Author: Heather Gann (Heather Gann)

The lawsuits were filed in response to Gov. Kay Ivey's signature on Senate Bill 184, sponsored by Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, which makes it a Class C felony for doctors to provide gender-affirming medical treatments, including puberty blockers, to children under the age of 19. Class C felonies are punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

According to the Alabama Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 dashboard, the majority of Alabama counties rank in the moderate to low category of COVID transmissions, meaning that per every 100,000 persons, there have been zero to fifty new cases over the past seven days.

Risner was allegedly killed by a man who was released from prison after serving a little more than three years of a 10-year sentence for manslaughter. The suspect was eligible for early release under the state's law allowing prisoners to earn time off their sentences for good behavior behind bars. 

Alabama municipalities in 2025 will have to start reporting to the state information about the amount of money they collect from court fees and fines and how that revenue is spent, according to legislation approved this month.

Several education spending bills advanced Wednesday, including measures to pay teachers more and let them collect retirement benefits sooner.

Gov. Kay Ivey and several education groups late last year moved to support a one-year delay, citing the need for another year of testing data to determine which students should be retained in grade three. But in a compromise with Smitherman, Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, agreed to remove the one-year delay from her bill that makes other changes to the literacy law.

In a press release Monday, it was announced that the transaction will generate $80 million for Southern Research to support 350 additional permanent jobs with the new biotech center, dramatically increasing the organization’s economic impact as well as its potential for breakthrough scientific discoveries.

Potential programs board members discussed included a loan guarantee program for Aspiring Alabamians, an Opportunity Zone Impact Fund program, an evergreen seed fund, statewide marketing efforts, and outdoor recreation as a recruitment and retainment tool.

The report found there were an average of 218 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people in 2020 for the 25 Black Belt counties, almost 30% greater than the average of 168 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 in the non-Black Belt counties.

Several bills focused on alcohol sales and shipment are working their way through the Legislature this session, with some already receiving favorable votes in the House.

In committee on Wednesday, Smitherman said when lawmakers approved the Literacy Act in 2019 and set the 2021-22 retention deadline, they couldn’t take into account COVID-19-caused learning disruptions. If the date isn’t changed, children will be "scapegoats" of the pandemic, Smitherman said.

A bill moving to the Alabama Senate for a vote would make it a felony for a doctor to prescribe puberty blockers or hormones or perform surgery to aid in the gender transition of people 18 years old or younger. 

The registry would be similar to the existing Central Registry on Child Abuse and Neglect, which is used to protect children from individuals found to be responsible for child abuse, neglect and exploitation.

The bill requires the Alabama Department of Labor to come up with a seasonal employee designation for employers and allow them not to pay the state’s unemployment tax on those jobs. That tax revenue goes into the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, which people draw from when they lose their jobs.