Category: Alabama Legislature
After Dispute, Ivey Sends Lawmakers Proposal for $1.8B in Coronavirus Spending
MONTGOMERY — A week after a public dispute between Gov. Kay Ivey and members of the Legislature about who should control about $1.8 billion in federal coronavirus relief money, the governor on Thursday sent lawmakers a detailed proposal for allocating most of it.
The proposed expenditures include money for state agencies’ COVID-19 expenses, businesses, nonprofits and faith-based groups and technology and infrastructure expenses. Read more.
Lawmakers Send Ivey $7.2B Education Budget, Plan to Return to Deal With Possible Veto
MONTGOMERY — In a rare Saturday meeting, Alabama lawmakers approved a $7.2 billion education budget, finishing the heavy lifting in a legislative session derailed by the coronavirus outbreak. They left the capital city but expect to be back in the State House for special sessions on multiple matters later this year.
State House leaders also plan to call back lawmakers May 18 should they need to react to possible amendments by Gov. Kay Ivey or a veto of the state General Fund.
Ivey and lawmakers have wrangled in recent weeks about who gets to allocate nearly $1.8 billion in coronavirus relief funding from the federal government. Ivey last week agreed to cede responsibility and told lawmakers she wanted details on how every penny would be spent before she’d call them back for a special session to allocate it. The Legislature approved a General Fund budget that gives $200 million of the funds to state agencies to spend immediately, something she told them not to do. Read more.
Lawmakers Prep for Possible Ivey Veto of Budget
Legislative leadership expects to pass the state’s 2021 education budget Saturday, but they’re also bracing for Gov. Kay Ivey to veto the General Fund Budget they sent her Thursday.
“Gov. Ivey has indicated she will veto the budget we sent to her (Thursday) as she plans to cede full authority over COVID-19 funds to the Alabama Legislature,” Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, said in a written statement Friday. State leaders are expecting nearly $1.8 billion in federal funds to be used on coronavirus-related expenses.
Saturday could be the final day of the session, although lawmakers will have the option to come back for another day if the governor vetoes the budget.
Read more.
House Passes Education Budget, General Fund Goes to Ivey
MONTGOMERY — Alabama lawmakers continued their budget-focused, abbreviated session Thursday, sending the General Fund budget to Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk and getting one step closer to final passage of the education budget. Read more.
Ivey Cedes Control of Coronavirus Funds, Chides Legislature for Spending ‘Wish List’
MONTGOMERY — After private wrangling between the Legislature and Gov. Kay Ivey over the authority to spend nearly $1.8 billion in federal coronavirus relief money, Ivey on Thursday publicly ceded primary responsibility to lawmakers.
“I have never desired to control a single penny of this money and if the Legislature feels so strongly that they should have that authority, I yield to them both the money and the responsibility to make good decisions – in the light of day where the people of Alabama know what is happening,” Ivey said in a written statement to reporters Thursday afternoon.
But, she said, she will not call the Legislature back into special session until it publicly releases a detailed list of how the money will be spent. And it better not include $200 million for a State House, she warned.
That proposed expenditure was on a wish list of spending circulated at the State House this week and obtained by Alabama Daily News. Legislative leaders disavowed any knowledge of the proposal. Read more.
Also in the Legislature:
House Passes Education Budget, General Fund Goes to Ivey
Budgets on the Move; Speaker Says No Other Bills Will Be Considered
A House committee Wednesday approved the Senate-passed $2.38 billion General Fund budget, putting it and the $7.3 billion education budget in line for final passage by Saturday. House leadership on Wednesday afternoon said it will not be taking up bills that aren’t directly tied to the budgets or local to members’ districts, effectively killing some senators’ proposed legislation. Read more.
Also in the Legislature on Tuesday:
Senate Passes General Fund Budget, Stakes Domain Over Coronavirus Funds
Push for No-Excuse Absentee Voting Likely Going Nowhere
The Alabama Senate approved Tuesday a resolution that says it’s “imperative to the democratic process to propose and adopt” no-excuse absentee voting, but the passage of actual legislation to loosen restrictions on the ballots seems unlikely in the Republican-controlled body.
Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, filed a bill Monday that would authorize no-excuse absentee voting. Smitherman’s Senate Bill 335 strikes out the list of excuses that qualify a voter for an absentee ballot and deletes a section of state law that says a voter must have one of those excuses to apply for an absentee ballot.
Some cities have been pushing for no-excuse absentee voting in recent weeks.
Read more.
Change Proposed in State Funding for Students in Growing School Systems
A bill in the Alabama Senate would change the per-student funding model for growing K-12 schools, taking some burden off of local systems to pay for additional students, advocates say.
Currently, systems receive a per-pupil allocation from the state based on prior year enrollments.
Senate Bill 316 would change the funding formula to account for enrollment increases, projecting growth based on the previous two years’ enrollment growth.
Read more.
Bill Would Change Rules for States of Emergency, Public Health Orders
Some state senators want more say in extended emergency orders like the ones put in place in response to the coronavirus.
Current law says the Alabama governor can issue a state of emergency for up to 60 days. A bill filed Monday in the State House would limit that to 14 days and then require legislative approval for an extension.
Senate Bill 334 also says that no public health order issued by the state health officer will take effect until it is signed by the governor and delivered to the secretary of state. Current orders, like the late March order that closed many Alabama businesses and limited public gatherings, are signed by Public Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris alone.
Read more.
Lawmakers Return to Changed Legislative Session
MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Legislature resumed Monday a legislative session that looks much different from when it began three months ago.
Wearing masks and sitting apart, lawmakers gathered without lobbyists in the hallways or members of the public in the galleries, kept out of the State House over coronavirus health concerns. In the House, many Democrats stayed home Monday in protest, saying lawmakers shouldn’t be meeting or passing budgets yet.
While passing the General Fund and education budgets are the stated purpose of resuming the session that must end by May 18, they’re not the only bills in play. The Alabama Senate on Monday considered local bills and formal resolutions but also passed Gov. Kay Ivey’s bond issue proposal borrowing $1.25 billion for school construction and capital improvements.
Senators on Tuesday could consider legislation giving them and their House colleagues significant say in how the state’s nearly $1.8 billion in federal coronavirus relief money, and future funds, are spent. Read more.
