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Legislature Passes General Fund Budget on Final Day of Session

MONTGOMERY -- The state’s General Fund budget received final passage Monday as lawmakers sent a record-setting $2.4 billion budget to Gov. Kay Ivey for her approval. House Budget Chairman Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, took to the House floor to explain that changes made to the budget by a House-Senate conference committee added about $900,000 from what the Senate had passed.   The House and Senate voted unanimously on Monday to agree with the changes made in the conference committee.  The approved 2022 fiscal year budget is $90.6 million larger than the current year’s budget and about $26.5 million more than what Ivey recommended in February. Read more. More from the Legislature on its last day: Legislative Briefs: Sexual Assault Survivor Rights, Yoga, Curbside Voting Bills Win Approval Legislature Removes State Income Tax on Restaurants’ Federal Rescue Money No Gambling or Transgender Bills on the Last Day, but Abortion Bill Passes the Legislature 'Vaccine Passports' Ban Passes Final Vote Bill to Change Governor’s Control of State of Emergency Orders Dies Changes to Civil Asset Forfeiture Law Passes Final Vote Bill to Allow Citations Instead of Arrests Goes to Ivey Legislative Briefs: Sexual Assault Survivor Rights, Yoga, Curbside Voting Bills Win Approval

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

Spending Oversight Bill Clears Legislature, But Not in Time to Avoid Possible Veto

MONTGOMERY -- Last week, as debate in the House of Representative raged into the night on the issue of gambling, lawmakers quietly gave final approval to a bill seeking more legislative oversight of government agencies’ spending, including that of the executive branch. But it didn’t pass in time to avoid a possible veto by the governor. As originally written and passed by the House earlier in the session, Rep. Mike Jones’ House Bill 392 would have required any state agency or department planning to spend more than $10 million or 5% of their annual appropriation from the General Fund, whichever is less, to first be approved by a new oversight committee. However, the bill’s reach was scaled back considerably in the Senate. Instead of a new legislative panel, the Senate version gave oversight to the existing Legislative Contract Review Committee. It also removed the Legislature’s ability to delay contracts until the next legislative session. Read more.

by Mary Sell and Todd Stacy, Alabama Daily News

Legislative Briefs: Raising Age for Nicotine Purchases, Extend Daylight Saving Time

MONTGOMERY – The Alabama Legislature met for the 29th day of the 30-day regular session Thursday. Here are the highlights from the State House.  Lawmakers approved and sent to the governor a bill that would raise the age for buying tobacco products, including vaping products, to 21 years old. A bill that would allow the state to adopt permanent daylight saving time, if the federal government approves it, passed its final vote on Thursday. Rep. Ritchie Whorton, R-Owens Cross Road, said this will help with economic growth by allowing businesses to operate longer and improve the overall health of Alabamians. A billl that would let newer teachers in the state roll over each year thier sick leave and get paid for unused days upon retirement was approved by the Senate. It goes to the House for agreement on an amendment added by the Senate. Proponents want to erase some of the “disparity” between Tier I and Tier II benefit recipients. The Senate approved a bill to undo a nearly three-decade ban on the practice of yoga in public schools. It goes back tot the House for approval of amendments. Read more.

by Mary Sell and Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

Redistricting Process Starts in the Legislature with Contentious First Meeting

MONTGOMERY -- A lack of data and a lot of personalities appear to be specific challenges for the group of lawmakers tasked with redrawing the district maps that will be used in state and federal elections in Alabama for the next 10 years. The Alabama Legislature's Joint Reapportionment Committee on Tuesday met for the first time in this round of post-Census redistricting to discuss a framework for how the process will play out. The panel is charged with developing new maps for Alabama's seven congressional districts, eight state school board seats, 35 state Senate seats and 105 seats in the state House of Representatives. Actual maps are a long way off, however, as the U.S. Census Bureau won't have the district-level data ready until August, committee leaders said. Read more.

