was a bill to require absentee applications be submitted earlier. Read more. More from the Legislature: Committee-Approved $7.6B Education Budget Includes Multiple Pay Raises Riot, Voter Bill Taken Up in Legislature Read complete legislative coverage
As more and more Alabamians get their vaccinations for COVID-19, the rate of deaths attributed to the virus keeps falling. In BirminghamWatch’s periodic analysis of COVID data, the 7-day average of deaths reported to the Alabama Department of Public Health has fallen to 20.14 per day. That’s less than half of where the average stood at the beginning of March and a whopping 87% below the peak average of 154.29 per day set Jan. 29. Read more.
A House Committee passed a bill that would increase penalties for those who participate in riots with several changes. Also, the House passed a bill to allow certain individuals to omit their personal identifying information from the state’s voter registration list. Read more.
MONTGOMERY — Across the state, there are about 7,500 positions for math and science teachers in public schools. About 4,600 are filled with credentialed educators, Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, said Tuesday. In an effort to attract and retain more math and science teachers, Orr and other lawmakers are proposing spending about $100 million on a new program to boost qualifying teachers’ pay. The proposal is part of the $7.67 billion 2022 education budget approved Tuesday in the Senate Finance and Taxation Committee. “We’re being more strategic in our compensation conversations,” Orr told Alabama Daily News. He chairs the committee. Read more. More from the Legislature: Riot, Voter Bill Taken Up in Legislature Read complete legislative coverage
The Birmingham City Council approved a loan and incentives program Tuesday that will keep the Woodland Park neighborhood’s Save A Lot location from closing. The city will provide the store, at 873 Dennison Avenue SW, with a 24-month loan not to exceed $1,000,000 at 3% interest. It also will give the company up to $750,000 in tax rebates over the next 10 years. The money will go toward renovations, inventory changes and new staff positions. Read more.
