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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.

by Cheryl Slocum

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.

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

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.

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

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.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Birmingham Council Passes Healthy Food Initiative to Offer Incentives to Bring in New Grocery Stores

The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to approve allocating $500,000 to a new “Healthy Food Initiative,” which officials said would give incentivizes for new grocery stores to move into the city. The creation of that fund is separate from the pending Healthy Food Ordinance, which is aimed at increasing healthy food options in the city’s food deserts through measures such as limiting the expansion of dollar stores and loosening restrictions on grocers and farmers’ markets. The two changes would work together to attract new grocery stores to the area, said Josh Carpenter, the city’s director of innovation and economic opportunity. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Mr. Hoyt Goes to Australia. City-Paid Trip Takes Him to Sports Business Convention

Birmingham City Councilor Steven Hoyt and council administrator Cheryl Kidd will leave Birmingham on Wednesday to attend the Sport Accord Gold Coast 2019 Summit in Queensland, Australia. The city will pay $8,930.07 for each of them to attend, making it the most expensive city-funded trip, per person, than any city employee has taken since at least November 2017. The trip also lasts several days longer than the convention. Hoyt and Kidd will be part of a delegation representing the 2021 World Games, which will be held in Birmingham. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

House Passes Bill to Criminalize Abortion

MONTGOMERY — The Alabama House of Representatives approved legislation Tuesday to criminalize almost all abortions performed in Alabama. Seventy-four Republican House members voted for the bill, three Democrats voted against it. Many other Democrats had already left the chamber in protest when the vote was taken. House Bill 314 makes performing an abortion a Class A felony, but women who seek or have abortions would not be criminally liable. The only exceptions in the bill are if there is a serious health risk to the woman or if the fetus has a “lethal anomaly.” The bill now goes to the Senate. Bill sponsor Rep. Terri Collins, R- Decatur, said on the House floor that it is designed as a challenge to Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, and to redefine when life begins. "When I was pregnant with my first child, my grandmother went with me to have the ultrasound," Collins said on the House floor while introducing the bill. "When we saw that little hand on the screen, we waved at it because we knew it was a person." “Is that baby in the womb a person? I believe our (state) law says it is, and our people say it is, and our technology says it is,” Collins said. There is no exception for rape or incest in Collins' bill. Read more.

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

County Officials Field Questions About Sewer Rates From Hundreds of Jefferson County Residents

Updated — Wayne Wooley’s question cut to the heart of the Sewer Town Hall gathering Monday night at Regions Field. “What did I do? What did my church do to deserve all this?” the 72-year-old Crestwood South resident asked. “Tell me why you’re putting all this burden on us? I’m on a fixed income. That’s to me illegal.” Two and a half hours proved not to be long enough for the event, sponsored by County Commissioner Lashunda Scales. More than 400 people attended the meeting, asking questions and listening to answers from Jefferson County officials about rising sewer rates that have left many ratepayers, including those on fixed incomes, questioning how they will shoulder the costs. Reviews were mixed as people left the ballpark. Some were happy to have had an opportunity to ask questions and to have their voices heard. Many were displeased with responses. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
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