Category: Alabama Legislature
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.
Long List of Issues Fall by the Wayside as Virus Upends Session
MONTGOMERY — Less than three months ago, medical marijuana, education reform and a state lottery were expected to be headlining issues of 2020 legislative session. Projections for increased tax revenue meant larger General Fund and education budgets for 2021 and raises for state employees and teachers were anticipated.
But when the new coronavirus interrupted daily life, it also upended the state’s economy and this year’s regular legislative session. Read more.
Amid Prayers and Protective Gear, Legislature Postpones Session
MONTGOMERY — State lawmakers walked one by one into their respective chambers, each keeping a strict distance from one another and many wearing protective masks and gloves as the House and Senate met at the State House Tuesday.
The Legislature was forced to convene Tuesday to formally adopt a joint rule allowing for the postponement of a legislative session during a state of emergency. Fifty-eight of 105 House members were in attendance, each asked to sit with a seat between them in chairs specially marked by neon green sticky notes. Twenty-two of 35 senators were present in the much more spacious upper chamber, enough to conduct the limited business of the day: deciding when to reconvene the 2020 regular session amid the outbreak of the new coronavirus.
Both the House and Senate agreed to meet again on April 28, hoping the worst of the outbreak will be over by then. Read more.
Gov. Ivey Awards $9.5 Million in Broadband Expansion Grants
MONTGOMERY — Gov. Kay Ivey awarded 20 broadband expansion grants totaling more than $9.5 million to provide high-speed internet access to communities across Alabama.
The grants are part of the Alabama Broadband Accessibility Fund and awarded to nine broadband providers to help fund multiple projects in their coverage areas.
Ivey said that high-speed Internet is always important to have but especially now as cases of COVID-19 have increased in the state and more people are asked to work and learn at home. Public schools are now closed and students are finishing the academic year in their houses. Read more.
Falling Tax Revenue Looms for State, Counties, Cities
Late April will bring financial pain for state and local governments as businesses in Alabama begin submitting lower taxes because of the coronavirus.
With most restaurants, hotels and retail businesses either shut down or seeing little customer traffic, government officials expect a sharp decrease April 20 when they receive March sales and lodging taxes. The notable exceptions are sales taxes from grocery stores and online merchants.
The situation has become so dire that the Alabama Department of Revenue is offering relief to hotels that are unable to make timely payments on their February, March and April lodging taxes. The department will waive late fees through June 1. The state is giving similar help for sales taxes on a case-by-case basis for merchants whose sales are affected by the virus.
Read more.
Speaker: No Date Certain for Resuming Session; Senate Talks April 28
UPDATED: MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Legislature is on hold for now, and it’s unclear when legislators will return to Montgomery. The regular session ends May 18, and House Speaker Mac McCutcheon said he’s not sure whether the House could reconvene before that, making a special session likely. On the Senate side, leaders are talking about returning to the State House on April 28. Budgets and other important legislation had not been passed when legislators left Montgomery to combat the spread of COVID-19. Read more.
Lawmakers: Coronavirus Could ‘Doom’ Much of Legislative Session
UPDATED — Alabama lawmakers are expected to be back in Montgomery March 31, but how long they’ll be able to work and what they’ll be able to do in the middle of a public health emergency is in question.
“I can’t say in the present situation we can pass budgets,” Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston, told Alabama Daily News on Monday. “The big question is, how long will this last? It’s one thing for a couple of weeks; It’s another if it lasts for months.”
As local and state governments try to stop the spread of the coronavirus and businesses slow or shutter temporarily, the impact on state revenue is expected to be significant. How bad that will be will depend on how long people are asked to stay home, state leaders said this week. Read more.
