Bill Would Require Use of State Vaccine Database
Bills in the Alabama Legislature would require health care providers to check a statewide patient database before administering vaccines and update the registry when they give any. Read more.
Government
Overflows From County Sewers Drastically Reduced Since 1996 Consent Decree
David Denard said overflow from Jefferson County’s wastewater treatment plant will never get down to zero. But the director of the county’s department of environmental services told commissioners at their committee meeting today that his department is trying to get as close to that mark as it can. “We’ve reduced sanitary sewer overflows 60 percent the past six or seven years,” Denard said. The commission also discussed several other issues, including road and bridge work, tax breaks for U.S. Steel and cooperation with the cities. Read more.
Woodfin Calls on Birmingham Council to Rezone Land in the Five Points West Area to Block a Planned Concrete Plant
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said Tuesday that he opposes the proposed relocation of a concrete plant from downtown to the city’s Five Points West community, and he called for the City Council to rezone the property in question to prevent future industrial use. Last week, the council voted to oppose Sherman Industries’ announced plans to move its concrete batch facility from its current address of 1100 Second Ave. S. to 3240 Fayette Avenue, near the Birmingham CrossPlex Village. Read more.
Congressional Votes for the Week Ending May 3
WASHINGTON – U.S. House of Representatives members from Alabama continued the trend of voting along party lines last week when the body voted to stay in the Paris Agreement to combat climate change. Along the same lines, the House voted against a measure that would have held up an agreement until President Trump certified no U.S. jobs would be lost to China. Trump meanwhile, wants the U.S. to withdraw from the agreement. See how area members of Congress voted on these and other major issues during the legislative week ending May 3. Read more.
Higher Education Looks to Fix ‘Egregious Inequities’ in Funding for Some Universities
The record $7.1 billion education budget approved in the Alabama Senate last week contains at least 5% increases for the state’s public four-year universities, but a formula to get more money to underfunded institutions met with some concern. “I represent an institution that feels like they were not made whole in the budget,” Sen. Tom Whatley, R-Auburn, said in a budget committee meeting last week. His complaint was about the Alabama Commission of Higher Education’s attempt to address what it says are “the most egregious inequities in funding” at some universities. The proposal would increase funding to some universities where the funding doesn’t match up with that of other schools across the nation that have similar missions, student bodies and degree production. Read more.
Governor Ivey Says Bi-Partisanship Was Key to New Gas Tax
Gov. Kay Ivey, speaking Thursday morning in Homewood, pointed to bi-partisanship and teamwork as the key to the successful passage of the Rebuild Alabama Act. The new law enacts increases in fuel taxes to provide funding for transportation infrastructure improvements statewide. “We’ve seen the absolute tremendous team effort over the successful passage of my Rebuild Alabama Act and I just tell you, it took a truly strong team effort throughout this state to get that done,” Ivey told the Rotary Club of Homewood. Read more.
Legislature Advances Broadband Bill, Funding
MONTGOMERY — Expanding access to high-speed broadband internet has been one of the hallmark issues in the Alabama Legislature the past two years. Most lawmakers agree the issue is a priority, but how exactly to go about it remains the subject of much debate. The Alabama Senate on Thursday approved a 2020 education budget that includes $30 million in potential grant money to expand broadband internet access in the state. If approved by the House and signed by the governor, that money would go to fund a program enacted last year that helps subsidize the cost of internet providers running fiber-optic lines to less-populated areas. Read more.
Legislature Passes Jail Food Funding Bill
Updated: MONTGOMERY — Legislators gave final approval Thursday to the jail food funding practices that allowed one Alabama sheriff to buy a beach home and earned another the nickname "Sheriff Corndog" could soon be history. The Senate agreed to changes made in the bill when it moved through the House earlier this week. It now goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. The bill would stop county sheriffs from pocketing leftover jail food funds and set new parameters for how county jail meal money is handled. . Read more.
Lottery Proposal Would Boost Turnout for Presidential, US Senate Primaries
A lottery proposal on the March 2020 primary ballot could increase Alabama’s voter participation in the presidential and U.S. Senate primaries. “If this lottery bill is on the ballot on March the 3rd, you can expect another record-breaking turnout for a presidential primary,” Secretary of State John Merrill said this week. “I think it certainly boosts turnout,” David Mowery, a political consultant in Montgomery said about a lottery. “But trying to figure out who it helps is interesting.” Read more.
House Members Sponsoring County-Specific Church Deadly Force Bills
Afraid the statewide bill they support will again die, some Alabama House members are sponsoring bills to clarify that church members in their local counties can use deadly force if threatened. Read more.