Good morning and Happy Friday!

Here’s your Daily News for May 28.

 

1. Ivey vetoes Literacy Act delay bill

• Gov. Kay Ivey has vetoed a bill that would delay until 2024 a requirement that third-grade students who are not reading proficiently repeat the grade.
• Thursday was the last day Ivey has to approve bills passed during this year’s legislative session. Without her signature, legislation dies.
• Senate Bill 94, sponsored by Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, would have delayed the holdback provision in the Alabama Literacy Act from Spring 2022 to Spring 2024.
• Democrats and many Republicans supported the bill arguing that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected students’ education, forcing some out of the classroom, and to test them after next school year under the act would be unfair.
• Ivey addressed the pandemic learning loss in a statement announcing her veto Thursday.
• “Everyone agrees that the past 15 months of the Covid-19 pandemic have been hard on all Alabamians, including school personnel, students and parents. However, to establish any delay at all in the Alabama Literacy Act prior to analyzing the 2020-2021 summative assessment data for reading would be hasty and premature. Therefore, I have notified the sponsors of the promotion policy delay that I have vetoed SB 94,” Ivey said.
• She also asked State Superintendent Eric Mackey to provide a full public review of Spring 2021 Assessment results in all subjects and grades to see what recommendations might need to be made moving forward.
• Read more from Caroline Beck and Mary Sell HERE.

 

 

2. Ivey signs oversight, teachers’ benefits bills

• Alabama’s state agencies wanting to spend $10 million or more on purchases or projects will soon have to answer more questions from a panel of lawmakers.
• Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday signed House Bill 392 from Rep. Mike Jones, R-Andalusia. Though the final version of the bill significantly scaled back from what Jones originally filed, the bill will give the existing Legislative Contract Review Committee, made up of about a dozen lawmakers, the ability to question state agency or department spending of more than $10 million or 5% of their annual appropriation from the General Fund, whichever is less.
• The committee can now delay state contracts and expenditures for 45 days, but can’t outright kill them.
• Ivey also signed Thursday legislation allowing newer teachers to rollover each year their sick leave and get paid for unused days when they retire. Current Tier II teachers lose unused days each year.
• Sponsor Rep. Alan Baker, R-Brewton, has said his goal with House Bill 93 was to erase some of the “disparity” between Tier I and Tier II benefit recipients. As originally written this year and approved in the House, Baker’s bill would have let Tier II teachers collect retirement after 30 years instead of at age 62 as is now law. That portion was struck.
• Read more from Mary Sell HERE.

 

3. Inside Alabama Politics

• Campaign announcements abound;
• Dismukes update;
• Enter the Rileys?
• What’s the plan with Rescue Plan money?
• Mike Ball unfiltered;
• What’s to become of Bud’s and Jubilee?
• Potpourri.

4. Social spending, business tax hike drive $6T Biden budget

• President Joe Biden’s $6 trillion budget proposal for next year would run a $1.8 trillion federal government deficit despite a raft of new tax increases on corporations and high-income people designed to pay for his ambitious spending plans.
• Biden had already announced his major budget initiatives, but during a rollout today he will release them as a single proposal to incorporate them into the government’s existing budget framework, including Social Security and Medicare. That provides a fuller view of the administration’s fiscal posture.
• Democratic aides disclosed key elements of the Biden plan, speaking on condition of anonymity because the document is not yet public.
• The whopping deficit projections reflect a government whose steadily accumulating pile of debt has topped $28 trillion after well more than $5 trillion in COVID-19 relief. The government’s structural deficit remains unchecked, and Biden uses tax hikes on businesses and the wealthy to power huge new social programs like universal prekindergarten and large subsidies for child care.
• The budget incorporates the administration’s eight-year, $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal and its $1.8 trillion American Families Plan and adds details on his $1.5 trillion request for annual operating appropriations for the Pentagon and domestic agencies.
• Read more HERE.

 

5. Senate eyes R&D bill to counter China, bolster manufacturing

• What started as a pragmatic effort to boost scientific research and development has morphed into a sweeping Senate bill aimed at making the U.S. more competitive with China and other countries, including $50 billion in emergency funds to shore up domestic computer chip manufacturing.
• The American Innovation and Competition Act is key to President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plans and was heading toward final passage despite some glitches late Thursday. It’s also a test of whether the split 50-50 Senate can accomplish bipartisan achievements when there’s pressure on Democrats to change the rules to push past obstruction and gridlock.
• Senators slogged through days of debates and amendments, but proceedings came to a standstill late Thursday. One Republican, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, protested the rush to finish and insisted on more changes to the sprawling package. A few other Republicans joined him.
• By midnight senators huddled in the chamber to discuss next steps. Passage was still expected, but debate dragged into early today before a recess until later in the morning.
• Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the Commerce Committee chairwoman managing the action for Democrats, reminded colleagues that the bill has been through lengthy committee hearings with input and changes from all sides.
• “I actually think we have gotten more mindshare with people about why this is important, right, because we had an open debate process,” she said earlier in the week.
• The emerging final product has enjoyed broad, bipartisan support and would be one of the more comprehensive investments in U.S. research and development in recent years as the country tries to bolster and rebuild home-state industries that have shifted overseas during the era of globalization.
• Read more HERE.

