This week started with the 16th meeting day of the 2012 regular session. Charter school legislation was a major issue voted upon, among many others. Tuesday: The House Ways and Means-Education Committee approved a settlement aimed at saving Alabama’s financial college tuition plan and debated but did not vote on
The Alabama Legislature is looking at furloughing its employees to cope with cuts in the state General Fund budget. The Senate leadership voted this week to authorize Senate Secretary Pat Harris to implement furloughs of up to two days per month if necessary. The House leadership has previously given House
Alabamians carrying more than eight grams of an illegal drug would be faced with tougher penalties under a bill passed by the House this week. The bill would make it a Class B felony to carry more than eight grams of an illegal substance, such as cocaine or heroin. The
Tuesday, the 14th meeting day of the 2012 regular session: The House passed two bills that would alter the organizational structure of the Department of Transportation to allow the director to appoint three deputy directors and a chief engineer. They also approved bills to make looting a crime, to reimburse Mobile County
Montgomery native and Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer was greeted by hundreds as she arrived at the Alabama Statehouse to a hero’s welcome. She arrived in a pink limousine for joint session of the Legislature in her honor. She was serenaded by the band from her alma mater, Jefferson Davis High
Governor Robert Bentley ordered state agencies to reduce spending from their General Fund appropriations by 10.6 percent. The announcement came at the end of the day last Friday and marks the third consecutive year state programs have suffered double-digit cuts. Alabama’s Constitution prohibits deficit spending and requires the governor to
The Legislature returned for a short workweek on Wednesday the 12th day of the 2012 regular session. They did not meet on Tuesday due to statewide primary elections. Here’s what they were up to. Wednesday: The House and Senate Constitution and Elections Committees postponed consideration of bills to restructure legislators’
Alabama mental health officials announced this week they have halted construction of a facility to replace Bryce Hospital in Tuscaloosa and are reconsidering a plan to close some existing psychiatric hospitals. The governor and his mental health commissioner told the state mental health board that they are lifting a September
The state’s unemployment rate has dropped to 7.8 percent, the lowest rate in more than three years. State officials announced this week that the January rate was down from 8 percent in December. It was the sixth straight monthly decline since Alabama’s rate peaked at 10 percent in July of
A recently published gambling industry study shows that Indian casinos in Alabama have been making money at a faster rate than any others in the nation. It is reported that Indian gaming grew 61 percent in 2010, giving the state the fastest growth rate among the 28 states with Indian
