There are only three legislative days left in the Alabama Legislature’s 2021 regular session. Two will take place this week; then the body takes a week off before returning for the final day on May 17. And there is a lot of work yet to be done, with several major bills, including those on gambling and medical marijuana still outstanding. House Speaker Mac McCutcheon called the coming weeks “crunch time.” Read more here.
Alabama’s sex education law passed in 1992 contained instructions for sexual education programs in Alabama schools to instruct, with emphasis, that homosexuality is both unacceptable and illegal (in Alabama). Last week, Governor Ivey signed a bill into law that will remove this language. Read more here.
Alabama has been chosen as one of six locations in the United States designated a Defense Manufacturing Community as a result of collaboration among the Department of Defense (DoD), Redstone Arsenal and the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). UAH has been awarded a $3.7 million DoD grant under the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program. The university is serving as the lead to focus on the visibility, workforce training and adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies in the region with an emphasis on the modernization of U.S. Army aviation and missile systems. This award follows a competitive selection process culminating in the under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment’s designation of the six Defense Manufacturing Communities (DMC).
A lawsuit was filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court seeking to stop the progress on the state’s mega-prison construction plan that carries a $3 billion dollar price tag. Governor Kay Ivey and Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn are named as defendants in the case. Ivey signed two contracts with CoreCivic in February to build mega-prisons in Elmore and Escambia counties. With these 30-year contracts, the prisons will be operated by the Alabama Department of Corrections and maintained by CoreCivic throughout the duration of the lease. The plaintiffs in the case, state auditor Jim Zeigler, Representative John Rogers, Elmore County property owner Leslie Ognburn and pastor Kenny Glasgow believe the lease agreements violate state law and ADOC regulations. The lawsuit asks the judge to issue a declaratory judgement on the issue, specifically whether the governor can incur debt for the state. The plaintiffs ultimately ask the judge to void the lease agreements with CoreCivic. The plaintiffs also seek temporary and permanent injunctive relief to suspend the lease agreements.
Public education in Alabama will receive its largest ever amount of state dollars in the annual budget passed by the House of Representatives last week. The budget for the 2022 fiscal year, which starts October 1, appropriates $7.7 billion from the Education Trust Fund. The budget funds a 2-percent raise for teachers and education employees in public schools and community colleges. The budget also includes $100 million in funding for a new program to boost pay for math and science teachers in an attempt to remedy the current shortage of qualified teachers in those subjects in grades 6-12. K-12 received an increase of more than $207 million; the Alabama Community College System received an extra $47 million; and Pre-K received an additional $24 million. The Senate concurred with the House changes, and the measure now goes to the governor, who is likely to sign the bill since it substantially mirrors the budget she submitted at the start of the session.
The Alabama Senate approved a House-passed General Fund Budget with minor changes. The $2.4 billion budget represents a 3.6-percent increase year-over-year. Most agencies saw small increases or level funding. The largest increase was a more than doubling of the budget for the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, who will see its budget go from $27.8 million to $58.7 million. Most of that funding aims to restore funding cut last year, after legislators learned the bureau had $21 million in rollover money available. The Alabama Medicaid agency will see its state allocation drop from $820 million to $769 million. Increased federal funding and carryover money meant the agency would require a smaller amount of state funding this year. The Department of Corrections will get a $26.4 million increase over the current year’s budget. The Department of Mental Health will get an increase of $11.2 million. The budget bill’s 2-percent pay raise for state employees would go into effect October 1.
Alabama was projected as a state likely to lose a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, but results from the 2020 Census show Alabama’s population count was high enough to prevent that from happening. Alabama’s population count of 5,030,053 was more than 108,000 higher than a previous U.S. Census Bureau estimate in January. Census results were to be released months ago but were delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and a decision by the Trump administration to shorten the timelines for gathering Census responses.
Governor Kay Ivey signed bills that broaden the offenses eligible for expungement and create a database to track the movement of police officers. The expungement bill will allow individuals convicted of misdemeanors or violations to apply for expungement of their convictions. Applications could take place three years after conviction and after all fines have been paid and court orders fulfilled. Another bill creates a statewide database to track law enforcement officers’ hiring, as well as disciplinary actions, reassignments for cause, and use of force complaints faced by an officer. Disciplinary actions and use of force complaints would have to be sent to the database within 30 days. Resignations related to complaints or investigations would have to be reported in 15 days. The law requires the database to be operational by October 1, 2023.
On Tuesday, U.S. Army veteran Kenneth Paschal won the special Republican primary runoff election in House District 73. Paschal defeated Helena City Councilwoman Leigh Hulsey by 64 votes. The safely Republican seat was left vacant by Rep. Matt Fridy’s election to the Court of Civil Appeals. Paschal served 21 years in the Army before retiring in 2006. He is a past commander of the American Legion and a member of the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce. His primary runoff victory all but assures he will become the next representative from District 73. This would make Paschal the first African-American elected as a Republican to the Alabama Legislature since Reconstruction.
The Alabama Legislature passed the Literacy Act in 2019 to emphasize the importance of making sure children learn to read in the earliest grades. The House Education Policy Committee held a public hearing on a Senate-passed bill that would delay its implementation until the 2023-2024 school year. The bill’s sponsor, Senator Rodger Smitherman, said the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic during last school year and this school year are cause for putting off the requirement. Smitherman said the bill is designed to give students an opportunity to get prepared and be able to experience success. The committee did not vote on the bill, but the committee chair Rep. Terri Collins said she wanted the committee to meet next week and take a vote. Collins was lead sponsor of the Alabama Literacy Act.
