MONTGOMERY — A bill to allow the Legislature to call itself into a special session was approved Tuesday in the Senate Government Affairs Committee. The House version of the bill is in committee Wednesday. Read more.
The Alabama House passed a bill Tuesday that would ensure some businesses can’t be closed during states of emergency while their competitors remain open. House Bill 103 by Rep. Jamie Kiel, R-Russellville, would allow businesses and places of worship to remain open as long as they comply with any emergency order, rules or regulations issued by the governor and state or local agencies. “This bill does away with the connotation of essential and non-essential businesses existing in the state,” Kiel said on the House floor. Kiel previously told Alabama Daily News that last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he saw local clothing stores and boutiques and sporting goods stores forced to close while other larger stores remained open selling the same products. “If you’re gonna allow a business that sells T-shirts to stay open, then all businesses that sell T-shirts should be able to stay open,” Kiel previously said. “If one business is allowed to open under certain conditions, then all businesses can be open under those same conditions.” Read more. More from the Legislature: Special Session, Oversight Bills Advance
Nine Birmingham nonprofits will receive funding from the city’s Building Opportunities for Lasting Development grant initiative this year, despite an overall reduction in funding for the program. The Birmingham Business Alliance, Birmingham Business Resource Center, Bronze Valley, Bush Hills Connections Inc., Community Care Development Network, Create Birmingham, TruFund Financial Services, Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham and Workshops Empowerment Inc. were selected from a group of 22 applicants, with award amounts ranging from $20,000 to $90,000. “The top-line narrative here is us really working to do more with less, to think about how can we leverage city dollars and support in the community to maximize our investment,” Amelia Muller, civic design principal for the city’s department of innovation and economic opportunity, said in a presentation to the Birmingham City Council. Read more.
UAB health experts say when it comes to vaccine variety, more is better. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is the latest to win approval from the federal government. Read more.
WASHINGTON — Members of Alabama’s House delegation, except for Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell, voted against the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that passed the House on a 219-212 vote Saturday. HR 1319, which the Senate is expected to take up this week, would expand unemployment benefits by $400 per week from March 14 through Aug. 29; deliver payments of $1,400 per person to individuals earning up to $75,000 and couples up to $150,000; raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour by 2025; expand Paycheck Protection Program benefits for small businesses and non-profits; establish a $25 billion grant program for the restaurant industry; and increase Affordable Care Act premium subsidies for a large number of the uninsured. See what else is in the relief package.
A bill working its way through the Legislature would allow law enforcement officers from designated agencies around the state to take people into protective custody if there is “reasonable cause to believe that the individual has a mental illness and is an immediate danger to himself or herself or others.” The individual doesn’t have to be charged with a crime and the detainment is not an arrest. The hold can last up to 72 hours if not extended by a probate judge. “This is for those acute cases, to get those individuals stabilized in a hospital setting and hopefully get them care,” sponsor Rep. Wes Allen, R-Troy, told the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Read more.
Education leaders in Alabama say there will be no virtual option despite COVID-19. Read more.
Here's a rundown of legislative action in the Alabama House of Representatives Tuesday. Read more.
This year, the city of Birmingham is sending two sets of lobbyists to Montgomery — one from Mayor Randall Woodfin’s office and one from the City Council. Councilors made that decision last month, claiming they’d been excluded from planning the city’s legislative agenda, and on Tuesday they approved a legislative agenda of their own — one that only slightly overlaps with Woodfin’s priorities. The primary area of agreement between the two agendas is about bolstering city revenue through fines. Both the mayor and council are pushing legislation that would increase penalties for littering, dumping and weed abatement. Both also want to tie parking tickets to car tag renewal, providing a built-in enforcement mechanism for a ticketing system that currently lacks one. Woodfin and the council also are both pushing for an increase in the maximum number of entertainment districts allowed in a municipality. Birmingham has four such areas — Pepper Place, Uptown, Five Points South and Avondale — where people are allowed to drink alcohol outside, though they must have purchased that alcohol from a restaurant, bar or venue in that district. State law caps the number of entertainment districts a city can have at five; Woodfin and the council both hope to raise that number to 15. The similarities mostly end there. Read more.
MONTGOMERY — Gov. Kay Ivey proclaimed Monday Supermarket Employee Day in Alabama as a way to honor grocery store workers who continued to work throughout the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more.
