Senate committee advances, on second attempt, Gulf of America bill
A bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America got a re-do Wednesday in a Senate committee, a day after failing to advance on a 4-4 vote.
House Bill 247 was designed to mirror President Donald Trump’s executive order also renaming the Gulf of Mexico, and would require state and local entities to use the term in new maps, documents, websites and communications beginning October 1.
The Senate County and Municipal Government Committee reconvened Wednesday afternoon to revisit the bill. Sen. Jay Hovey, R-Auburn, said he’d had time to think about his original no vote after the passage Tuesday of the state’s budgets and the movement of some other significant bills.
He said that though he was supportive of Trump’s initiative, he’d also been concerned about a lack of a cost estimate on the proposal.
“I didn’t consider this a high-priority,” Hovey explained Wednesday. “I have been assured it would affect our state coffers minimally and so I do have the opportunity to change my vote and I’d like to call for that vote.”
The bill now moves to the Senate for a final vote.
Rural hospital tax incentive bill advances
The bill to create a dollar-for-dollar tax incentive program for individuals and businesses that donate funds to rural hospitals was approved in a Senate committee on Wednesday.
Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, said her House Bill 86 is an effort to give financial support to struggling rural hospitals that are often among the largest employers in their areas and key to attracting new industry.
The Rural Hospital Investment Program would have an annual statewide cap of $20 million for 2026, $25 million for 2027, and $30 million for 2028 and beyond.
The legislation creates a board to oversee the program and says hospitals must submit a written five-year plan that describes their financial viability and stability and detail how they would use donations.
In the first year, a hospital could receive up to $750,000.
Many of the state’s rural hospitals have struggled to remain afloat financially; some have shuttered services, and others have closed indefinitely, such as Thomasville Regional Medical Center in Clarke County. Of the state’s 52 rural hospitals, more than have are at risk of closing, and 19 are at an immediate risk of closing, according to a report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.
Three-year effort to reform cash bail dies in committee
A bill that aims to reform Alabama’s cash bail system by permitting judges to accept less than the full bail amount for an arrested person’s release died in a Senate committee on Wednesday, likely spelling an end for the legislation for the year.
Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, has carried similar bills for the past three years, and the bill saw little discussion among members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The bail bondsmen industry has been fiercely opposed to the proposal, speaking out against it in various committees over the years as a threat not only to public safety, but a threat to their bottom line.
England has argued that under the state’s current bail system, court systems are losing out on significant revenue, as state law only requires bondsmen to have $25,000 in escrow, or be liable for up to $25,000 for arrested individuals for whom they post bond for, but fail to appear in court. Bail bondsmen are also often not held responsible for bearing those costs, even when liable.
“A lot of people believe that any sort of bail reform is akin to criminal justice reform, being lighter on criminals, which is just misinformed,” England told ADN, speaking to his bill’s failure to pass in committee.
“To be quite honest, forcing everybody to a bondsman makes us less safe, 100%. As they benefit from this lack of reform, the court system loses revenue, which crumbles the foundation and puts us at risk.”
England said he would return with the bill next year.
Laken Riley Act advances in committee and heads to Senate
The Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill Wednesday along party lines that would permit state and local law enforcement agencies to enter into agreements with federal agencies for the purpose of helping facilitate deportations of undocumented immigrants charged with a crime.
Dubbed the Laken Riley Act, the bill is named after the Augusta University student Laken Riley, who was killed last year by an undocumented immigrant who had previously been charged with petty crimes, though was not immediately deported.
“What this bill does is it allows, if they want to, state and local law enforcement can enter into a (memorandum of understanding) with the federal government to help them enforce existing immigration laws,” said Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, the sponsor of the bill, introducing it in committee.
Democratic members of the committee voiced concerns over the bill, particularly Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, who expressed fears that undocumented immigrants handed off to federal law enforcement agencies could be deported without due process, largely in light of several such instances facilitated by President Donald Trump.
“I just have so much apprehension about voting on any of these immigration bills these days in light of what’s going on on the federal level, and they’re not even following due process,” Figures said.
The bill ultimately passed and now heads to the Senate, though will require concurrence in the House due to a minor amendment being adopted in committee. On Figures’ stated concerns, Yarbrough told Alabama Daily News he was confident that his bill would not constitute the violation of anyone’s constitutional rights.
“Whatever legal issues or challenges around immigration is going to work its way up the system and it’s going to play out in the courts, so in the meantime, you’ve got federal agencies that believe that they are operating well within the scope of their ordained authority,” he said. “…The intent and the state letter of the law in the bill is that it’s within the context of existing immigration laws.”