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Chip Brownlee

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Chip Brownlee

Chip Brownlee is a former political reporter, online content manager and webmaster at the Alabama Political Reporter. He is now a reporter at The Trace, a non-profit newsroom covering guns in America.

Provisions in House version of Fentanyl bill could inadvertently increase civil liability for businesses

A provision added to the House version of a bill to increase penalties for the trafficking and distribution of Fentanyl could inadvertently increase civil penalties for a wide-ranging sector of Alabama businesses. The bill’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, said Monday he would attempt to remove some of the House changes after discovering the provisions … Continued
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March 27, 2018

Don’t look away just yet, HB317 is still around

House Bill 317, a controversial piece of legislation that has received pushback from both sides of the aisle and prompted threats of a filibuster, never made it to the Senate floor on Thursday, raising questions about whether the bill was still alive. It is. Even though lawmakers would need to raise to get the bill … Continued
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March 23, 2018

Speaker: Ainsworth bill to arm teachers scrapped this year

A bill that would have allowed teachers to be armed in classrooms across the state is dead for this session. The bill, sponsored by Guntersville Republican Rep. Will Ainsworth, was one of the most prominent of several gun and school safety bills filed this session. Filed three weeks ago, just a month before the Legislature … Continued
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March 22, 2018

House gives final passage, sending human trafficking bill to Ivey

The Alabama House of Representatives on Tuesday gave final passage to a bill that would establish more severe penalties for those found guilty of obstructing an investigation into human trafficking. The bill, SB179 from Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, would also target those involved in child sex trafficking rings. The legislation was a part of the Senate … Continued
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March 22, 2018