From ou statehouse studio in Montgomery.

I'm Todd Stacey.

Welcome to Capitol Journal.

It was a busy week in th Alabama legislature as lawmakers met for the 19th, 20th, and 21st days of this 30 day session.

That means we are more than two thirds of the way through, with just nine legislative days remaining between now and mid-May.

There was more movemen on the state budgets this week.

The Alabama Senate took u and passed the Education Trust Fund budget that fund the range of education programs from pre- all the way through higher ed.

Senate Education Budge Chairman Arthur or says the $9.9 billion plan delivers major investments in student achievement, teacher support and school facilities.

The most significant change is a new funding formula under the Raise act.

Short for Renewin Alabama's Investment in Student Excellence.

Passed alongside the budget, the raise act follows a yearlong study of Alabama's K through 12 funding system.

Starting this fall it will give schools extra money based on students individual needs, including those in poverty, special education, English language learners or gifted students.

We took a big step as a state today in that we established this raise act fine, because we're acknowledging that it does take more to educate childre in poverty, or English language learners, or special education students or gifted students.

And so in doing that, we want to provid more resources to our education community, our K-1 education community and schools and get help them, do the job that they have to do with additional resources.

And that's important.

And the research also show that the additional resources do help move the needle when it comes to the educational process of those types of students.

Senator Wagner and I were, safe to say that the only two senator that's in the Senate now that was a part of establishing the foundation educational program and and to move the program to where we are trying to move it now, I think is a very positive step and a very good step.

They'll all go to good old Chairman Gary.

So he's a he' waiting downstairs very eagerly.

But I would say that we are working well together.

There were a in funding request that, he that were important to him that I, wanted to go ahead and address in the Senate and, and, you know, I'm sure we'll have some ligh to requests of him in the house and all that to say, working well together.

I would hope we won't eve have to go to conference, but, I've also been around here to long to know that there's always something that pops up, and, but that's the goal.

Let's take a look at some of the specifics on the education trust Fund.

As I mentioned the base budget is $9.9 billion.

That's a record amount and a 6% increase over the current year's budget.

On top of that there's 350 million to pay for increased costs of the new student funding formula.

The Advancement and Technology Fund, which pays for things like computers and other schoo equipment, is that 1.25 billion and there's 524 million in supplemental appropriations that comes from better than expected revenues this fiscal year.

So, all told, the plan includes $1 billion in education spending, with the Trump administration seeking wide ranging cuts, including some that impact education.

Many have been concerned about Alabama's federal education funding being threatened.

Apts.

A senior education reporter, Trish Crane, has been covering this issue, and I asked her for an update on the latest this week.

I guess you'd say we we're kind of lucky.

Alabama is in that.

And these are updates from Doctor Mackey, our state superintendent.

You know, during Covid, there was all that federal pandemic relief money, bunches of buckets, lots of details.

The third bucket of money, the biggest bucket of money, came through the American Rescue Plan.

While it was so much money that there were extensions.

Granted, like, originally all of the money and it's still money had to be obligate by September 30th of last year.

They had, districts ha until December 31st to spend it.

But really through some technicalities, they had another year to spend it.

So, Selma was one of the few districts that hadn't spent all their money, and they asked for late liquidation, which was fine.

They were granted it.

And then one Friday afternoon, an email came in that told states that I'm sorry, the deadline's over, like we're not going to honor those extensions.

But Doctor Mackey said today.

So that was going to result in Selma losing about $4 million that they were going to use.

They were using to construct a school.

Oh, boy.

And so they have begun.

Doctor Mackey told board members they've begun an appeals process.

It's pretty detailed.

So the Department of Education, even with, you know, not granting any of the extensions that the previous administration had, the US Department of Education secretary said, we're going to give you a chance.

You know if you really need this money, you can, you can appeal to us, but we need details.

But as Doctor Mackey said, Alabama really had spent almost all of its money.

There are other states that have $300 million, $150 million, a lot of money that all of a sudden they're not going to have access to.

So, we're in a better place in most states.

We really only had a little bit left to spend.

One of th biggest issues of this session has been an effort to regulate pharmacy benefit managers.

These are the companies that serve as the middleman between drugmakers, insurance companies and pharmacies to negotiate drug prices.

In theory, the system is supposed to save costs from negotiating and buying in bulk, but pharmacists sa they are not being compensated fairly by PBMs for expensive drugs, and they say it's runnin many pharmacies out of business.

Senate bill 252 from Senator Billy Beasley would require those pharmacy benefit managers to pay pharmacies more for the drugs they sell, including a $10.64 dispense fee, the sam as the Medicaid reimbursement.

Many in the business community had opposed the bill, saying it would raise health care costs for businesses and consumers.

But several amendments were added along the way to address some of those concerns.

This week, the House took up and passed a bill led by Representative Phillip Rigsby, who is a pharmacist himself.

This bill, aims to, provide fair reimbursement to community pharmacies in Alabama, ensuring, access to health care for small communities, especially our rural areas.

So I commend you for your efforts.

But whatever we need to do to hurry up and get this one out of here, and I'm taking my seat, I want you all to pass SB 252 with I don't even want an amendment to it.

I just want it to pay.

I appreciate the opportunity to speak.

Speaker.

Thank you for everything that you pharmacists have done across this state to keep us informed.

God bless you and God keep you home.

There have been many ups and downs in this journey, and there were day I wanted to throw in the towel, but I realized that my flesh was telling me to quit.

But thanks be to God.

When I felt defeated, that's when my faith reminded me.

We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good.

For those who are loved according to his purpose.

As pharmacists, I, I lost pharmacy in February of 2013, to this issue and it was hard work to, to get the education done.

There was a lot of grassroots effort.

You know, I had, a bill last year tha that kind of failed miserably.

But what it did do is brough a lot of awareness to the issue.

And just a few hours later, the Senate took up the amended version of the bill and gave it final passage, sending the PBM legislation to the governor's desk.

Senate President Pr Tem Garland noted how rare it is for something so controversial to pass unanimously in both chambers.

So this has been a win for the people of Alabama.

It's been a huge win for community pharmacies in the state of Alabama who just want to be able to go to work, to be able to make a living and take care of their patients.

I've been fighting this fight since the late 80s, and this is a big day.

I'm so excited.

I'm so proud of each and every one of you here.

Everyone had a win win.

And so just to name the people that have come to the table, right.

This has been bipartisan Democrat Republicans, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, BCP, help RSA, independent pharmacists, community pharmacists, chain pharmacies and the whole body for the Alabama State Senate and the House of Representatives.

And it passed unanimous on both floor.

That's amazing.

And I'm thankful that this is how government is supposed to work when we all work together.

So thank you, Senator Beasley, for passing this.

And I'm excited about today and that this just happens.

Another big legislative issue this year is an effort to allow the Alabama Farmers Federation to sell health benefit plans to its members.

House Bill 477 from Stat Representative David Faulkner, has been one of the most talked about bills of the session in committee this week.

An amendment was added to the bill mandatin that the Department of Insurance have jurisdiction over such health plans.

That came from members concerned that there aren't the same kind of consumer protections as traditional health insurance plans.

That amendment did not sit well with Alpha or the bill's sponsor, who fought to have it remove on the House floor a day later.

Lawmaker debated for more than two hours, but eventually voted to remove that requirement and passed the bill.

I believe there were 98 yes votes on the final passage, so people wanted this bill.

The only real discussio in the discussion that came up was about the stripping of an amendment that was put on in health committee.

I wish that that amendment had not gotten on.

It was a close vote in health committee.

As you noticed, most of the people that on the health committee, many of them who voted for the amendment, did not vote for it and voted for me to take it off here on the floor.

But whenever you do that there's going to be questions.

And I think that's wher most of the questions came from.

But what I want to sa is, is let's don't let the time that this took, you know, persuade anyon that this wasn't a popular bill.

The House voted overwhelmingly in favor of it.

It is going to be a good thing.

You know, you heard me enough out there, guys.

There's ten states doing this already.

And Alabama, there's five states.

Considering it now, including Alabama.

So in their legislative session.

So it's a very popular idea.

It is something the farmers really want.

To for their members.

And so I think there's a lot of support behind this bill, as you saw in that bill now goes to the Senate.

The House took up another controversial bill on the issue of hemp.

House Bill 445 from State Representative Andy Witt would set tougher regulations for the sale of consumable cannabinoid items like CBD drinks or gummies.

It would require the Alabama Beverage Control Boar to be the industry's regulator.

Witt says regulations are needed to protect children.

This is one of the bills that I think you saw wide bipartisan support.

It affects every neighborhood across the state.

These are unregulated unchecked and dangerous products that are being sold to our children, in our convenience store and retailers across the state.

And it's tim that we put guardrails on this, again, to to protect our students.

That's in high school.

1 in 10 high school senior admitted, that they have tried the product in the last 30 days, which should be alarming.

As I mentioned this is unregulated, unchecked.

So it doesn't fall under a back alley.

Alabama health.

So when you go into a convenience store and you see these products, you think that someone has looked over them and that is just complete inaccuracy.

So my bill, what it does is puts it under ABC.

We have a third party.

That test is the product to make sure that the ingredients are accurate in what what is being said.

It's in 21 and over.

Alcoholic, you know, beverage stores or it will not be sold with ABC, but CBD stores or things of that nature.

As long as it's okay wit the municipality and the county.

That bill now also goes to the Senate.

Now, on to the Senate, where lawmakers considered legislation that would prohibit cell phones in schools.

Senate bill 92 from State Senator Donny Chastain would make it state law that students cannot use cell phones during instructional time.

A substitute bill was adopted that removes the penalties in the bill.

Lawmakers said they want to collect data on how the law is working before enacting punitive measures.

State Senator Chris Elliott proposed another amendment that would make an exception for students communicating with their parents.

But senators rejected that proposal after testing pointed out how impractical it could make the law.

The research shows that companies want to point out teachers 80% of the teachers won't cell phones out of the classroom.

They're there to teach.

I think we got to go back and remember what we have these kids in school for that to get an education.

And teachers are spending too much of their time trying to get kids to put their cell phones up.

