Public Health

State legislators will likely soon consider bills establishing a new state agency to improve Public Health by establishing the Compassion Act, creating an Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission, and amending ancillary law. I wholeheartedly approve such efforts, yet that wasn’t always the case. Years of waffling whether cannabis had any value whatsoever troubled me professionally. It … Continued

A new fellowship program aimed at developing black and Latinx transgender women into leaders in public health kicked off in Washington D.C. last weekend and included three participants from Alabama.  The Human Rights Campaign Foundation hosted the first class of ten fellows in the program Elevate: A Fellowship Advancing Public Health Leadership for Transgender Women … Continued

The House Ways and Means General Fund committee voted to give a favorable report to the state General Fund budget Wednesday. Chairman Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, said that he thought that the full House could be considering the budget as early as Tuesday. Alabama has two separate budgets, with revenues earmarked for each one. The Education … Continued

For evangelicals the Bible is the authoritative for our faith. Therefore, we believe as the psalmist says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;” (Psalm 24:1-2 NIV). God created the earth and all who live on it — thus belonging to Him, and as such … Continued

By Staff Alabama Political Reporter Democratic U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell is the only member of Alabama’s Congressional delegation that scored a passing grade this year on the League of Conservation Voters’ National Environmental Scorecard, a rating used to track lawmakers’ votes on environmental, public health and energy issues. Sewell earned the highest score among the nine … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter Chanting the much-ballyhooed mantra of “streamlining government, transparency and efficiency,” the administration of Governor Robert Bentley and the Republican-controlled State House have green-lighted, perhaps, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on failed software systems. Last Monday, Bentley’s cabinet secretary for the Office of Information Technology (OIT), Dr. Joanne Hale, … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—Due to gross mismanagement of the CARES system, not only are Alabama’s most needy citizens in danger of identity theft, but the system’s many failures also open a gaping door to unchecked, fraudulent claims for CHIPs and Medicaid. After publication of APR’s article, “CARES: A Massive Technology Failure Costing … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—Under the banner of “streamlining government,” Governor Robert Bentley issued Executive Order 44 on June 30, 2014. EO44 combined various agencies into one software system to administer and enroll individuals, in state and federal benefit programs such as, Medicaid, children’s services, public health and senior programs. After two years, … Continued

By Brandon Moseley Alabama Political Reporter By Monday, May 23, almost every news outlet in the state had reported that the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and Alabama Department of Public Health were warning that pregnant women, women who are nursing, infants, and infants on formula should not be drinking any water from the Gadsden … Continued