The next issue of Group Watch will provide you with details from the first week of the Alabama Legislatures 2023 regular session, which begins March 7, but bills are already being pre-filed and one hot-button issue some hope would be legislated — Medicaid expansion — has already been declared pretty much dead, at least
@thbloomgroupFeb 20State health officer, mayors, school officials laud departing Jefferson County health officer Dr. Mark Wilson. https://twitter.com/thebloomgroup/status/1627814340551225345/photo/1
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
