Tag: Alabama Legislature
House GOP Caucus Meets on Prison Plan
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.
Counties Ask for $10M Reimbursement From State for County Jail Strains
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.
Constitution Recompilation Committee Discusses Racial Language Edits
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.
Early Numbers in Hand, Reapportionment Committee Starts Public Hearings Wednesday
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.
Commission on Pandemic Response Narrows Scope; Federal Help Sent to South Alabama Hospitals
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.
Daily News Poll: GOP Voters Support Prison Infrastructure, Education Reform; Want State House Access
Committee for Recompiling State Constitution Holds Public Hearing, Work to Continue
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.
Ivey ‘Encouraged’ by Lawmakers’ Prison Plan Work
MONTGOMERY – Summer discussions between lawmakers and Gov. Kay Ivey’s administration on how to fix the state’s crowded and crumbling prisons have entered the draft legislation phase.
Officials aren’t talking publicly about the details, but Ivey said she’s “encouraged” by the work done so far.
A draft bill prepared at the State House calls for new and renovated prison infrastructure over a 10-year period.
“While there has yet to be a final plan in terms of legislation, I’m encouraged by the progress being made from the ongoing discussions with the Legislative leadership,” Ivey told Alabama Daily News in a written statement. “For several months, they have engaged with our team, and I can assure the people of Alabama that we are like-minded and laser-focused on finding a solution to our decades-long problem within our correctional facilities. I’m extremely hopeful they are on the right-track, and I am encouraged by their holistic approach to this issue.”
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Commission on Reentry: Further Discussion Needed on Recidivism Definition
MONTGOMERY – A new state commission studying how to help released inmates stay out of prison spent much of a meeting Wednesday working on a definition of recidivism that all state agencies can use.
One of the goals of the Joint Commission on Reentry is to create a definition so the state can implement best practices to aid those leaving prisons and create a safer Alabama.
Cam Ward, director of the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Parole, said during the meeting that since every state agency defines recidivism differently, it is a nearly impossible task to settle on a singular meaning and mission.
Read more.
General Fund, Education Fund Revenues Up; Budget Leaders Cautiously Watch Delta Variant
The state’s General Fund and Education Trust Fund receipts have grown by double-digits over last year, encouraging state leaders as they cautiously watch the continuing pandemic and brace for potential big expenses in 2022.
“We are recovering quite well from the pandemic, and revenues are ahead of expectations for the fiscal year,” said Kirk Fulford, deputy director of the Legislative Services Agency’s Fiscal Division. “Obviously, it is too early to predict what 2022 will look like yet as much of that will depend on further issues with the latest strain of COVID and how that impacts businesses, healthcare, etc.”
From Oct. 1 through July, tax receipts in the ETF were up 11%, $683.5 million, from the same point in fiscal 2020. The 2021 year-to-date collection was $6.8 billion.
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