March 28, 2022 Group Watch: Session Is Winding Down But Still Work to Do

There are only seven legislative days left in the 2022 regular session, and with plenty of work to do, both the House and Senate will need every bit of the time left. Two big items still in limbo are both the education and general fund budgets. The gambling bills are not yet dead, but the clock is ticking. And changes to the state’s curriculum are still on hanging out there too. Read more here.

March 28, 2022 Group Watch: Bella+Canvas Announces Major Investment In Alabama

Bella+Canvas, a fast-growing apparel manufacturer with a “made in the U.S.A.” focus, plans a major investment in Alabama to open an advanced fabric-cutting facility expected to create more than 550 jobs in Wetumpka. The Los Angeles-based company will invest $11.9 million to establish the operation in a portion of an 890,000-square-foot building vacant since 2013, when Russell Brands departed from the Elmore County city. Bella+Canvas produces clothing for the retail and wholesale markets, while also offering clothing design and manufacturing services. The company is known for its domestic manufacturing mission, the development of innovative new fabrics and its sustainability practices. The fabric-cutting facility is expected to create 557 jobs, including spreaders, general cutting laborers, forklift operators, shipping and receiving clerks and administrative staff.

March 28, 2022 Group Watch: Mercedes-Benz Opens Alabama Battery Plant

Mercedes-Benz has opened its Bibb County electric vehicle battery plant ahead of the automaker’s planned start of production for all-electric SUVs. The company also marked the occasion by announcing another battery plant in the United States and setting an ambitious goal to go all-electric by 2030, as market conditions allow. It is the culmination of a period of rapid expansion for Mercedes in west Alabama, after the automaker committed in 2017 to pump $1 billion into its operations. Mercedes-Benz has invested more than $7 billion in its Alabama operations since the mid-90s and employs around 4,500 people. An estimated 11,000 jobs are also connected through supply chains and service providers. The factory has produced roughly four million vehicles since 1997, with about 260,000 SUVs hitting the roads since last year.

March 28, 2022 Group Watch: Niagara Bottling Building $112 Million Opelika Production Plant

California-based Niagara Bottling will open a new $112 million production facility in Opelika’s Industrial Park and hire 50 employees. The company offers bottled purified, distilled and spring water; water for infants; sparkling water; flavored vitamin water; and tea, which are sold wholesale and shipped to grocery stores and convenience stores.

March 28, 2022 Group Watch: Koch Foods Finishes $60 Million Attalla Distribution Center

Koch Foods celebrated the opening of a $60 million distribution center in Attalla that will support poultry farmers in northeast Alabama and the surrounding region. Koch Foods announced the project in November 2019, and it continued despite the pandemic. Company officials said the facility will service 100 railcars every two weeks and produce up to 12,500 tons of finished poultry feed a week. The facility employs about 30 people. The center supports more than 200 poultry farmers across 10 counties but mostly in Marshall, DeKalb, Cherokee and Etowah counties. Koch Foods has four integrated poultry facilities in Alabama, employing about 3,700 people.

March 28, 2022 Group Watch: Gov Awards $80M in COVID-19 Funds To Hospitals & Nursing Homes

Governor Ivey has awarded an additional $80 million in COVID-19 recovery funds to provide reimbursements for Alabama hospitals and nursing homes. The funding for the award comes from the state’s portion of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars appropriated by the legislature in January. According to the governor’s office, the funds will support two grant programs of up to $40 million each and administered by the Alabama Hospital Association and the Alabama Nursing Home Association. Dr. Don Williamson, president and CEO of the Alabama Hospital Association, applauded Ivey and the legislature for their efforts to provide financial support for hospitals.

March 14, 2022 Group Watch: News & Views from the State House

While it has faced vocal opposition, the bill to remove the requirement to have a permit for the concealed carry of a gun in Alabama is now law. After being passed by the House, modified in the Senate and then approved by the conference committee (made necessary by Senate changes), Governor Ivey signed the bill into law without delay. This makes Alabama the 22nd state to remove this type of permit requirement, a move hailed by gun rights advocates.

Other legislative action last week included the passage of the $8.1 billion education budget in the House, forward progress for this session’s gambling bill and the full passage of a bill to make detecting the dangerous substance fentanyl easier and more cost effective in an effort to reduce overdose deaths.

Keep scrolling to read details on all this and much more.

The House and Senate return on Tuesday, March 15 at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.

March 14, 2022 Group Watch: Tweet of the Week

@thebloomgroup March 13 Virginia gains optometric laser procedures for glaucoma, post-cataract care | AOA

March 14, 2022 Group Watch: Legislature Day-by-Day, Play-by-Play

• The House passed a number of bills of local application only and general bills relating to education funding, including the $8.1 billion education budget for FY23 and several appropriations for non-state entities such as Lyman Ward Military Academy and Tuskegee University. It also approved a Senate-passed bill to provide a one-time lump sum bonus for retired educators and a bill to provide a four-percent pay raise for public education employees.
• The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee approved several bills, including bills to specify that a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist also practices in coordination with a licensed physician, podiatrist or dentist; to add two members to the Alabama Justice Information Commission; and to prohibit the state and any of its political subdivisions or agencies from teaching certain concepts relating to race, sex or religion in certain training.
• The Senate became embroiled in debate over a bill to prohibit state enforcement of certain federal firearm statues and adjourned without taking a vote.

• The House Ways and Means Education Committee approved a bill to require the State Board of Education to phase in the employment of auxiliary teachers to assist classroom teachers with instructional and noninstructional activities in all public schools in the state providing instruction in grades K-3.
• The House Ways and Means General Fund Committee approved several bills dealing with direct appropriations, supplemental appropriations to certain agencies and the general fund budget for FY23. It also approved a four-percent pay increase for state workers and a one- time lump sum bonus for retired state workers.
• The House passed several bills of local application only and general bills to require every judicial circuit to establish a community punishment and corrections program and to exempt from state income tax a portion of income from deferred compensation plans.
• The Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee approved a bill to reduce the business privilege tax through a phase-out over several years.
• The Senate Tourism Committee approved two bills designed to establish a state lottery, approve and regulate casinos and establish a state gaming commission.
• The Senate approved House-passed bills to authorize the board of trustees at the University of West Alabama to conduct certain meetings by video or telephone conference and to require the establishment and maintenance of a registry for individuals convicted of certain crimes against elders. They also approved bills to establish the Alabama Airport Economic and Infrastructure Program and to create an exception for an individual to test for the presence of certain drugs.

• The House Education Policy Committee approved a Senate-passed bill to establish the Alabama Numeracy Act and to prohibit the use of Common Core State Standards in public K-12 schools.
• The House passed bills of local application only and general bills that include bills to phase out the business privilege tax to help small business persons, to provide for the issuance of garnishment writs by regular mail or certified mail, and to allow the Prepaid Affordable College Tuition program board to meet electronically.
• The House joined the Senate in concurrence with a conference committee report on the permitless concealed pistol legislation.
• The Senate Education Policy Committee approved bills to further provide for the operational and categorical funding of public charter schools in the state and to require each local board of education and independent school system in the state, subject to appropriations by the legislature, to employ a mental health service coordinator.
• The Senate completed work on a 12 bill Special Order, which included the passage of bills to phase out the business privilege tax; to authorize local governments to expend certain monies for broadband infrastructure; to further provide for virtual hearings in criminal cases; and to authorize the State Health Officer to issue orders with the full force of law if approved by the governor and filed with the Secretary of State.

March 14, 2022 Group Watch: AL Senate Committee Approves Lottery & Gambling Package

The Alabama Senate Tourism Committee approved legislation that would authorize a lottery and at least five casinos in the state; it would also create a state gaming commission that could crackdown on established gambling. The committee approved the bills without dissenting votes. The proposed legislation would grant “emergency powers to an authorized state gambling commission to demand information from existing gambling operators.” The commission will also charge “reasonable fees” for operation.