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 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.
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.
Alabama House Republicans met for more than two hours Wednesday to discuss their potential support and concerns about draft legislation to build new prisons and renovate old ones using a combination of state, federal and borrowed funds. According to legislative leaders, the first phase of the plan includes building two new men's prisons at a total cost of $1.2 billion, with a third of that potentially coming from federal stimulus funds and a significant amount borrowed in a bond issue. Read more.
The Association of County Commissions of Alabama is asking for a $10 million reimbursement from the state for the increased strain on county jails taking care of state inmates. The association approved a resolution last week requesting Gov. Kay Ivey and the state Legislature to “retroactively reimburse county governments for their extended care of an increased number of State-responsible inmates throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, a consequence of the Alabama Department of Corrections’ decision to drastically reduce its intake activities in 2020 and 2021.” The reimbursement amount is for the time from Jan. 1, 2021, to July 31, 2021, and accounts for all counties, Abby Fitzpatrick, director of communication and engagement for the association, told Alabama Daily News. Read more.
MONTGOMERY — No final decisions were made about what racist language should be taken out of the Alabama constitution on Thursday, but discussion is ongoing about why certain sections should be removed that may not appear obviously racist. Sections of the constitution that mention segregation of schools or a state poll tax have more explicit language that led to the discrimination of Black Alabamians, but other sections regarding incarcerated labor or public-school systems may be harder to navigate, leaders said. The committee designated to make the edits decided to hold off on taking any votes until the public comment period ends Sept. 7. Read more.
Armed with new information about which districts gained and lost residents, the committee redrawing the Alabama House and Senate, Congressional and board of education maps will begin public hearings Wednesday. The hearings will be held at community colleges and can be attended in person and observed online. A complete schedule and links can be found here. Months-long delays in the 2020 gathering of census data has meant lags in getting states their new population numbers, delaying the reapportionment process that happens every 10 years. Read more.
MONTGOMERY -- The commission charged with analyzing Alabama’s response to the COVID-19 on Wednesday agreed on questions to state agencies about how they reacted early in the pandemic. The commission’s work comes as the COVID-19 delta variant continues to hospitalize more Alabamians, 2,845 as of Wednesday, 41 of them children, according to the Alabama Hospital Association. Across the state, 840 people with COVID are in intensive care units, making up 52% of ICUs’ populations. Hospitals are struggling to staff the needed ICU beds. State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris told the commission that a federal team of health care workers is being sent to a hospital in Dothan this weekend to handle the record-high number of COVID hospitalizations they’re seeing. Read more.
MONTGOMERY – A new poll of Alabama Republicans shows voters are open to a prison infrastructure plan, want the State House open to the public and support both charter schools and the Alabama Literacy Act. In addition, a plurality of Republican voters supported the 2019 gas tax increase, known as Rebuild Alabama. State lawmakers and
MONTGOMERY -- The committee charged with making Alabama’s monster constitution more user friendly and less racist is taking written public comments. Only one speaker attended the public hearing Tuesday at the State House for the committee on recompilation of the constitution, but a two-week period for written comments to be sent to the committee was also approved. Committee Chair Rep. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, said during Tuesday’s meeting that she knows some members of the public could not come because of concerns over COVID-19. People wishing to submit a comment have until Sept. 7. Those can be sent by email to Othni Lathram, director of the Legislative Services Agency, at olathram@lsa.state.al.us. Read more.