 

 

Headlines

INSIDE ALABAMA POLITICS – May 28, 2021

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Ivey vetoes bill to delay third-grade literacy holdback

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Ivey signs oversight, teachers’ benefits bills

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Judge: Man charged with bringing guns to DC had militia ties

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Senators try to salvage legislation on Jan. 6 commission

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Social spending, business tax hike drive $6T Biden budget

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Senate eyes R&D bill to counter China, bolster manufacturing

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – AG: Sheriff resigns amid impeachment probe

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Ivey signs bill to ban curbside voting

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – US pipelines ordered to increase cyber defenses after hack

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Biden orders more intel investigation of COVID-19 origin

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Daily News Digest – May 27, 2021

 

AL.COM – Ivey vetoes delay of 3rd grade reading requirement

 

AL.COM – Hoda Muthana, Alabama ‘ISIS Bride,’ says in new documentary she was ‘brainwashed,’ wants to come home

 

AL.COM – While Woodfin remains silent, Birmingham mayoral candidates troubled by police chief’s FOP no-confidence vote

 

AL.COM – Montgomery launches “Get out the Vaccine” campaign

 

AL.COM – Huntsville again eyeing ‘iconic’ skybridge over busy Memorial Parkway

 

AL.COM – Airbus foresees post-COVID ramp-up to record production for jets it builds in Alabama

 

AL.COM – WIC cash benefits increasing June 1

 

AL.COM – Alabama grocery taxes contribute to food insecurity, study finds

 

AL.COM – Judge orders Uniontown to stop fighting $31M sewer fix

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Investigation: ATF rarely issues harsh gun dealer penalties in Alabama

 

Montgomery Advertiser – The Villas at Brookstone a small Prattville neighborhood that’s full of pride

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Pike Road High School holds graduation

 

Decatur Daily – AUSTIN HIGH CLASS OF 2021: Branum plans to follow lifelong plan of becoming nurse

 

Decatur Daily – Council to end teleconference votes in July

 

Decatur Daily – Decatur police: Moulton man stole vehicle from Home Depot parking lot

 

Times Daily – Shoals Theatre reopening with Broadway hit, “Annie”

 

Times Daily – Florence native announces Supreme Court run

 

Times Daily – COVID clinic targets veterans and the homeless

 

Anniston Star – GRADUATION 2021: One night, 10 schools, 1,000 graduates

 

Anniston Star – Ivey vetoes bill to delay third-grade reading requirement

 

Anniston Star – Court docs: Woman tried to hit man with car in Ranburne

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – CDC says breakthrough cases are rare

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Oak Mountain State Park prepping for Memorial Day crowds

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – UAB hosting lunch-and-learn series on post-COVID symptoms

 

Tuscaloosa News – Gov. Kay Ivey vetoes delay in third grade retention under Literacy Act in Alabama

 

Tuscaloosa News – Groups accuse Tennessee Valley Authority of misusing funds

 

Tuscaloosa News – Ex-astronaut pleads guilty in fatal DUI crash of two young girls; prison sentence starts immediately

 

YellowHammer News – ‘VETO’: Governor Kay Ivey takes strong stand for Alabama’s children

 

YellowHammer News – Alabama’s John Christy pens climate science journey

 

YellowHammer News – Michael Morrissey appointed chairman of Protective Life board of directors

 

Gadsden Times – It’s back! First Friday returns in June

 

Gadsden Times – Couple that met, married while at trade school still together 50 years later

 

Gadsden Times – Rendering plant hearing Day 2: No official ruling until June 4

 

Dothan Eagle – Proposal to decriminalize abortion prompts debate in Malta

 

Dothan Eagle – Production of another COVID-19 vaccine to begin in weeks

 

Dothan Eagle – The ultimate garage & estate sale guide for this weekend

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Disgruntled worker who killed 9 appeared to target victims

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Atlanta philanthropist, businessman A.D. Correll dies at 80

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Watch Now: This bouncing robot can hop four times its own height

 

WSFA Montgomery – Montgomery hospitality industry rebounding; hotels struggling to fill jobs

 

WSFA Montgomery – Dadeville couple turn Pennington Park into Memorial Day remembrance

 

WSFA Montgomery – 2 women shot, 1 killed in Montgomery’s Sheridan Heights community

 

WAFF Huntsville – Alabama constitution still prohibits interracial marriage, integrated schools; committee to begin revisions

 

WAFF Huntsville – Future development of Town Madison

 

WAFF Huntsville – What does law enforcement need to issue an Amber Alert?

 

WKRG Mobile – Mobile Fire-Rescue searching for man who set fires inside East I-65 Service Road Walmart

 

WKRG Mobile – ECSO warns parents about edible marijuana after students taken to hospital

 

WKRG Mobile – Early morning hit and run in Fort Walton Beach

 

WTVY Dothan – One dead after a shooting off Highway 84 just outside Daleville

 

WTVY Dothan – AAA predicts 60 percent more travelers this Memorial Day holiday weekend than 2020

 

WTVY Dothan – Dothan COVID-19 vaccine clinic Thursday and Friday

 

WASHINGTON POST – Yes, we’ll probably need coronavirus booster shots. But which one?

 

WASHINGTON POST – Renewed focus on Wuhan lab scrambles the politics of the pandemic

 

WASHINGTON POST – India’s covid surge has killed more than 500 doctors and sickened hundreds of others since March, stretching staffs thin

 

NEW YORK TIMES – Russia Appears to Carry Out Hack Through System Used by U.S. Aid Agency

 

NEW YORK TIMES – Biden’s Fossil Fuel Moves Clash With Pledges on Climate Change

 

NEW YORK TIMES – Covid Live Updates: As Cases Wane, U.S. Looks Forward to a More Normal Summer

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL – China’s Vaccination Surge Could Accelerate Asian Recovery From Covid

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL – India’s Covid-19 Crisis Leaves Nation in Grief

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL – India’s Stock Market Peers Beyond Covid-19 Surge

 

 

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