Alabama Legislature

‘Retain Alabama’ Effort Looks to Keep Bachelor’s Degree Recipients in State

Knowing that nearly half of Alabama’s public university bachelor’s degree earners are working in other states five years after they graduate, state leaders are funding more efforts to keep that talent pool at home. In the 2022 state education budget, lawmakers allocated $800,000 for a new “Retain Alabama” initiative to introduce college students to opportunities for them in the Yellowhammer state. “Our state has been a low-growth state and we have to do all we can to retain that knowledge capital that we’re losing every year when they leave,” said Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, chairman of the Senate education budget committee. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Ivey, Lawmakers Talk Next Steps on Prison Plan

Gov. Kay Ivey and some legislative leaders met Wednesday to discuss possible next steps after the governor’s proposal to lease three new men’s prisons stalled earlier this month. “No decisions were made today; this was simply an opportunity for an update on where we are and what needs to happen, going forward with respect to improving our prison infrastructure,” Ivey said in a written statement. The meeting included Ivey, Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn, Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed, R-Jasper, Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, and the Legislature’s two General Fund budget chairmen. Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, and Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Range. Officials did not disclose the details of what was discussed, but called the meeting productive and the first of several. Lawmakers earlier this year balked at a nearly $3 billion price tag on Ivey's 30-year prison lease plan and said they’d largely been excluded from discussions. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

State of the State House: Officials Consider What to do With Building in Disrepair

When replacement parts are needed for the Alabama State House’s electrical system, some have to be “scavenged” because the system is so old that new parts are no longer available. Meanwhile, the HVAC system has outlived its intended lifespan and is contributing to mold issues in the nearly 60-year-old, eight-floor building, according to a recent facility condition assessment by a Georgia-based engineering firm. The report has renewed discussions about the health and safety conditions of the building and the need for a new building, or at least significant renovations. The report and springtime presentation to the Legislative Council outlined some concerning conditions in the building and about $51 million in renewal costs needed in the next 10 years. The bottom line is that lawmakers need to act on the condition of the State House and the costs will be significant, Rep. Victor Gaston, R-Mobile, told Alabama Daily News on Tuesday. Gaston is chair of the Legislative Council, which owns the State House. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Lawmaker: Pubic Money Shouldn’t Be Used to Influence Voters

A state senator says he is considering legislation to prevent government agencies from spending state money to promote ballot referendums and proposed constitutional amendments. “We shouldn’t use public money to influence voters’ decisions,” Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, told Alabama Daily News on Thursday. “The government doesn’t need to put its finger on the scale, attempting to influence decisions that the voters will need to make.” Orr’s comments were prompted by a Legislative Contract Review Committee meeting on Thursday and information the committee received from the Alabama Department of Conservation about a proposed $200,000 public relations contract. The committee was told that the contract was to inform the public about a 2022 constitutional amendment that, if approved by voters, would let the state borrow $80 million to improve parks. The committee can’t kill contracts, but it can delay them for up to 45 days. It moved to delay Conservation’s Thursday. Read more. More from the Alabama State House

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

New Testing, Revised ‘Implied Consent’ Law Target Drugged Drivers

The number of drugged drivers on Alabama roadways has steadily increased in recent years, and more impaired drivers were found to have marijuana in their systems than alcohol in 2019. “Last year, for the first time ever, THC (marijuana) surpassed alcohol in prevalence in our DUI cases,” Angelo Della Manna, director of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, told Alabama Daily News. His department performs all of the forensic laboratory testing in DUI cases across Alabama. Meth, alprazolam (Xanax) and cocaine rounded out the top five substances found in impaired drivers. Under a law passed in the recent legislative session, Della Manna and law enforcement expect the ability to collect saliva at the roadside and more accurately detect the substances and quantities in a person’s system will get more drugged drivers off the streets. The law adds the collection of a roadside saliva sample to the state’s implied consent law, allowing for oral fluid collection at the time of a wreck or traffic stop. Read more. More news from the Alabama State House Lawmaker: Pubic Money Shouldn’t Be Used to Influence Voters

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Five Things You Need to Know About Alabama’s New Medical Marijuana Law

Alabama's new medical marijuana law is more than 100-pages long. We did the hard work and pulled out the highlights that may impact you. Read more.

by Miranda Fulmore, WBHM

As Prison Lease Plan Fizzles, Ivey, Lawmakers Considering Options

As the clock ran out on Gov. Kay Ivey’s plan to lease new prisons, several lawmakers say they want to consider using some of the more than $2 billion in new federal Coronavirus relief money on improved prison infrastructure. Earlier this year, Ivey signed lease agreements with Tennessee-based CoreCivic to build two large men’s prisons. Tuesday was the deadline for those agreements to be final and Ivey confirmed to reporters Wednesday that the lease route is no longer an option as support from potential underwriters has fallen away. “To that end, my team and I will meet with legislative leaders again in the coming days to review all that we have learned through this process thus far, including the complexity and depth of the multi-faceted challenge at-hand," Ivey said in a statement. "Anyone who is serious about these issues understands that replacing our failing prison infrastructure with safer, more secure facilities that accommodate the rehabilitation of incarcerated people is essential. It is not a question of if this will happen, but how. Read more. More prison debate: Report: More Data, Tracking Needed on Prison Education Efforts

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Lawmakers Considering Federal Covid Relief Money for Prison Fix

As the clock runs down on Gov. Kay Ivey’s plan to lease new prisons, several lawmakers say they want to consider using some of the more than $2 billion in new federal coronavirus relief money on improved prison infrastructure. Earlier this year, Ivey signed lease agreements with Tennessee-based CoreCivic to build two large men’s prisons. Tuesday was the deadline for those agreements to be final, but CoreCivic’s funding has been in jeopardy as support from potential underwriters as fallen away. Meanwhile, lawmakers have signaled to Ivey they want another crack at a state-funded prison plan. Alabama budget makers and leaders are continuing to lay the groundwork for the distribution and spending of Rescue Plan funds. The state this summer will start seeing some of the more than $4 billion allocated to it and local governments in the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan Act. Separately, there is nearly $2 billion going to K-12 schools in the Rescue Plan. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Report: More Data, Tracking Needed on Prison Education Efforts

While the Legislature and Gov. Kay Ivey this session put more money toward prison education programs and incentivized participation for some with earlier release, the state is not doing enough to track what programs are actually helping offenders find jobs and stay out of prison, a recent report says. Meanwhile, there are still significant barriers to accessing prison education programs, the report from the Alabama Commission on Evaluation of Services said. “The state is not tracking the necessary performance metrics to determine if our educational efforts are working for our population,” Marcus Morgan, ACES director, told Alabama Daily News. “We should know and we can know.” Read more. More from the State House on Alabama prisons: Lawmakers Considering Federal Covid Relief Money for Prison Fix

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Ivey Signs Spending Oversight, Teachers’ Benefits Bills

MONTGOMERY -- Alabama’s state agencies wanting to spend more than $10 million on purchases or projects will soon have to answer more questions from a panel of lawmakers. Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday signed House Bill 392 from Rep. Mike Jones, R-Andalusia. Though the final version of the bill significantly scaled back from what Jones originally filed, the bill will give the existing Legislative Contract Review Committee, made up of about a dozen lawmakers, the ability to question the spending of more than $10 million by state agencies and departments from their General Fund appropriations. The committee can delay state contracts and expenditures for 45 days, but can’t outright kill them. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News