Good morning and Happy Friday!

Most of the state’s top legislative leaders were in Montgomery for meetings yesterday, which is somewhat rare for an out-of-session July Thursday. One of those meetings was very public. One was not. We have the details on both.

Here’s your Daily News for Friday, July 2.

1. Committee to analyze state’s response to COVID-19

• The very public meeting I referenced?
• That was the first gathering of the Alabama Pandemic Response and Preparedness Committee, a joint legislative task force responsible for analyzing how the state responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Co-chairs Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, and Rep. Paul Lee, R-Dothan, said their main objectives will be for each branch or level of government to identify the principal actions taken in response to the pandemic, the cost and benefits of those actions and how they compared to actions taken in other states.
• “This is a fact-finding, not a fault-finding committee,” Melson said.
• This committee was formed after a joint resolution from Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, passed the Legislature earlier this year. The panel is required to meet at least three times before the 2022 regular legislative session, one of those times being a public hearing where citizens can submit testimony about how they were impacted by COVID and the state’s reaction to it.
• Gov. Kay Ivey is not a member of the panel but addressed the group at its first meeting. She told committee members that, while in hindsight she regrets some actions her administration took, she remains pleased overall with how she handled the pandemic.
• Read more from Caroline Beck HERE.

2. State leaders continue prison talks

• The not-so public meeting in Montgomery was a gathering of those involved in the state’s ongoing efforts to improve prisons.
• Legislative and Alabama Department of Corrections leaders met Thursday for the third time in less than a month to discuss options. Another meeting is scheduled for next week, Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Range, told Alabama Daily News.
• State leaders are now discussing building two new prisons and renovating others in an effort to fix the state’s dangerous and crowded correctional system.
• Albritton, at the table because he’s chairman of the Senate General Fund Budget committee, said the meeting included ADOC Commissioner Jeff Dunn. Albritton said CoreCivic, the company whose plans to build two large prisons and lease them to the state fell apart in June when underwriters backed out, is still part of discussions.
• Ivey last month said the lease-only route is no longer an option.
• While lawmakers in previous sessions failed to come to agreement on a plan to borrow and build new prisons, some leaders see more consensus now, especially after many complained about Ivey’s lease plan that they say excluded them from decisions.
• Others say a special session on prisons could be a big risk given the fractured nature of the House of Representatives.
• Mary Sell sorts it all out for us in her story HERE.

3. Ivey raises $1.2 million for reelection

• Gov. Kay Ivey has raised $1.2 million in her bid for reelection, her campaign announced Thursday.
• The Republican incumbent’s fundraising could deter challengers from either side of the aisle in the 2022 election. In a bit of saber-rattling, her campaign made the sizable figure known ahead of mandatory election filings.
• “The people of Alabama are energized and enthusiastic for 2022, and I could not be more grateful to them for their overwhelming support of my reelection campaign,” Ivey said in a statement.
• Campaign finance records show that Ivey had a campaign balance of under $200,000 at the end of 2020. She has garnered a number of major contributions since announcing her bid for office.
• Full story HERE.

4. US added a robust 850,000 jobs in June as hiring rebounded

• In an encouraging burst of hiring, America’s employers added 850,000 jobs in June, well above the average of the previous three months and a sign that companies may be having an easier time finding enough workers to fill open jobs.
• Today’s report from the Labor Department was the latest sign that the reopening of the economy is propelling a powerful rebound from the pandemic recession. Restaurant traffic across the country is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, and more people are shopping, traveling and attending sports and entertainment events. The number of people flying each day has regained about 80% of its pre-COVID-19 levels. And Americans’ confidence in the economic outlook has nearly fully recovered.
• The result is that many businesses are desperate to hire and have posted a record-high number of jobs. With competition for workers intensifying, especially at restaurants and tourist and entertainment venues, employers are offering higher pay, along with signing and retention bonuses and more flexible hours. The proportion of job advertisements that promise a bonus has more than doubled in the past year, the employment website Indeed has found.
• Read more HERE.

5. Op-Ed: Funds could help ‘unsung heroes’

• The state and many cities are right now trying to decide how to spend billions in federal funds from the latest round of COVID-19 relief from Congress.
• In a new op-ed, Alabama AARP Director Candi Williams argues that some of those funds should go to help and reward direct care workers she says are the “unsung heroes” of the pandemic.
• Here’s an excerpt:

• Read Williams’ full piece HERE.

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