The legislature has moved quickly and accomplished a lot already, but when it reconvenes next week, there’s still a lot to do, and there’s a long list of issues on the table, many of which are likely to stir up intense disagreements. Bills concerning guns, the governor’s emergency powers, marijuana, voting laws, the gambling proposal and more promise some spirited debate in the weeks to come. Read more here.
A bill that makes Alabamians’ COVID-19 relief funds exempt from being taxed by the state has cleared its final hurdle. The Alabama Senate passed one of the top priority bills of the session just a week after House approval. The legislation also makes modifications to the state’s corporate tax code to help Alabama-based businesses.
@willainsworthAL
Feb. 2
Since Republicans took the Legislature in 2010, Del Marsh has been an honest, inspirational, and fair-minded Senate President Pro Tem. Our thanks to Sen. Marsh for helping reform AL’s government, and we wish our new Pro Tem Greg Reed much success as he leads the upper chamber.
Last week, Governor Kay Ivey gave the annual “state of the state” address from the old House Chamber in the Alabama State Capitol to a virtual and television audience. Her remarks largely focused on helping the state recover from the coronavirus pandemic and on distribution of the vaccine, and she also shared her plan to build multiple prisons. The governor made education and getting students back to the classroom a priority. She is proposing a 2 percent pay raise for state employees and teachers, emphasizing that, “It is the right time to do the right thing.” She praised the legislature for its work to address broadband access and internet connectivity, noting that in the last week, her administration had partnered with C-Spire for its $500 million dollar investment in Alabama over the next three years. The investment will provide broadband to 100,000 homes and businesses in the state, and it is anticipated that this expansion will result in many of the state’s rural citizens and businesses gaining reliable access to broadband and internet services. Governor Ivey also addressed gambling, acknowledging that she has not been an out-front champion of the activity, but stressing that she believes the people of Alabama should have the final say. She said a thoughtful and deliberate debate on the matter in a transparent legislative process is in the best interest of the state.
Alabama state revenue is solid and safe for the current budget year thanks to conservative budgeting, Rolling Reserve Act safeguards and the growth of online sales tax revenue from the Simplified Sellers Use Tax. The governor announced her proposal for a 2 percent raise for public education employees, which seems to have legislative support. There also seems to be support for STEM incentives and professional development. Education entities support a proposal to offset the financial loss to school systems due to virus-related enrollment loss. The state is moving forward with the new state assessment so that educators have a critical baseline to assess student progress.
After this Thursday, the legislature will push pause for a week. The break will give lawmakers the chance to evaluate how well COVID-19 safety measures in the Senate and House have worked and to assess the status of legislation in progress to set priorities for the coming weeks. Both the Senate and the House will reconvene on Tuesday, February 23.
Last Tuesday, Senator Greg Reed (R-Jasper) was sworn in as the Alabama Senate’s president pro tempore. He was elected to the position — the upper chamber’s highest — by a unanimous vote. Reed has served in the Senate since 2010 and was previously the majority leader in the Senate; a role he held since 2014. He succeeds previous pro tem, Senator Del Marsh (R-Anniston), who announced he will not seek reelection in 2022 and decided to step down from his leadership position for his final two years.
With Senator Greg Reed elected to the Senate president pro tem position, his previous role of majority leader for the Republicans has been filled by Senator Clay Scofield of Guntersville. He was unanimously elected to the position, and in a statement, Scofield said he’s, “honored to serve as the Republican leader in the Alabama State Senate, and I am thankful for the trust my colleagues have placed in me to lead the Caucus in this new capacity.”
