Before the session was over, the Senate passed a resolution outlining the state’s support of Israel. It expresses “solidarity with Israel in its defense against terrorism in the Gaza Strip.” Read the full resolution below.
A Montgomery County Circuit Judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by State Auditor Jim Zeigler and others challenging Gov. Ivey’s plan to lease and operate privately owned prisons. The court granted a request by the Alabama Department of Corrections to dismiss the case. The court rejected claims that the prison leases violate a state law that prohibits the leasing of the facilities without consent of the legislature. Plaintiffs in the case are Zeigler, state Rep. John Rogers of Birmingham, Kenny Glasgow, a pastor and prisoner rights advocate from Houston County, and Leslie Ogburn, whose property adjoins the site of a proposed prison near Tallassee in Elmore County. Defendants were Governor Ivey, Prison Commissioner Jeff Dunn, and two real estate entities formed and owned by CoreCivic. CoreCivic has until June 1 to obtain financing for construction of the two proposed prisons in central and south Alabama.
Many are predicting at least one and maybe two special sessions coming later this year, maybe in August. Topics including prison construction, redistricting and the distribution of the federal funds coming Alabama’s way as part of the recently passed American Rescue Plan Act will require attention before the 2022 regular session. Read more here.
Governor Kay Ivey has signed into law a bill that will allow Alabamians to use medical marijuana products for more than a dozen conditions and symptoms such as chronic pain, depression, seizures, muscle spasticity and terminal illnesses. The bill sets up a system to regulate medical marijuana from the cultivation of the plants, to processing and testing the products, to selling them in dispensaries. Doctors will be able to recommend medical cannabis for patients who will receive medical cannabis cards to buy tablets, gel cubes and other forms of medical cannabis products. Raw plant material, products that could be smoked or vaped and food products such as cookies or candies will not be allowed. Alabama becomes the 37th state to legalize medical marijuana.
On June 19, Alabama is pulling the plug on federal boosts to unemployment, including the extra $300 a week for those collecting benefits. In parts of the state, “Now Hiring” signs aren’t hard to find, which is one of the reasons Ivey announced she is putting a stop to the additional unemployment. The pandemic unemployment programs mean people in Alabama have been getting up to $575 a week in unemployment for up to 54 weeks due to the pandemic as opposed to the standard benefits capping out at $275 a week for 14 weeks. The Alabama Department of Labor has paid out more than $5 billion in claims in the last year, which is more money than the last 12 years combined with the help of federal dollars. The Alabama Department of Labor will continue paying out the additional $300 a week for new claims filed before June 19. The state’s unemployment rate is 3.8 percent, the lowest in the Southeast.
Thanks to to learning losses sustained due to the pandemic, Alabama lawmakers voted to delay for two years a provision in the Alabama Literacy Act, a law passed in 2019 to emphasize reading instruction in the earliest grades. The law says that beginning with the 2021-2022 school year, third graders would have to show they can read at grade level in order to be promoted to fourth grade. The House gave final passage of a Senate-passed bill to delay that time provision until the 2023-2024 school years. The bill passed by a vote of 68-27, and now goes to the governor who could sign it into law.
Alabama lawmakers finished their annual session without taking a vote on a bill to criminalize hormone treatments and surgeries as transitional therapies for minors with gender dysphoria. It was one of the most closely watched bills throughout the 15-week legislative session. A bill to allow voters to decide whether to allow a lottery and casinos failed to surface on the last night of the session. This matter is far from over and is likely to resurface in a future session. There are likely to be special sessions later this year, and the 2022 regular session starts in January.
With the session drawing to its close, two of this year’s headline-garnering bills are facing opposite fates.
The medical marijuana bill passed the legislature last Thursday. If Governor Ivey signs it, it the use of marijuana to treat multiple medical conditions will be legal in Alabama.
However, the gambling bill stalled, and it now looks likely that it will end up on the list of bills that died in the regular session. During debate in the House, tensions were high, and many were playing the blame game.
After a busy week, the legislature has taken this week off and returns for the final day of the regular session on Monday, May 17.
Read more on all this and other last-minute legislative activity below.
The House and Senate return on May 17 at 10 am and 11 am respectively.
Watch live video of both chambers here.
@GovernorKayIvey
May 9
My mom was a trailblazer. She was a mother, wife, & homemaker. She rose from being a teller to VP & cashier at Camden National Bank. She taught me the importance of strong character & of paying attention to details as I addressed big goals. I miss her dearly. Happy #MothersDay!
The Alabama House of Representatives approved a bill that would create a statewide marijuana program in a historic vote following a debate spanning more than two days and that included some robust opposition. The House voted 68 to 34 to approve the bill by Senator Tim Melson after a lengthy filibuster from about a half-dozen legislators against the bill delayed the vote. Melson’s bill would authorize the use of medical cannabis for roughly a dozen conditions, including cancer, chronic pain, depression, sickle-cell anemia, terminal illnesses and HIV/AIDS. Patients would need a doctor’s approval to use medical marijuana. The bill forbids smoking, vaping or ingesting cannabis in baked goods. It could be consumed as tablets, capsules, gelatins or vaporized oils. The bill requires any cannabis gummies manufactured to have one flavor. Read more details here.