by Todd Stacy, Alabama Daily News

Bill Would Allow Police to Issue Citations Rather Than Make Arrests

MONTGOMERY -- Alabama lawmakers are close to allowing city police officers to issue citations for some misdemeanor offenses rather than taking offenders into custody. Senate Bill 59 by Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, would require cities to pass ordinances specifying what offenses could get court summonses rather than immediate arrests.  Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, carried the bill in the House. “The intent is to take what would be minor offenses and give the officer a chance to issue a citation rather than making an arrest,” England said. “…They will still require a court appearance, but we’re not going to take you into custody that day.” Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

In Final Days of 2021 Session, House May Tackle Three Heated Issues

MONTGOMERY – With three voting days remaining in the Alabama Legislature’s 2021 regular session, State House leaders are preparing for a final push on some of the most controversial bills of the session. The House of Representatives has yet to vote on bills allowing medical marijuana, a comprehensive gambling package and a ban on medical treatments, including puberty blockers and surgery, for transgender youth. House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, told reporters that the prospect of floor votes on the gambling and medical marijuana bills was “promising” in the House, but wasn’t as certain for the transgender medical bill. “We’re working with Senate leadership, so I can’t speak as firm on that one as we can the gaming or the medical marijuana, but it is being considered,” McCutcheon said. The Legislature has already passed and Gov. Kay Ivey has signed a bill allowing high school athletes to compete only in sports as their gender assigned at birth. Read more. More from the Legislature: Bill Would Allow Police to Issue Citations Rather Than Make Arrests Read complete coverage of the Legislature

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

Legislature Nearing Passage of State Budgets as Session Nears End

MONTGOMERY -- More progress was made on both state budgets on Tuesday, with lawmakers closing in on a final vote on both during the last days of the Alabama Legislature's 2021 regular session. The House of Representatives passed a record $7.6 billion Education Trust Fund budget with some slight increases from the Senate-passed version. The bill now goes back to the Senate, where senators can either vote to concur with the House changes and send it to the governor or vote to form a joint conference committee to work out the differences.  House education budget chairman Bill Poole, R-Tuscaloosa, cited the resiliency of Alabamians during the COVID-19 pandemic for making it possible for the budget to avoid cuts. Read more.

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

Past And Present Collide As Community Health Centers Strive To Close Rural Care Gaps In The Pandemic

In the 1960s, health care for Black residents in rural Mississippi was practically non-existent. While some hospitals served Black patients, they struggled to stay afloat; most options were segregated. During the height of the civil rights movement, young Black doctors decided to launch a movement of their own. “Mississippi was third-world and was so bad and so separated. The community health center movement was the conduit for physicians all over this country who believed that all people have a right to health care,” said Dr. Robert Smith. In 1965, Smith co-founded the Delta Health Center, the country’s first rural community health center, in Mound Bayou, a small town tucked away into the heart of the Mississippi Delta. The center became a national model and is now one of nearly 1,400 across the country. They are a key resource across Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, where about 2 in 5 Americans live in rural areas. These rural health care providers remain under-resourced and the COVID-19 pandemic has only magnified existing challenges, like lack of broadband access and limited public transportation. For much of the vaccine rollout, those barriers have made it difficult for providers, like community health centers, to get shots in the arms of their patients. As vaccine demand slows and coronavirus infection rates start to increase, state and federal officials are turning to these health centers to fulfill the mission of making the vaccine available to all Americans. In April, the Biden administration invested $6 billion in community health centers as part of a plan to increase access and awareness in the hardest-hit communities. Read more.

by Shalina Chatlahi, Gulf States Newsroom

Governor Signs Alcohol Delivery Bill

Gov. Kay Ivey has signed a bill making it legal for Alabamians to have beer, wine and spirits delivered to their homes starting this fall. The Legislature gave final passage last week to Senate Bill 126 from Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills, and Ivey signed it Monday, according to the Associated Press. Effective Oct. 1,

by Alabama Daily News

COVID-19 Rates Continue to Drop in Alabama

Alabama's COVID-19 numbers continue to show a dramatic improvement, with the numbers of new cases, hospitalizations and positive tests falling to levels that have not been seen for months. The Alabama Department of Public Health reported 196 new cases of the coronavirus in Tuesday's daily update. The state has averaged 305 cases a day over the past week, down from averages of 456 a week ago and 659 a month ago. It was the lowest 7-day average since a report of 292 last May 19. For the past three days, the state has averaged 166 cases per day. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch