Federal agencies will decide. Officials from the Department of Defense (DOD) and Health and Human Services (HHS) are scheduled to come to the state and visit facilities in Baldwin County. They will be looking at two Naval Outlying Fields in Foley and Summerdale to determine whether unaccompanied minors, who entered the
On January 1, 2017, Alabama will join 40 other states no longer recognizing common law marriage. Governor Bentley signed into law legislation abolishing common law marriages. Common law marriage is when a couple decides to live together without a license or a ceremonial marriage. This arrangement often leads to certain legal issues when
The 2016 regular session of the Alabama Legislature ended last week with two major bills that had shown promise “dying” in Wednesday’s final hours, leaving the door open for a possible special session later this year to address the issues the bills would have remedied, namely prison problems and Medicaid funding (see
The Senate voted 23-12 late Wednesday for a compromise on the governor’s prison construction project, which originally had a price tag of $800 million. The compromise plan cut the bond offer to $550 million for two new prisons in addition to a new women’s prison. The House did not vote on the compromise before
Group Watch will go back to its regular monthly publishing schedule now that the 2016 regular session is over, but we’ll send out weekly GW issues if a special session is called. Governor Bentley made it clear he was “disappointed” by the death of his prison bill and that he will not give
Last week was a busy one: the Education Budget for FY 2107 has been signed into law and marks the first time school systems in the state have been fully funded since 2008; the governor’s prison plan made more progress; and a temporary solution for Medicaid cuts made it through
The Alabama House of Representativesapproved a bill to split settlement money from BP under a plan that could stave off Medicaid cuts for 2017. Instead of $1 billion over 18 years, the state general fund would receive an estimated $639 million up from a bond issue. The state would use $450
In the April newsletter put out by Lt. Governor Kay Ivey, she outlined Alabama’s longstanding support of Israel and stressed its continuance. She also mentioned the April 7 visit to the Alabama Legislature from Deputy Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Hilik Bar, noting that on the same day that the high-ranking
The largest Education Budget since the recent recession passed both chambers easily last week, with two unanimous votes. Plus, the governor’s prison plan made it out of committee, a RCO bill made progress, and lots of local business got done. On Tuesday, April 19 (23rd day of the session): The House
Alabama Medicaid Commissioner Stephanie Azar appeared before a standing-room only crowd and talked with legislators about the need for additional funds. Azar said the agency started the current fiscal year with a $37 million carryover and relied on another $36 million of one-time funds. She said the absence of the non-recurring funds
