Tag: Alabama Legislature
10 Things to Know About Lawmakers’ Special Session
The Alabama Legislature will soon debate a prison plan that leaders say would address issues with the state’s outdated and crowded facilities and the violence and poor care that has prompted federal investigations and threats of takeovers.
Lawmakers begin meeting Monday afternoon in a special session. Read on for 10 things to know about the session.
Lawmakers Estimate New Elmore, Escambia Prison Costs
The construction of the two men’s prison, which the Alabama Legislature will debate and possibly approve next week, will cost an estimated $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion. Improvements at other prisons and a new women’s prison will add to that amount, State House leaders say. Read more.
Draft Bill Closes 5 Prisons, Leaves Fate of Others to Be Determined
The prison construction bill the Alabama Legislature will consider in next week’s special session expressly closes five prisons in the state but leaves the futures of others up to decision makers at a later date.
Men’s facilities Hamilton Aged and Infirmed Center, Staton, Elmore and Kilby and the Julia Tutwiler women’s prison would be closed under the bill in its draft form.
The prison plan’s first phase includes two new 4,000-bed prisons in Elmore and Escambia counties and allows the state to borrow up to $785 million for their construction. Phase two includes a new women’s prison, though there’s no dedicated funding for that project in the bill. Read more.
Will Special Session Include Sentencing Reform Measures?
At the very end of the Alabama Legislature’s 2021 Regular Session in May, a slate of four criminal justice bills died before getting a vote in the Senate.
The bills, sponsored by Rep. Jim Hill, R-Moody, received bi-partisan support in the House and looked to be a lock to go to the governor’s desk. But things can get testy between the chambers on the final days of session and they never came up for a final vote.
“Sometimes with these things, you just run out of time,” Hill told Alabama Daily News on Monday.
Now, Hill is prepared to file the bills again in the special session on prison construction, should they fit into Gov. Kay Ivey’s special session plan.
Read more.
State House’s COVID-19 Restrictions Eased for Upcoming Special Session
After restricted public access the past two regular legislative sessions, next week’s special session of the Alabama Legislature will largely be free of COVID-19 protocols.
Secretary of the Senate Pat Harris said that people who aren’t vaccinated are asked to wear masks, as is the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but there will be no enforcement of that request.
“We’re asking people to use common sense,” Harris said.
The Senate gallery will again be open to the public, Harris said, but distancing in committee rooms will still be in place.
“We’re not going to pack the hearing rooms,” Harris said.
Read more.
Perry County Facility Key Factor in Prison Plan
The proposed plan to build new prisons in Alabama would also allow the purchase of the empty, privately owned prison in Perry County to hold parole violators who are crowding some county jails around the state.
The Perry County Correctional Facility “has always been the Rubik’s Cube of the prison problem that no one’s ever been really able to figure out,” Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Parole Director Cam Ward told Alabama Daily News.
Built in the 2000s, Ward said, it’s a good 730-bed facility but its remote location and distance from medical care has been a challenge to operations. At one point, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement used the space.
“But it’s never been used to capacity,” Ward said.
Ward and other state leaders will meet with GEO Group, the private prison company that owns the site, this week, about the possible purchase.
Read more.
Ivey to Call Special Session on Prisons Sept. 27
UPDATED — Gov. Kay Ivey plans to call lawmakers to Montgomery for a special session on prison construction Sept. 27, she told them in a letter today. “As I have stated before, this is our moment — this Legislature and this administration — to lead our state in a bipartisan manner to solve a problem that has plagued us for decades and that, if not properly addressed, will continue to set us back for decades to come,” Ivey wrote in the letter. Read more.
Majority of House GOP Said to View New Prison Bill Positively, Democrats Still Discussing
MONTGOMERY — State Representative Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, who is set to sponsor the new prison building legislation for a likely special session, said he has about 70% of House Republicans responding positively to the bill as of Tuesday afternoon. Read more.
Two Construction Companies in Position to Build Alabama Prisons
Two Alabama construction companies could be in the best position to get state contracts to build two men’s prisons under a proposal lawmakers are now weighing.
Montgomery-based Caddell and Birmingham-based BL Harbert were both part of teams expected to build prisons under Gov. Kay Ivey’s earlier plan to lease from private developers three new facilities. That plan fell apart in the spring, but some legislative leaders say Caddell and Harbert have been vetted and put in the groundwork to quickly move on construction, if the Legislature can pass a bill that includes borrowing as much as $785 million.
“It would be problematic if we tried to move out and get somebody else,” Sen. Greg Albritton, who has helped lead discussions on new prisons over the summer, said. “(These companies) are in the best position to do this work.”
Read more.
Sen. Orr: It’s Time to Talk About Tax Cuts for Retirees, Low-Income Families
For the first time in 15 years, tax receipts in the state’s Education Trust Fund are hitting double-digit growth, prompting the Senate’s budget chairman to say it’s time the Legislature considers some possible tax cuts.
While there are still several factors that could influence revenues in fiscal 2022 and 2023 and some growing expenses, Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, told Alabama Daily News the Legislature should consider reducing the income tax burden on some fixed-income seniors and families making around $50,000 a year or less.
“If the stars align correctly, and that’s a mighty big if, I think it’s time to have that discussion about tax cuts and sending money back home, back to the people,” Orr said this week.
Read more.
