Government

Sunshine Week: Open the Windows and Light up the Workings of Government

This week, reporters across the country are observing Sunshine Week, an event designed to highlight the importance of government transparency and to increase public understanding of freedom of information resources. Sunshine Week was started by the American Society of News Editors in 2005 and is now co-sponsored by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. In addition to a series of public forums happening across the country — none are scheduled for Birmingham — Sunshine Week will include a series of online webinars focusing on how to navigate transparency laws on federal, state and local levels. See what resources are available to help you learn about state, Birmingham and Jefferson County operations when you read more.

by Sam Prickett

Gas Tax Plan Could Get Final Approval Tuesday

MONTGOMERY — Gov. Kay Ivey’s gas tax and infrastructure proposal could get to her desk Tuesday if it clears the Alabama Senate. Senate leadership said there is a growing comfort level with the bill in the 35-member chamber. The bill would gradually raise the state's tax on gasoline and diesel fuel by 10 cents a gallon over three years, with possible penny increases every other year after that, depending on inflation. Read more.

by Caroline Beck and Will Whatley, Alabama Daily News

Birmingham Council Meeting Cancelled as Most Councilors Travel to D.C.

The Birmingham City Council has announced that its regularly scheduled March 12 meeting has been cancelled due to the absence of a majority of council members.

by Sam Prickett

Alabama Says its $900 Million Prisons Plan Can Help Fix Mental Health Crisis. Some Disagree.

Kilby Correctional Facility, just outside of Montgomery, looks like a group of warehouse-style buildings surrounded by a tall barbed wire fence. Inside, inmates have just finished lunch. The hallways are loud and sounds echo off the walls. Warden Leon Bolling leads the way to the mental health crisis area. He says this area is for prisoners at risk of suicide. “Everything is supposed to try to be free from person being able to do something to harm themselves,” Bolling says. Inmates in these mental health crisis units often stay in their cells alone all day. They are constantly monitored by staff, according to prison officials. But some say that’s not enough. Suicide is a problem in Alabama’s prisons. In the past 15 months, 14 inmates have died by suicide. Advocacy groups say that amounts to one of the highest suicide rates in the nation. In 2017, a federal judge said mental health care in state prisons was “horrendously inadequate.” The Department of Corrections is under court order to hire more staff and improve treatment. But this is a challenge, according to Jeff Dunn, commissioner of the DOC. Read more.

by Mary Scott Hodgin, WBHM

Congressional Votes for the Week Ending March 8

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives tackled a package of bills the week ending in March 8 that addressed voting, campaign financing and influence peddling. The votes split mostly along party lines, including among Alabama’s representatives. Read more.

by Voterama in Congress

Gas Tax Bill Means Millions for Birmingham Area

Alabama’s more than 400 cities and towns currently share about $22 million a year from the statewide gas tax. They would get an additional $26 million a year under a proposed 10-cent-a-gallon increase. Alabama’s counties now receive a combined $176.5 million; if House Bill 2 becomes law, they would receive an additional $80 million. “It’s enormous,” said Greg Cochran, deputy director of the Alabama League of Municipalities, about the potential impact of the gas tax. Read more.

Local Gas Tax Payouts

Under House Bill 2, the gas tax increase bill, municipalities would receive an additional $26 million a year, bringing their total to $48.7 million. Counties would receive an additional $80 million, bringing their total to $256.4 million a year. Here’s how much area counties would receive under the gas tax increase. Click here for the list of municipalities. Jefferson Co.: $6.53 million         St. Clair Co.: $1.32 million Shelby Co.: $2.41 million             Walker Co.: $1.13 million

by Mary Sell and Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

Local Gas Tax Payouts

Under House Bill 2, the gas tax increase bill, municipalities would receive an additional $26 million a year, bringing their total to $48.7 million. Counties would receive an additional $80 million, bringing their total to $256.4 million a year. Here’s how much area counties would receive under the gas tax increase. Click here for the list of municipalities. Jefferson County: $6.53 million             St. Clair County: $1.32 million Shelby County: $2.41 million                 Walker County: $1.13 million

by Alabama Daily News

Gas Tax Headed to Senate After Passing the House

The House of Representatives approved an increase Friday in gas taxes to fund infrastructure improvements, sending the bill to the Senate. The proposed 10-cent-a-gallon increase is expected to generate more than $300 million a year. It’s being fast-tracked in a special session Gov. Kay Ivey called to consider the issue and could be approved by early next week.

by Mary Sell and Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

Senate OKs Larger ATVs

Alabamians could have larger, heavier all-terrain and off-highway vehicles under a bill that cleared the Alabama Senate Friday. “All the bill does is increase the weight allowed and the width of the wheel base, which at the end of the day makes the vehicles safer from flipping over,” said Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur. Orr said the bill was at the request of Polaris Industries. Its 1,700-employee factory is in Orr’s district in Limestone County. The popular Ranger side-by-side is made there. The bill now goes to the House.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Ivey’s Release of Proposed Budgets on Hold as She Focuses Legislators on the Gas Tax

Details of Gov. Kay Ivey’s proposed 2020 General Fund and education budgets won’t be released until lawmakers dispense with her proposed gas-tax increase. Traditionally, the budgets are made public the day after a governor’s State of the State address, which Ivey delivered Tuesday. State law says the governor has until the second legislative day of a regular session to submit budgets to the Legislature. But that second day won’t happen for almost two weeks because the special session on the gas tax that began Wednesday has put the regular session on hold. Daniel Sparkman, Ivey’s spokesman, said the budgets are important to the governor, but they won’t be presented until March 19, after lawmakers are finished dealing with the “task at hand.” “During her State of the State address, Governor Ivey laid out her proposals for the 2020 budgets to the people of Alabama,” Sparkman said. “Though the budgets are important, right now the Legislature must focus on the task at hand, the Rebuild Alabama plan. This critical infrastructure legislation package is vital to improving public safety, economic development and quality of life in Alabama." Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News