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Alabama Legislature

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Unknown and unbridled by law: Economic developers set to make millions off tax incentives

A new law establishing a class of individuals known as economic development professionals opens the door for profit-driven incentives paid with taxpayer funds to vaguely described, unknown agents not registered or held accountable to state law. There are many reasons to suspect that House Bill 317 is filled with loopholes not yet fully understood by … Continued
April 2, 2018

GOP chairwoman Lathan applauds Alabama Republican Caucus for legislative accomplishments

Alabama Republican Party Chairman Terry Lathan on Friday praised the Alabama Republican Caucus’ results during the 2018 Legislative session. “We are proud that our Alabama Republican legislators worked so well together this session to pass legislation that will greatly benefit our state,” Lathan said. “We are thankful for Governor Ivey’s leadership in partnering with our … Continued
April 2, 2018

SB280 fails in the House when session ends

Thursday, both Houses of the Alabama Legislature concluded their work and ended the 2018 legislative session. A number of bills were killed from lack of action by the second house. Among these was Senate Bill 280, which was a controversial piece of legislation that would have ended elections for county school superintendents. Senate Bill 280 … Continued
March 30, 2018

Senate delays vote on economic developer bill after negotiations

A controversial bill that would exempt a class of “economic development professionals” from having to register with the state as lobbyists appears to have made it through a round of intense negotiations and sits in a position to pass. Those negotiations, which took the better part of the weekend and most of Tuesday, produced a … Continued
March 28, 2018

Bill to end elections for county school superintendents to be considered by the House

The Alabama House of Representatives is considering controversial legislation that would end elections for county school superintendents. Senate Bill 280 is sponsored by Sen. Dick Brewbaker, R-Montgomery, and is being carried in the House by state Rep. Steve McMillan, R-Gulf Shores. SB280 seeks to eliminate county school superintendent elections in more than half of the … Continued
March 26, 2018

Day Care regulation bill becomes law with governor’s signature

A bill that would license many more currently unregulated religious day care facilities in the state has been signed into law by the governor. The governor’s spokesperson said Thursday that she signed the bill into law this week after it passed out of the Legislature on March 15. The bill, which was proposed following the deaths and … Continued
March 23, 2018

Palmer votes against omnibus spending bill

Thursday, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, the Omnibus bill, was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. Congressman Gary Palmer, R-Hoover, voted against passage of the bill, saying that he could not vote for it in good conscience. “While I strongly support the increased funding for our military, I could not in good conscience … Continued
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
March 22, 2018

Let’s march: The #Neveragain reckoning on guns

The second best news for me this week is that the Alabama Legislature isn’t going to do the knee-jerk thing of passing a law that’ll allow teachers to carry guns into the classroom, as a deterrent to some lunatic who might attack a school to massacre students. The protection of our students from a mad … Continued
March 22, 2018