School choice bill one vote from final passage
The Alabama Senate could give final approval Tuesday to the largest school choice in the state’s history.
The Senate education budget committee approved along party lines the Creating Hope and Opportunity for Our Students’ Education Act, or CHOOSE Act, Tuesday afternoon, lining it up for its last needed vote.
The bill is a GOP-priority this session and allows Alabama families to use up to $7,000 per year on public school alternatives such as private or religious schools. Home school families could use up to $2,000 per student, up to $4,000 total. Families would receive the funds through tax credits.
Nick Moore, Gov. Kay Ivey’s education policy advisor, said the average private school tuition in the state is about $8,500 per year, but can be more than $20,000.
The legislation requires testing of private school students, but Democrats on the committee again complained that it wasn’t the same test public school students must take. And while the bill requires participating schools to share student test scores directly with parents each year and report school-level assessment information to the Alabama Department of Revenue, there isn’t a requirement it is shared publicly.
Democrats also said that they’d bring amendments to the Senate floor requiring that public schools that provide special education resources to students attending private schools under the bill receive some state funding for it.
Sponsor Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, said Tuesday he would entertain amendments to the bill on the Senate floor.
Committee approves effort to curb DEI programs
Members of the House State Government Committee approved a bill Tuesday that would prohibit certain public entities from maintaining diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programs. The bill would also prohibit the promotion of “divisive concepts” in certain public settings.
Sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, Senate Bill 129 was introduced to committee members by Rep. Ed Oliver, R-Dadeville, who is carrying the bill in the House.
“Divisive concepts are concepts that hold any race, color, sex, religion, ethnicity or national origin is superior or inferior, that a person should be discriminated against for these traits, and that a person’s moral character is based on these traits,” Oliver explained to the committee.
Several members of the public spoke both in favor and opposition to the bill, which has proven controversial this year among Democratic state lawmakers.
Rep. Kelvin Lawrence, D-Hayneville, a member of the committee, considered himself among those critical of the bill.
“We keep going through these same things, we keep trying to create something that’s not there because of fear mongering or national politics, and I’m just sick and tired of us doing that here in the state Legislature,” Lawrence said.
The bill ultimately received a favorable approval by the committee, with two members voting against the measure.
It now needs House approval for final passage.
House approves $98 million appropriation of federal money for small businesses
A bill that would allocate nearly $98 million in federal dollars to small businesses and business start-ups saw approval Tuesday in the Alabama House.
The $98 million included in the legislation comes from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, and would be allocated by Innovate Alabama to small businesses under the State Small Business Credit Initiative program.
Under the bill, businesses could be eligible for awards between $500,000 and $2 million. Funds would become available to apply for, according to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Hazel Green, upon the passage of the legislation.
Rep. Thomas Jackson, D-Thomasville, while not opposed to the bill, spoke critically of the use of federal dollars toward businesses, at least opposed to what he argued were more pressing needs, such as expanding access to health care.
“I think there are probably much better ways we could use these ARPA funds other than giving them away to small businesses,” Jackson said.
“There’s a lot of people in this state (that) need help financially as far as medical assistance, and we’re in a position to help. You know the 300,000 people without medical assistance, and these are the working poor.”
Despite Jackson’s comments, he ultimately voted in favor of the bill, as did 102 other House members, the bill passing unanimously.
Bill that would establish statewide plan for advanced air mobility passes House
Described by its sponsor as “kind of like the Jetsons,” a bill that would establish a statewide plan for advanced, unmanned aircraft saw approval Tuesday in the Alabama House.
The bill is the culmination of meetings last year held by the Advanced Air Mobility Joint Study Task Force Committee, which was established to study and make recommendations as to how best regulate and facilitate advanced air transportation methods.
“A lot of people ask what advanced air mobility is,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. James Lomax, R-Huntsville.
“I say it’s kind of like the Jetsons, it’s literally unmanned aircraft that are going to be moving people and things, so it’s really something in the future that could be an economic development and workforce tool.”
The bill would allocate $600,000 to the Alabama Department of Transportation to develop the statewide plan regarding aviation technology infrastructure, as well as $400,000 to provide educational and technical resources for local and regional jurisdictions as it relates to advanced air transportation.
“This bill would help set a framework for advanced air mobility within the state of Alabama,” Lomax continued. “It would empower the ADOT to lead that up, to set out a statewide plan and from there, they would be able to implement that plan.”
Alabama Daily News’ Mary Sell contributed to this report.