Government

Birmingham Seeks Dollars for Its Entertainment Venues

Birmingham will apply for federal relief for five city-owned concert spaces and museums that lost revenue during the pandemic. The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, established last year by the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits and Venues Act, offers funding for COVID-impacted entities, public or private, including live venues, movie theaters, museums and live performing arts organizations. The city will seek SVOG funding for Boutwell Auditorium, Sloss Historic Landmark Furnace, the Southern Museum of Flight, Birmingham Botanical Gardens and Arlington Historic House. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Supreme Court Ruling on Online Sales Tax Could Benefit Schools Statewide

A recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling will mean millions of dollars in online sales tax revenue for Morgan County schools and is a win for schools statewide, supporters say. Some expect more local legislation similar to the north Alabama county’s in the next legislative session. The court earlier this month upheld the constitutionality of a 2019 local law, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, that directed the bulk of revenue from online sales tax, referred to as SSUT, received by the county commission to the county’s public schools. Orr said the local bill mirrored that of the county’s existing bricks-and-mortar sales tax distribution — revenue that has dipped as more people shop online. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

JeffCo Commissioners Look Forward to Dropping Social Distance at Meetings, Pledge $5 Million for UAB Genomics Building

As today’s Jefferson County Commission meeting reached its end, Joe Knight rose from his seat in front of the dais and put his name plate in front of the one for Lashunda Scales. “When we return, I reclaim my seat,” Knight declared. Steve Ammons, who like Knight has been seated at a table below their fellow commissioners, chimed in. “I’m tired of being a second-hand commissioner,” he joked. The lighthearted banter came as commissioners announced that today’s meeting will be the last one held during the state of emergency Gov. Kay Ivey declared last year to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Social distancing requirements and then recommendations have been part of public safety orders the governor has issued during the state of emergency. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Domestic Immigration Spur’s Alabama’s Population Growth

Alabama’s population has grown to more than 5 million people not because of residents expanding their families, but because of people moving into the state from other places in the country. In fact, Alabama’s birth rate fell in the 2010’s and its death rate rose, which follows a national trend, according to a Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama analysis of U.S. Census Bureau estimates released earlier this month. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Alabama GOP Reps Vote Against Jan. 6 Commission

Alabama’s House congressional delegation split along party lines on the vote to create a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on Congress, with at least one Republican agreeing with the complaint that the panel wouldn’t consider political violence from the left. The six Alabama Republicans were among the 175 lawmakers who voted against the creation of the commission. All Democrats, including Rep. Terri Sewell of Birmingham, voted for the bill. “I cannot vote in favor of a partisan commission that will not look at all political violence against Members of Congress and Capitol Police,” Rep. Mike Rogers , R-Saks, said in a statement. Read more.

by Brett Davis

New Challengers Enter Birmingham City Elections

New challengers have emerged in Birmingham’s upcoming municipal elections, which will take place Aug. 24. Since late February, 10 additional candidates have announced runs for council seats, with some races growing rather crowded; one new candidate, meanwhile, has thrown his hat into the ring for mayor. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Jeffco Considers $5 Million Pledge to UAB’s Genomics Sciences Program

The Jefferson County Commission will consider on Thursday a pledge of $5 million for the genomics sciences program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. At their committee meeting Tuesday, commissioners placed the proposal on the agenda for this week’s meeting. The county is set to pledge $1 million a year for five years to help UAB with the expansion and construction of a new genomics sciences and research building. The move of the action to Thursday’s agenda came after an appeal from UAB President Ray Watts, who said the building will span 540,000 square feet. “It is perfectly situated to take genomic information and data science and predict what kinds of treatments might be effective for cancers,” Watts said. “You can also predict what diseases we might be a risk for so we can control those risk factors and avoid ever having that disease. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Woodfin Promises “Recovery and Restoration” With Proposed FY 2022 Budget

Looking at Mayor Randall Woodfin’s proposed budget for the 2022 fiscal year, it’d be easy to imagine that COVID-19 — and the havoc it wreaked on Birmingham’s city coffers — had never happened. This year’s budget had dropped by nearly $29 million, largely the result of diminished business tax revenues. Woodfin’s proposed FY 2022 budget, by contrast, is the city’s largest to date. At $455.5 million, it’s nearly $3 million more than the pre-pandemic, $452.8 million FY 2020 budget. In a call with reporters Monday afternoon, Woodfin said the budget “doesn’t have any pain points,” in contrast to the austerity of the previous year. And though city finance director Lester Smith stopped short of saying the city had made a full financial recovery — revenue from business licenses is down about $5 million from last year — the proposed budget casts a rosy light on the city’s post-COVID future. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

No Gambling or Transgender Bills on the Last Day: Abortion Bill Passes the Legislature

The Legislature started its session with high hopes that this would be the year a gambling bill would pass, finally. But that hope officially died Monday night when the legislative session ended. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

$5 Million Loan Fuels Candidates Race for the US Senate

Lynda Blanchard, a Montgomery business executive who served as U.S. ambassador to Slovenia during the administration of former President Donald Trump, has begun her race to win the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in Alabama in 2022 by borrowing $5.11 million for her campaign. Blanchard, 61, co-founder of real estate investment management company B&M Management, has loaned $110,000 to the campaign, which has also borrowed $5 million from Servis 1st Bank of Birmingham, according to the report she filed with the Federal Elections Commission for the first three months of this year. U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks of Huntsville, the only other candidate to file with the FEC for the May 24, 2022, GOP primary for the seat being vacated by Sen. Richard Shelby, declared contributions of $274,152 during the period. A number of others are expected to join the field. Read more.

by Glenn Stephens