February 2023 Group Watch: Senator Orr Calls Hopes for Medicaid Expansion “Crazy”

Hospital margins in Alabama have dropped 79 percent since the start of the pandemic, according to a study by Kaufman Hall, a national healthcare and higher education consulting firm. As a result, some hospital leaders are calling on the legislature to pass some kind of Medicaid expansion this session. State Senator Arthur Orr, who chairs a senate appropriations committee, said he doesn’t believe there is any will to pass a Medicaid expansion this year. Orr said the estimated $200-$300-million-a-year price tag is likely the biggest hurdle to passing an expansion. He went on to say that while the general fund budget is in good shape now, that could always change and legislators don’t have the “appetite” to take on the additional cost or add to the state’s dependency on federal dollars.

February 2023 Group Watch: Twinkle Cavanaugh Announces Run for PSC President

Twinkle Cavanaugh is hoping to remain Alabama’s Public Service Commission president even after her current term ends; on Monday, she said she’ll be seeking re-election in 2024. She called standing up to President Biden and his administration’s “unrealistic and unworkable ideas on energy and the environment” prime motivators for her to run for the office again. Read more here.

February 2023 Group Watch: Gambling Legislation in Alabama Not Likely This Session

While a variety of bills seeking to make a lottery and other forms of gambling legal in Alabama have popped up on the legislative agenda in recent years, those in the know claim that this year, it’s doubtful any such legislation will come up. There seems to be some disagreement as to the reasons behind this. Read more here.

February 2023 Group Watch: Prisoner Early Release Law Could be Paused

Senator Chris Elliott, R-Mobile, has pre-filed a bill to stop the early release of prisoners scheduled thanks to bill passed into law in 2015 that was part of criminal justice reform efforts. Elliot’s bill calls for pausing all releases until 2030. He wants the hold on the implementation of the law to give lawmakers and others the time he says is needed to consider the implications and reflect on “the very serious public safety implications” of the 2015 law.

February 2023 Group Watch: Bill Banning Mandatory Microchipping Expected 

While no businesses in Alabama currently require employees to be microchipped, a bill to ban any such requirement in Alabama in the future may show up in this legislative session. In some European countries, residents are happily and voluntarily being microchipped, using the tech to access public transport and pay for goods. Proponents of a ban on microchips mandatory use in Alabama point to privacy concerns and possible objections based on religion. Read more here.

February 2023 Group Watch: Gov Ivey Awards Grants to Boost Law Enforcement Efforts

Governor Kay Ivey has awarded $5.6 million in grants to support statewide programs designed to increase public safety on Alabama’s highways and in the state’s communities. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) is administering the grants from funds made available to the state by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Department of Justice. The monies are being distributed as follows:

• $1.42 million was awarded to the Franklin County Commission for the North Central Alabama Highway Safety Office, which serves Colbert, Cullman, Dekalb, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Jackson, Madison, Marshall, Marion Morgan, Pickens, Walker and Winston counties.
• $1.66 million to the city of Opelika for the East Central Alabama Highway Safety Office, which serves Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa, Elmore, Etowah, Jefferson, Lee, Macon, Randolph, St. Clair, Shelby, Talladega and Tallapoosa counties.
• $1.14 million for the Southeast Alabama Regional Highway Safety Office at Enterprise State Community College, which serves Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, bullock, Butler, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lowndes Montgomery, Pike, Russell and Tuscaloosa counties.
• $993,266 to the Mobile County Commission for the Southwest Regional Highway Safety Office, which serves Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Dallas, Escambia, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Mobile, Monroe, Perry, Sumter, Washington and Wilcox counties.
• $203,558 to the University of Alabama Center for Advanced Public Safety, which uses funds for technology development projects that improve data quality, timeliness, completeness and the efficiency of officers and emergency medical services personnel across the state.

February 2023 Group Watch: Pre-Filed Bill Would Require Monthly ADOC Oversight Reports

Under existing law, the Alabama Department of Corrections is required to report quarterly to the Joint Legislative Prison Oversight Committee. Amid growing concerns about the rising number of deaths in the state’s prisons and what some are calling a lack of transparency, a bill has been pre-filed to require monthly reporting. The existing law requires each report include statistical data on the number, manner and cause of inmate deaths occurring in a correctional facility, including the results of any autopsy provided to the department by a third party. It also requires the department to report on all occurrences of sexual abuse or victimization of inmates, as well as a report on contraband in prisons, including cell phones, weapons and controlled substances recovered within facilities. These requirements will remain under the proposed legislation. Pre-filed bills are usually considered mostly in the order of introduction.

February Group Watch: AL Exports Heading for Record Year

Alabama exports are bouncing back from global trade frictions and disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which interrupted years of momentum that lifted overseas shipments of Alabama-made goods. While full year results are not yet available for 2022, existing trade data show that Alabama exports approached $23.4 billion in value through November, a figure that already eclipses the annual record of $21.7 billion set in 2017. Trade data indicate that the value of Alabama exports through the first 11 months of 2022 were tracking 23% higher than in the  same period for the previous year. Many of Alabama’s top export categories showed robust upticks during the first 11 months of 2022, including:

•          Chemicals ($2.5 billion) – up 22%
•          Minerals and ores ($1.9 billion) – up 194%
•          Primary metals ($1.5 billion) – up 24%
•          Paper ($1.4 billion) – up 35 %

Germany, the No.1 international destination for Alabama goods in 2021, remained the top destination for Alabama exports for the first 11 months of 2022, with shipments valued at nearly $3.9 billion. Other leading export destinations during the period were Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea.

February 2023 Group Watch: Aviation Training Jobs Coming to Selma

Resicum International LLC, which provides flight training and maintenance support to government, commercial and general aviation customers, plans to open an aviation training academy at Craig Field in Selma that will prepare the next generation of industry professionals from around the world. The company plans to invest $1.3 million and create 70 jobs over a three-year period at this new operational hub located on the former U.S. Air Force base in Dallas County. The jobs will pay an average of $30 an hour, plus benefits. The Craig Field Airport and Industrial Authority and the Selma and Dallas County Economic Development Authority said Resicum has signed a 10-year lease for a 50,000-square-foot hangar on the Craig Field flight line. The Virginia-based company’s new aviation training academy is aimed at future industry professionals from around the world. The company is immediately bringing avionics training, flight training (fixed and rotor wing) and certificate courses for aviation maintenance skill-building.

February 2023 Group Watch: Tuskegee Scores Auto Manufacturing Facility

Samkee Corp., a major South Korean automotive supplier, plans to invest $128 million to open its first U.S. factory in Alabama through a project that will create 170 jobs in Tuskegee and provide an economic boost for Macon County. Samkee Corp. will soon begin construction on the new manufacturing facility in the Tuskegee Commerce Park, where it will become the city’s first auto parts manufacturer. Samkee will serve as a Tier 1 supplier to Hyundai Motor Co. The new jobs will pay an average wage of just over $20 an hour. Samkee specializes in high-pressure die-cast aluminum components, including parts for engines, transmissions and electric vehicles, along with alloys. Parts production at the advanced casting facility is expected to begin in early 2024.