Bill expanding scope of social worker’s authority to diagnose, treat individuals passes House
Sponsored by Rep. Frances Holk-Jones, R-Foley, a bill that would permit licensed social workers in Alabama to diagnose and develop treatment plans for patients passed the Alabama House Tuesday.
Speaking on the floor, Holk-Jones said her bill would help expand health care reach in the state – particularly those in more rural areas – by permitting social workers to diagnose patients remotely through telehealth communications.
“This bill will truly be beneficial to all 2,475 licensed clinical social workers in Alabama, (as) Alabama is the only state remaining that does not allow the highest level of professionally trained, licensed clinical social workers to diagnose (illnesses).
The bill saw some opposition from Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham, who argued that certain mental illness diagnoses may be out of the purview of social workers, potentially leading to misdiagnosis. Holk-Jones maintained that social workers undergo years of rigorous training and education to become licensed in Alabama.
The bill ultimately passed with a vote of 104-1, with Moore being the sole no vote. Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison is carrying the bill in the Senate.
Bill would remove retirement cap for SROs
A bill in the Alabama Senate would allow retired law enforcement officers to earn more money working as school resource officers without affecting their state-run retirements.
Currently, retirees in the Retirement Systems of Alabama can earn $37,000 from an employer who participates in RSA without having to suspend their retirement benefits. Senate Bill 174 by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, removes that cap for school resource officers.
In the Senate education budget committee, Orr said officers currently working during school hours hit that $37,000 a year cap and can’t work extracurricular activities. That causes schools to have to hire outside security who are not familiar with the student population or buildings.
“The SROs know the kids, who’s good, who’s bad, who needs to be watched,” Orr said. The bill received a favorable report and now goes to the full Senate.
Another bill in the Legislature would remove the cap for all retirees returning to state agencies or schools. Sponsor Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville, has called it a “return-to-work bill.”
But Orr, chair of the education budget committee, and others have said it’s too broad and RSA needs new, permanent employees paying into the systems.
Orr on Tuesday said an exception could be made for schools in need of school resource officers.
Alcohol liability bill passes unanimously in House
A bill that would outline liability standards for establishments that serve alcohol saw approval in the Alabama House Tuesday.
Sponsored by Rep. David Faulkner, R-Mountain Brook, the bill would stipulate that liability for an alcohol-serving establishment would only exist if a worker served a patron “who was visibly intoxicated,” and that that service was later determined to be the approximate cause of an accident that later occurred.
In addition to acting as a deterrent to over-serving patrons, Faulkner has held that the bill could also help reduce liquor liability insurance costs for alcohol-serving establishments, which can run as high as $35,000 a year.
The bill saw unanimous approval in the House with a vote of 104-0. A Senate version by Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, has already passed in that chamber.
House unanimously approves sexual assault reporting bill
Sponsored by Rep. Chip Brown, R-Hollingers Island, a bill that would require law enforcement agencies and the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences to submit annual reports on sexual assault cases passed Tuesday in the Alabama House.
The bill has been received favorably as its made its way through committee, and in addition to establishing uniform sexual assault reporting standards, Brown has said it could potentially help expedite the processing of sexual assault kits, with backlogs of kits currently held by the Department of Forensic Sciences dating back to as far as the 1970s.
Rep. A.J. McCampbell, D-Demopolis, voiced his support of the bill, but suggested that lawmakers consider stronger enforcement mechanisms for similar bills in the future, as while the bill does require agencies to produce the annual reports, it lacks a strong enforcement mechanism to actually compel them to.
The bill unanimously passed with a vote of 104-0.
House approves doubling state project cost threshold for competitive bidding
The Alabama House passed a bill Tuesday that would increase the cost threshold that triggers a mandatory competitive bidding process for certain state projects from $15,000 to $30,000.
Sponsored by Rep. Corley Ellis, R-Columbiana, the bill would allow for certain state projects to avoid having to be publicly posted for competitive bidding so long as they are under $30,000, with Ellis saying the proposal was due to inflation.
Save for some minor concerns expressed by Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham, who said the bill could reduce the frequency of state projects being bid on fairly, the bill saw unanimous support, and passed with a vote of 105-0.
Street racing, exhibitions ban sees House approval
A bill that would impose criminal penalties for those participating in street racing activities, including vehicle burnouts, donuts, stunts, races and speed exhibitions passed Tuesday in the Alabama House.
Sponsored by Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, the bill carves out criminal penalties for those engaging in street exhibition activities, penalties that would be levied in addition to reckless driving charges in most cases. The bill would elevate those penalties to as high as a Class B felony were a street exhibition to result in a fatality.
Given the recent deaths caused by street races, including the death of a 14-year-old girl last year, the bill saw near unanimous support both through committees and on the House floor, with Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, calling it “so-needed.”
Treadaway, however, would lose three votes of support Tuesday after introducing a lengthy amendment. The amendment, which he said brought “no substantive changes” to the bill, was related to housing and medical care costs incurred by municipalities that house individuals arrested under the proposed law.
“How many amendments did you have to this?” asked Rep. Barbara Boyd, D-Anniston. “I’m just trying to follow you, and that’s impossible.”
Despite the minor concerns expressed over the lengthy amendment, the House approved the bill with a vote of 95-3, with two abstaining.