Government

Vaccine Mandate Exemption Bills Move to Final Votes Thursday

MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Legislature could give final approval Thursday to legislation supporters say protect workers and residents in the state who want exemptions from federal COVID-19 vaccine requirements. Senate Bill 9 and Senate Bill 15 are two of several bills the GOP-led legislature filed in this special session to push back against federal mandates and protect the unvaccinated. While the mandates for federal workers and contractors and large employers already allow for medical and religious exemptions, supporters of Senate Bill 9 say it creates an easy-to-use form for employees seeking those exemptions. Senate Bills 9 and 15 put GOP supporters at odds with the state's business community, which argues the legislation creates confusing, dueling mandates on employers. Read more. Also in the Legislature Wednesday:

Legislature Wraps Redistricting Work, Sends Maps to Ivey

MONTGOMERY — State lawmakers wrapped up their work on redistricting Wednesday, sending all four maps redrawn with Census 2020 data to Gov. Kay Ivey. The Senate gave final approval to the congressional and Alabama House of Representatives district maps. Meanwhile, the House passed new district maps for the state Senate and the Alabama State Board of Education. Read More

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Legislature Wraps Redistricting Work, Sends Maps to Ivey

MONTGOMERY — State lawmakers wrapped up their work on redistricting Wednesday, sending all four maps redrawn with Census 2020 data to Gov. Kay Ivey. The Senate gave final approval to the congressional and Alabama House of Representatives district maps. Meanwhile, the House passed new district maps for the state Senate and the Alabama State Board of Education. Democrats raised several objections to the redrawn congressional districts, particularly as it concerns the racial makeup of districts. Sen. Rodger Smitherman said as currently drawn, the 7th District packs too many Black voters into a single district and diminishes their voting power statewide. Read more.

by Todd Stacy and Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

Shipt Announces Start of Alcohol Delivery in Alabama

MONTGOMERY — Shipt, the Birmingham-based grocery delivery service, announced Tuesday that it will start same-day delivery of beer and wine from Target, marking the beginning of alcohol delivery in the state. Read more.

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

Maps Clear Senate, House Committees, Head to Final Votes

MONTGOMERY — Committees in the Alabama House and Senate approved the four bills containing new congressional, state board of education and state House and Senate districts Tuesday, readying them for final passage on Wednesday. Each of the bills cleared committees without changes to the district maps. Some Senators attempted to make changes to the congressional map in the Senate General Fund budget committee but were ultimately unsuccessful. Read more.

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

JeffCo Considers Kicking in $500K to Bring USFL to Birmingham

Jefferson County commissioners will give final consideration Thursday to a proposal to chip in $500,000 to bring the USFL headquarters and teams to Birmingham. They’ll also take up maps for new commission districts. In Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners also said efforts to get a disaster declaration approved for Oct. 5 flooding are proceeding and discussed other topics. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Birmingham Delays ICE Agreement, Wants to Assure It Won’t Lead to Police Involvement in Deportations

The Birmingham City Council has delayed approval of an agreement with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement that would appoint several city police officers as customs officers for ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations jurisdiction. The 3-year deal would provide for the continuation of a previously established task force that District 2 Councilor Hunter Williams said is focused on “combating both human trafficking and large-scale narcotics operations in the city of Birmingham.” Mayor Randall Woodfin asserted that the agreement would not result in deportations or administrative removal of any undocumented Birmingham residents. “I have stated on a pretty consistent basis that the city of Birmingham does not have any interest in doing the federal government’s job, but there’s something more powerful than words, and that’s, like, your actions,” Woodfin said. “We’re not here to do the job of deportation.” But the association with ICE — and the unclear wording of the ordinance — left both advocates and councilors dubious of the proposal. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

New District Maps Advance, House Continues Debate

MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Legislature's special session on redistricting continued Monday as lawmakers moved quickly to advance three of four new maps based on new 2020 census data on population changes. The Alabama House approved a new congressional district map while the Alabama Senate approved its own new districts as well as new districts for the Alabama State Board of Education. Those were the first chamber-level votes on redistricting plans in this fast-paced special session. The House continued to debate Monday night its own new districts proposal, which is drawing opposition from both Democrats and Republicans. Read more. Also in the Legislature Monday:

Committee Approves Anti-COVID Vaccine Mandate Bills, Move to Senate

by Caroline Beck and Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Committee Approves Anti-COVID Vaccine Mandate Bills, Move to Senate

MONTGOMERY — Two bills opposing the COVID-19 vaccine mandates for federal workers and large companies got Senate committee approval on Monday and now move to the full Senate. They could get votes there Tuesday. While Republican supporters say they know the federal mandate issue will have to be settled in court, they said the Legislature needs to act, too. So far, 12 anti-vaccine mandate bills have been filed in this special session, including five filed in the House despite Speaker Mac McCutcheon’s statement last week that this special session on redistricting isn’t the place to handle the issue. Read more.

by Mary Sell and Todd Stacy, Alabama Daily News

Lawmakers Begin Special Session

MONTGOMERY — As the gavels sounded to bring the Alabama Legislature into special session Thursday, many lawmakers were getting a first detailed look at how their districts would be redrawn following the 2020 census. Some are happy with the changes so far, some are not, and many are not seeking reelection to begin with. Ready or not, the new maps for State House and Senate, Congress and state school board have now been introduced to begin their journey through the legislative process. Read more.

by Caroline Beck and Todd Stacy, Alabama Daily News

Legislature Meets Thursday for Redistricting Special Session

MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Legislature convenes Thursday for the start of a special session to approve new voting district maps and appropriate another $80 million of federal pandemic relief funds. Both chambers will gavel into order at 4 p.m. as called by Gov. Kay Ivey. Committee meetings will begin Friday. Read more.

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News