Category: Alabama Legislature
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.
Senate Passes $1.25 Billion Bond Issue for Schools
MONTGOMERY — The Alabama State Senate on Monday passed legislation to authorize a $1.25 billion bond issue to fund school construction and other capital improvement projects.
Senate Bill 242 passed 29-0 in the Senate and now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration. First proposed by Gov. Kay Ivey in her State of the State address, the bond issue would help K-12 schools and state colleges pay for capital improvements, from construction projects to technology upgrades. Read more.
DAs Look to Legislature for Funding Help After COVID-19
MONTGOMERY — Several district attorneys in Alabama say the coronavirus pandemic has reduced funding for their offices and they’re looking to the Legislature for help.
At least two DAs have already cut staffing or salaries because of the drop in revenue, they said.
District attorneys receive about 30% of their funding from the state’s General Fund budget. The other 70% comes from court fees and fines.
“To collect that 70%, three things have to be working,” Morgan County DA Scott Anderson recently said. “The economy, law enforcement writing tickets and making arrests and the courts holding court. All three of those things came to a halt with the coronavirus.” Read more.
Senate Committee OKs $2.38B General Fund Budget
MONTGOMERY — An Alabama Senate committee on Tuesday approved a proposed 2021 General Fund Budget of $2.38 billion, an increase from the current fiscal year funding but less than what was expected before the coronavirus outbreak cut into tax revenues.
The funding increases were primarily for four agencies: Medicaid, mental health, corrections and public health. Raises that were anticipated earlier in the year for state employees aren’t in the budget. Read more.
Coronavirus-adjusted General Fund Budget in Committee Tuesday
The Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee is expected to debate and vote on the 2021 General Fund budget on Tuesday.
Legislative leaders late last week said their session, on pause since mid-March because of the coronavirus, would resume May 4.
But Senate budget committee chairman Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Range, said that lawmakers need to set an example for the rest of the state.
Read more.
