Government

After Spring Break, Legislators Confront Issues of Impeachment, Redistricting, Prisons and Budgets

Legislators will return to Montgomery on Tuesday after a two-week spring break still facing the controversial issues that were on their desks at the beginning of the session. Prison crowding, budgets, impeachment and redistricting are just a few of the weighty matters legislators must grapple with in the rest of their session. When they return, it will be for the 14th business day, just shy of the halfway mark in the 30-day session. Read more.

by Virginia Martin

Birmingham City Council Clears Way for Golf Cart Cab Companies to Operate

March 28, 2017 – The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved a resolution to amend licensing regulations for “taxicabs and vehicles for hire,” in an effort to allow “low speed” services. Ostensibly, this move opens the door for companies such as Birmingham Pedal Tours to begin the process of obtaining permits to allow their vehicles – oblong carts that are powered by groups of people pedaling and are electrically assisted – to begin operating in Birmingham. The resolution also will allow for golf cart cab companies to be able to obtain permits. Read more.

by Cody Owens, Weld: Birmingham's Newspaper

Buildings’ Age and Location: Issues In Debate Over Historic Preservation Tax Credit

How old must a building be before it is considered historic? Should tax credits for their preservation be split evenly across the state or allowed to cluster in the cities? Both are questions still in play as the Alabama Legislature considers restoring a program that helped fund renewal efforts, most notably in Birmingham and Mobile. The historic preservation tax credit, which has helped fund restoration of 51 buildings across the state so far, is headed to a House committee vote next week. But then negotiations will begin over the House sponsor’s vision for extension of the tax credit and a heavily amended version that has been passed by the Senate. Rep. Victor Gaston, R-Mobile, sponsor of the bill in the House of Representatives, said the important thing is to get the money flowing to the program again. Gaston said that not only do the tax credits help pay to restore often dilapidated buildings, but those projects create jobs for the construction workers and craftsmen employed to do the work. Read more.

by Virginia Martin, BirminghamWatch

New West End Clinic Takes Health Care to the People, Jefferson County Commissioner Says

March 23, 2017 – Sandra Little Brown called Wednesday’s ribbon-cutting at Cahaba Medical Center “a crying moment.” The District 7 Jefferson County Commission member said she had to defend herself against false claims that she had voted to end in-patient care at Cooper Green Mercy Hospital. “We went through so much stress with the closing of in-patient care at Cooper Green,” Brown said during Thursday's commission meeting. “So many people were against us. Now the people can say, ‘They took lemons and made lemonade.’” Brown said she has worked since in-patient care at Cooper Green ended to create a hub-and-spoke system to take healthcare closer to where many people live. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr., BirminghamWatch

Birmingham City Council Report: Sticking Points

March 21, 2017 – The Birmingham City Council, mostly showing up on time this week, debated several contentious issues. It delayed votes on whether to apply for World Trade Center designation and whether to conduct a study on the long-term placement of i-20/59. And after some discussion, it approved the sale of land in the Oxmoor Valley to a developer who wants to build a subdivision there. Read more.

by Sam Prickett, Weld: Birmingham’s Newspaper

Jeffco Commissioners Looking Forward to Refinancing School Bonds

Jefferson County Commission members were still giddy at their committee meeting this morning after last Friday’s ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court concerning a 1 cent sales tax. “For the first time, this commission can be proactive,” Commission President Jimmie Stephens said. “We can go to purchase property that will be needed and necessary for economic development. We can go to municipalities and say, ‘Let’s partner together to build and restructure our roads and our bridges. Let’s build new highways that will go throughout Jefferson County and create more avenues for economic development. “For the first time, we can give people a reason to move into Jefferson County instead of moving out of Jefferson County,” the commission president continued. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr., BirminghamWatch

Alabama Supreme Court Clears the Way for Jefferson County to Refinance School Bonds

Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens summed up an Alabama Supreme Court ruling during a press conference Friday afternoon. “What’s it mean? It means it’s a great day for the citizens of Jefferson County, for all citizens of Jefferson County,” he said. “It enables Jefferson County to proceed in refinancing the county school tax warrants that is guaranteed by the 1 cent county sales tax.” Commissioners sought a state law revising that county sales tax law so they could refinance the warrants at a lower price and divide the remaining money from the tax more broadly. A circuit judge struck down that law, but Friday the Alabama Supreme Court upheld it. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr., BirminghamWatch

Historic Tax Credit Returns to the Legislature With Widespread Support – in Theory

The newly renovated Pizitz Building sits on 19th Street North in downtown Birmingham, its pristine, wedding cake white façade belying its 94 years. It’s the latest among dozens of historic downtown Birmingham buildings that have been renovated in recent years. But many more of them haven’t been. They stand nearby, vacant or sparsely populated, with fading signs and sagging woodwork. Three such buildings in Birmingham – a total of seven from around the state – are on a list at the Alabama Historic Commission, waiting to see whether the Legislature will renew tax credits for historic renovation. The tax credit expired last year because of concerns about the cost of the program to the state. But bills to overhaul and reinstate the tax credit program have pulled much more support this year – at least in theory. The tax credit this year has 87 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and 29 co-sponsors in the Senate. “It’s huge for Birmingham,’’ said Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills, who introduced the bill in the Senate this year. Read more.

by Virginia Martin, BirminghamWatch

Amid Questions About Ties to the Mayor, Birmingham City Council Rejects Liaison for My Brother’s Keeper

March 14, 2017 – Birmingham City Council President Johnathan Austin slammed the gavel and the council session began at 10:53 am, nearly an hour and a half after the scheduled time, because there had not been enough members present to legally hold the meeting. Mayor William Bell was among the absent, leaving councilors with questions on several items. Among the most contentious was an agreement between the city and the Birmingham Board of Education to appoint Bobby Benton to a full-time position “from the board to work with My Brother’s Keeper Initiative.” The job could pay up to $43,823, according to the resolution. Benton has worked on political campaigns for Bell, and several councilors, including Austin, said they believed Benton had been named as the chairman to Bell’s re-election campaign.

by Cody Owens, Weld: Birmingham's Newspaper

Sunshine Week: League of Women Voters Recruits Citizens to Help Keep an Eye on Local Governments

The League of Women Voters of Greater Birmingham is launching a new program to train citizens to observe local government bodies and report impartially on their actions. The launch of the new Greater Birmingham Observer Corps coincides with this year’s national Sunshine Week, March 12-18. The purpose of the corps is to push for transparency in local government actions, and Sunshine Week is designed to highlight open government and freedom of information at the local, state and federal levels.

by Virginia Martin