Government

Scales, Tyson Seek Delay in Vote Over Giving UAB Responsibility for Indigent Health Care

Jefferson County Commissioners Lashunda Scales and Sheila Tyson took their effort to delay a vote on a UAB healthcare authority to the sidewalk in front of Cooper Green Mercy Medical Center. The pair, backed by dozens of Cooper Green employees and some patients, held a news conference today to voice concerns about giving UAB responsibility for indigent care when the commission meets Thursday at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Bessemer. “We’re asking the public to contact their own commissioners to let them know how they believe they should vote,” Scales said. “We still have a duty to the folks who put us in office.” The healthcare authority will provide indigent healthcare in Jefferson County. Scales and Tyson said a document that was moved to the commission agenda on a 3-2 vote Tuesday is a business contract that doesn’t address the needs of the county’s poor.  Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Judge Rules Penny Is Mayor of Fairfield, but the Fight Is Not Over Yet

Circuit Judge Eugene Verin ruled that Eddie Penny is the legal mayor of Fairfield, but citizens who stand behind elected mayor Ed May II have not yet given up. “The Citizen Coalition has decided to do a writ of mandamus, to take it immediately up to the (Alabama) Supreme Court,” May said Tuesday on the steps of the Jefferson County Courthouse in downtown Birmingham. “That should be filed hopefully by the end of the week.” Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Jefferson County Commission Will Take Up Health Care Authority in Thursday’s Meeting Despite Concerns

A four-hour committee meeting of the Jefferson County Commission ended Tuesday with a 3-2 vote to move the creation of a UAB Healthcare Authority to the agenda of Thursday’s commission meeting. Commissioners Jimmie Stephens, Joe Knight and Steve Ammons voted in favor of taking up the measure Thursday, with Lashunda Scales and Sheila Tyson voting no. Stephens said the health care authority is needed because that was part of the commission’s pledge when in-patient care was closed at Cooper Green Mercy Hospital, “to form the best possible indigent care for our citizens.” But Scales pleaded with her fellow commissioners to delay action, saying the move lacked transparency and had little to do with providing health care to the poor. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Legislature Takes Up Wine Delivery Bill, Other Alcohol-Related Measures

MONTGOMERY — A proposal in the Alabama Legislature would let people have wine shipped directly to their homes, something the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board doesn't currently allow. Read more.

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

Birmingham Councilors Debate Legislative Bills on Plastic Bags, Wireless Transmitters

Members of the Birmingham City Council expressed concern Tuesday that two bills in the state Legislature would continue to whittle away the city’s home rule. The bills in question, HB346 and SB264, would remove local governments’ regulatory powers by prohibiting them from restricting use of plastic grocery bags and compelling them to allow the installation of wireless communication antennae, respectively. At Tuesday’s meeting, the council passed a resolution opposing the latter bill. The bills, according to District 5 Councilor Darrell O’Quinn, would “basically take away the city’s ability to impact some very important issues.” “I certainly don’t want the state Legislature preempting our ability to regulate something that has a direct impact on our community,” he said. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Open Sesame: Bill Would Give People More Power to Access Government Records

The Alabama Legislature will consider a proposed overhaul of the state’s Open Records Act this week. A bill sponsored by Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, and Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, would establish new procedures for public document requests and set penalties for custodians who do not follow those procedures. Those penalties would be enforced by the Office of the Public Access Counselor, also created by the new bill, which would manage public inquiries and appeals. The new bill would entirely replace the state’s existing open records law, which has been criticized for its lack of specificity and enforceability. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Bill Would Stop Seizure of Assets Without Criminal Conviction; Law Enforcement Opposed

Legislation pending in the Alabama Senate would prohibit law enforcement agencies from seizing the assets of people who haven’t been convicted of a crime. “I think that’s how the public assumes it works — before the government takes people’s stuff, there has to be a conviction or a plea,” said Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur. But that’s not always the case under Alabama’s civil asset forfeiture law. Currently, police can seize property if they have reason to believe it was criminally gained. Even if there’s no conviction, law enforcement can keep the property with a civil court order. The property owner must prove his or her property wasn’t part of a crime — at his or her own expense. “The law was originally established to go after the ill-gotten gains of drug kingpins and those who were profiting from their criminal activities,” Orr said. “But it’s being used for low-level crimes for defendants who can’t afford a lawyer on the civil side (to get their property returned).” Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Deer-Baiting Bill Passes House

MONTGOMERY — The Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday voted to allow people to use bait when hunting deer and feral hogs, for a fee. Read more.

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

Protective Life Buys Naming Rights to New Downtown Birmingham Stadium

As a Diana Ross classic blared across the speakers in the grassy area in front of Birmingham’s Uptown District, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said he never thought the mountain was too high to achieve the goal of a new stadium downtown. “At a certain point, no mountain is high enough if you’ve got enough people pushing and pulling with you at the same time, in the same direction,” Woodfin said after Protective Life was announced as the title sponsor of the stadium, the construction of which could begin this summer. The Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex and Protective Life Corporation announced today a 15-year agreement for the naming rights sponsorship of Birmingham’s new multi-use stadium, which now will be called Protective Stadium. “Each step makes it more real, more tangible,” Woodfin said. “This is just another step within the process as we continue to move this project forward.” Protective committed to pay $1 million per year for 15 years for naming rights at the stadium. The insurance company joins the BJCC Authority, city of Birmingham, Jefferson County, UAB and other corporate partners in funding the new stadium. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

PARCA Survey Says Alabamians Want Fewer Non-Violent Criminals in Prison, More Money for Education

The Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama in a new survey said Alabamians favor supervising non-violent criminals in the community and giving them more rehabilitation opportunities rather than sending them to prison. In the ”Public Opinion Survey: 2019 Edition,” released Wednesday, a slight majority of residents surveyed, 58 percent, oppose building new prisons. Almost that many, 54 percent, thought only violent criminals should be held in the state’s prisons. As in previous PARCA surveys, Alabamians ranked education as the most important service the state provides, followed by health care, public safety and highways. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch