Senate approves anti-DEI, divisive concepts bill
After about seven hours of debate, the Alabama Senate on Thursday approved a bill that prohibits the state funding of diversity, equity and inclusion programs at public colleges, K-12 schools and state government.
The bill also prohibits the teaching of “divisive concepts.”
Democrats, outnumbered in the minority, spoke against the bill for several hours.
Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, accused Republicans of trying to erase history and minimize Black Alabamians’ experiences.
“We can’t put a shield up because some people don’t want to hear the truth,” Smitherman said. “And the truth doesn’t mean that they did it. But the truth is the truth.”
Barfoot on the Senate floor Thursday said DEI programs in other states have led to divisions among populations.
“You’re not going to divide us on race, you’re not going to divide us on color, you’re not going to divide us on ethnicity, on national origin,” Barfoot, R-Pike Road said.
Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, questioned the pace with which the bill moved without a public hearing. It was introduced in the Senate Tuesday, received a committee vote Wednesday and was on the Senate floor Thursday morning. It now goes to the House.
House committee approves ESA, school choice bill
The school choice bill that would let up to $7,000 in taxpayer money follow students to private schools could get a vote in the House next week after getting approval in a committee on Thursday.
House Bill 129 creates a state fund that the Legislature would feed every year with at least $100 million. Alabama families could apply for tax credits from that fund for private school and home school expenses. Home school families’ credits would be capped at $2,000 per child or $4,000 total.
The tax credit program would start in the 2025-2026 school year and for the first two years, participants’ income is capped at 300% of the federal poverty level.
The bill, drafted by Gov. Kay Ivey’s office, has the support of GOP leadership in the Legislature.
The bill was approved in a voice vote Thursday in the House education budget committee and a few members voted against it. Prior to the vote, Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, expressed her concerns about the bill not helping all Alabama children.
“… those whose parents don’t have the wherewithal to be able to maneuver the system, those who are in the Black Belt who don’t have a choice (for a private school option), I certainly do in Mobile,” she said.
“I just wanted you all to know that I appreciate the effort … but I don’t think that this particular piece of legislation is going to meet the mark. I think it’s to profit schools where those parents don’t need any help.”
Fentanyl manslaughter bill passes House with bi-partisan support
The Alabama House approved a bill Thursday that would charge individuals who sell or distribute controlled substances containing fentanyl with manslaughter, should the recipient of said drug suffer a fatal overdose.
The bill from House Speaker Pro Tem Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, was needed to fix a 2023 law that was broader than intended after Gov. Kay Ivey was inadvertently given the wrong version of the bill to sign. The enacted law makes the distribution of any controlled substance that results in death a possible manslaughter charge.
After being reintroduced this year alterations have been made to narrow the law to apply only to those who “knowingly” distributed a drug containing fentanyl.
“It includes the word ‘knowingly,’ but it’s not a legal defense; we can still prosecute the drug dealers for selling fentanyl and killing people, but it doesn’t open it up so wide that we ensnare people we’re not trying to get,” Pringle told Alabama Daily News.
Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, one of the bill’s strongest former opponents, told ADN that the amendments to the legislation were sufficient enough to garner his support this time around.
“We added some language this session that would make sure it narrowly focused on the drug dealer and not someone who’s got an addiction,” England said. “I think all of us share the same intent; if somebody is dealing drugs and it kills someone, then they deserve whatever they get. But if somebody is just an abuser who needs help, then this will try to make it where that person doesn’t become the target of this legislation.”
First-grade readiness bill sees House approval
A bill that would require Alabama students to either attend kindergarten or pass a readiness assessment to enter school in first grade passed in the Alabama House Thursday with a vote of 90-7.
Under Rep. Pebblin Warren’s House Bill 113, students would instead be required to pass a readiness test to be able to skip kindergarten, ensuring first graders are on a more equal level of education.
Despite receiving the support of Gov. Kay Ivey last year, the bill failed to make it out of the Alabama Senate under threats of filibusters from Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham.
After multiple failed attempts over the years, Warren, D-Tuskegee, told ADN, when asked what she thought her chances of success were this time around, that “this is the year.”
“I say that because this is the first year I’ve had a companion bill in the Senate, and it’s being carried by the chair of the Education Policy Committee,” she said. “I just want a kid to go into education with a positive attitude, and a sense of anticipation and enjoyment; I don’t want this to be a challenge to them, I want them to enjoy it when they get to first grade.”
Alabama Daily News’ Alexander Willis contributed to this report.