Bill Poole Named State Finance Director
MONTGOMERY -- Gov. Kay Ivey has appointed state Rep. Bill Poole as the state’s next finance director, her office announced Friday. The appointment is effective Aug. 1. Read more.
Alabama Legislature
Second Bill Targeting Critical Race Theory Filed for ’22 Legislative Session
MONTGOMERY -- A second bill targeting how theories on race and bias are taught has been pre-filed in the Alabama House, this one applying to education institutions and the training state employees and contractors receive. Read more.
Anti-Rioting Bill Pre-Filed for 2022 Legislative Session
MONTGOMERY — A bill that would change the definition of riot in state law and increase penalties for those who participate in one has been pre-filed for the 2022 regular legislative session. Read more.
State Leaders Discuss Building New, Renovating Old Prisons
State leaders are now discussing building two new prisons and renovating others in an effort to improve the state’s dangerous and crowded correctional system. Legislative and Alabama Department of Corrections leaders met Thursday in Montgomery for the third time in less than a month to discuss options. Another meeting is scheduled for next week, Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Range, told Alabama Daily News. Read more.
Committee to Analyze State’s Response to COVID-19
MONTGOMERY -- A new joint legislative committee responsible for analyzing how the state responded to the COVID-19 pandemic -- and help it prepare for future emergencies -- met for the first time on Thursday. “This is a fact-finding, not a fault-finding committee,” Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, said. He's a co-chair of the Alabama Pandemic Response and Preparedness Committee, which includes many of the state's top leaders and will put together a report on lessons learned in the last 15 months. “The goal of this commission is to move forward,” Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed, R-Jasper, said. “We don’t need to throw rocks about what we maybe should have done, or could have done, or what we did." Read more.
Poole, Ledbetter Announce Runs for House Speaker
MONTGOMERY — Rep. Bill Poole, R-Tuscaloosa, and Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, on Tuesday said they both plan to seek the Alabama House’s top leadership spot after current Speaker Mac McCutcheon leaves office next year. Read more Also read: House Speaker Mac McCutcheon Will Not Seek Reelection
House Speaker Mac McCutcheon Will Not Seek Reelection
MONTGOMERY — House Speaker Mac McCutcheon will not run again for his House District 25 seat and, therefore, also will be retiring as speaker after the 2022 elections, Alabama Daily News has learned. In an email to his House colleagues obtained by ADN, McCutcheon said he and his wife, Deb, made a family decision to “enjoy our golden years” away from the State House. Read more.
Bill Banning Medical Treatment of Trans Youth Back in 2022 Session
A bill to block the medical treatment of transgender youth in Alabama, one of the most controversial bills of the Legislature’s 2021 session, will be back in 2022. Read more.
As other states drew fire for passing restrictive election laws, Alabama skirted outside the limelight. But changes were made here, too.
Fourteen states passed 22 election laws this year, some of which caused a stir as voting advocates complained that they restricted the rights of voters, while others argued the new laws were needed to add security to the vote. Alabama has eight new election-related laws this year out of 27 voting-related bills introduced in the Legislature. While some stirred opposition in the state, it was nothing like the national outrage over changes in some other states. That’s at least partly because Alabama already had adopted one of the most controversial bills passed in other states – a requirement that voters show ID at the polls was passed here in 2014 – and because Georgia attracted so much attention for its ban on delivering water to voters standing in line at the polls. Alabama did pass a few other laws. One to ban curbside voting, which was not being offered in any of the counties, anyway. Others require a partial post-election audit in three counties, move up the deadline for applying to vote by absentee ballot, and specifically make it a crime to vote in Alabama and another state, for instance. Read more.
Alabama House Democrats Host 5th Annual Pro-Growth Policy Conference
MONTGOMERY— The Alabama House Democratic Caucus is hosting its 5th annual Alabama Pro-Growth Policy Conference this week with special keynote speaker U.S. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, D-NC. Read more.