A bill that would increase penalties for those who participate in riots was slowed down in a House committee today after some lawmakers expressed concerns that the bill is limiting First Amendment rights to protest. Read more.
The Alabama Senate on Tuesday defeated a plan to start a lottery and allow casinos in the state by two votes. Twenty-one votes were required to approve the constitutional amendment, but the Senate vote was 19 to 13 in favor. Gov. Kay Ivey said the defeat just meant more work needed to be done on a gambling proposal, and she still supported giving Alabamians a vote on whether they want a lottery and gaming. “This issue is too important to not get it right,” Ivey said in a statement. “No doubt gambling is complex and challenging, but I remain committed to giving the people of Alabama the final say." Read more. Also in the Legislature Bill to Limit Executive Branch Spending Advances House Passes General Fund Budget that Increases Funding for State Agencies Bill Stalled That Would Increase Penalties for Rioting State Budgets, Legislative Authority, Gambling Bills in State House This Week
MONTGOMERY -- The Senate Government Affairs Committee on Tuesday advanced a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit Alabama governors and executive agencies from entering into contracts larger than $5 million or for more than a two-year period without the Legislature’s approval. Senate Bill 290 is sponsored by Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Range, one of the loudest voices of opposition to Gov. Kay Ivey’s plan to lease three large men’s prisons. Albritton said the governor’s prison lease plan was a “major contributor” to his filing of this bill, but not the single reason. Albritton chairs the Legislative Contract Review Committee, which reviews service contracts state agencies enter into. Some of them can be multimillion-dollar agreements. Read more.
MONTGOMERY -- The Alabama House of Representatives passed the General Fund budget Tuesday, sending a bill to the Senate that increases funding across the board for state agencies and programs for the next fiscal year. As passed, the $2.47 billion budget is an increase of $78.9 million over the current fiscal year's General Fund and $15 million more than Gov. Kay Ivey's original budget proposal from February. It includes a 2% pay raise for state employees. Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, who chairs the House General Fund budget committee, said he felt lawmakers arrived at a good budget, which was reflected in the 101-1 vote in the House. Rep. Andrew Sorrell, R-Muscle Shoals, cast the lone no vote. "All in all, I felt like this was a good budget that leaves some money on the table that will help us get ready for any other surprises that are coming down the road," Clouse said. Read more.
Tony Petelos, the only county manager Jefferson County has had, told county commissioners at their committee meeting today that he will soon retire. “After 34 years of public service in many different jobs throughout the years and 10 years here at the county, I'm going to announce my retirement this year,” he said from his seat at the end of the board table. “I don't have a date set, but I just want to give you a heads up that I do plan to retire this year. I've got a couple of projects I'm still working on and I want to get those done, but it's been a pleasure and an honor to work with you.” Read more.
After multiple delays, demolition of the long-derelict Banks High School is moving forward. The Birmingham City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the one-year extension of a loan agreement with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to tear down the building, which has sat vacant in the city’s South East Lake neighborhood since 2007. Read more.
A proposal before the federal Office of Management and Budget would reduce the number of Metropolitan Statistical Areas in Alabama from 12 to five, a move that is not welcomed by officials of the cities losing the MSA status. A committee of federal statistical agencies has made the proposal to OMB that would leave intact MSAs with 100,000 populations in their core cities. In Alabama, that’s Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery, Huntsville and Tuscaloosa. The remaining seven MSAs statewide would be reclassified as “micropolitan” statistical areas with core populations of 50,000 to 99,999. Those are Decatur, Dothan, Baldwin County, Auburn-Opelika, Florence-Muscle Shoals, Anniston-Oxford, and Gadsden. Read more.
On Oct. 21, Bonnie and Harold Sachs entered a north Alabama emergency room because, despite a negative COVID-19 test, Harold Sachs’ symptoms, including decreased blood oxygen levels, were worsening. He was tested again and, when the results were positive, he was admitted to the hospital. Bonnie Sachs kissed her husband of 50 years before he was taken to the COVID unit. She wouldn’t see him in person again until he died Nov. 9. “He didn’t know me, he was on a ventilator,” Bonnie Sachs told Alabama Daily News. Harold and Bonnie Sachs’ and many similar stories in the past year are the reason Sen. Garlan Gudger said he filed Senate Bill 307, which says that, during public health emergencies, health care facilities shall continue to allow visitors under certain conditions. “I think everyone needs compassionate care at the end of life,” Gudger, R-Cullman, told Alabama Daily News. “And I think they need their family to be there to help patients get over whatever illness or virus.” Read more.
WASHINGTON — The Senate on a highly partisan vote Saturday approved a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. The vote on (HR 1319) was 50 for and 49 against. Both of Alabama’s senators joined every Republican present to vote against the bill, which now goes to the House of Representatives. However, the Senate blocked a Democratic move to increase the minimum wage that had been in the bill. On the House side, representatives in the week that ended March 5 passed a multi-faceted bill aimed at expanding voting in the U.S. and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, both mostly along party lines. Read more.
MONTGOMERY — The Alabama House is expected to vote this week on the 2022 General Fund budget while the Senate's priorities include gambling legislation and bills that could blur the lines of authority between the legislative and executive branches of state government. After moving fast through the first four weeks of the 2021 session, lawmakers are expected to slow down to a more normal pace as the mid-point approaches. “We’re hopeful by spring break we’re going to move (the budgets) out of the house of origin,” Senate Majority Leader Clay Scofield, R-Guntersville, told reporters on Thursday. Read more.