And, that's not what they're there for.

So this bill would eliminate that during the instructional time.

Senator, I appreciate your work on this bill.

And I've thought long and hard on it, and I've and you've laid this out and done good work, and I think narrow the scope of it some here's, here's my concern and I've, I've talked with the sponsor about this.

I communicat with my kids throughout the day about some mundane but very important things.

Practice got canceled.

My ride home, changed.

Or I'm not able to ride home with little Johnny, little Bobby.

I think a reasonable exception would also be for the student or to communicate with their parent or legal guardian.

And that's the that's the amendment is adding another exception to let the parent us communicate with our child.

I don't want to outlaw me communicating or prohibit me communicating with my child o my child communicating with me.

That bill passed and now goes to the House, which has already passed its own version of that bill.

The state Hous had a special guest this week.

You've probably heard the story of Lulu Gribbin, the mountain Brook teenager who was attacked by a shark in the Gulf and survived.

She has shown tremendous positivity despite losing part of her leg and arm, and has used the experience to advocate for policies that can prevent shark attacks.

Capitol journal's Randy Scott reports on Lulu's visit to the legislature.

To take a picture.

Hello, my name is Lulu.

With those words 16 year old Lulu Gribben arrives at the Alabama State House.

The mountain Brook student is here to talk to lawmakers about House Bill 437, a bill that relates to an incident from June of 2024 when her life changed.

I think it was around three.

We were swimming, diving for sand dollars, and then we were headed in and we were riding the waves in, and I turned around an my best friend screamed, shark!

Plans for a fun day at a Florida beach were interrupted.

I saw a big shadow, but we all just started swimming for our lives.

And then I was like in movies they think like, you should calm down because sharks go for all the frantic stuff.

So I yelled that and I calmed down.

A shar attacked a Lulu and her friends.

My other friend was bitten and we.

We've never really, like, figured out who was bitten first.

But my hand was bitten first, and I remember just lifting it out of the water and like, I was stunned because there was no hand there and I couldn't feel it because of all the shark I was in.

She was also bitten on her leg before bystanders from the shore could pull her to safety.

I just remember everything about it.

Since this incident, Lul has worked hard in her recovery.

Now her journey brings her to the people's House for House Bill 437.

It proposes setting up a warning system to alert people of a shark attack in the area of the coast.

They're in with this bill in place.

We can preven further accidents in the future, and I'm just so excited to be able to pass it.

So thank you.

Representative David Faulkner sponsors House Bill 437.

He says there's a goal to get similar legislation before other states with beaches surrounding Alabama.

People have a right to know and we can do that.

It's 202 and we can use our common sense and do this type of notification.

All in favor indicate by saying I opposed your bill, now has a favor report and is headed to the House floor.

Yeah.

At the Alabama State House.

Randy Scott, Capitol Journal.

Congratulations to Lulu.

There was a pretty weird situation in the state House this week.

Several House members received strange packages containing inappropriate material.

According to the Alabama La Enforcement Agency, the packages contained multiple images of child pornography.

Special agents with the state Bureau of Investigation responded just after 9 a.m. on Wednesday, after lawmakers reported receiving unexpected mail.

By Thursday, Alea announced the arrest of John Watson a 54 year old man from Dothan.

Watson actually worke as a state employee for Eliza's driver's license division, but resigned upon his arrest on Thursday.

He's being charged with four counts of distributing child pornography.

Construction is well underway for Alabama's new statehouse here in Montgomery.

With this current building in such disrepair.

The state is aiming to provid a modern facility for lawmakers and those who visit the legislature.

However, concerns are emerging about the project's financial structur and additional costs not covered in the initial budget.

Capital Journal's Jeff Sanders has more.

The new Alabama Stat House is quickly rising behind the current statehous building in downtown Montgomery, designed to fix long standing problems like flooding, mold and aging infrastructure.

The project is being overseen by the Retirement Systems of Alabama.

RSA is footing the bil for the construction, with plans to lease the completed facility back to the state statehouse.

Funding.

Okay.

That's going to be a major, major issue.

Senator Greg Albritton, who chairs the Senate General Fund Budge Committee, is raising concerns not just about the new buildings nearly $300 million price tag, but about the added cost still to come.

Demolishing the old statehouse, building a new parking deck, and developing surrounding green space could push the total project cost to roughly $400 million.

The biggest contributor to the general fund is the interest earning from moneys that we hold in the bank.

That includes federal money, state money, Arpa money, all of that.

We're still holding a larg sum of cash because we're paying as we get things accomplished.

All of that money's going to dry up.

All Britton says lawmakers must plan now for those extra expenses, especially as temporar funding sources begin to fade.

What other material and matters that we're going to need in defenses?

We're not going to be able to take everything from here and just shift it over.

It won't fit for one thing.

And the other is it doesn't meet requirements technology.

So there's going to be a lot of cost involved with that.

That is not in the cost of the building.

The new state House is expected to be ready for lawmakers by late 2026.

Hopefully just in time for the 2027 legislative session.

Reporting in Montgomery.

I'm Jeff Sanders for Capitol Journal.

Turning now to Washington, where Congress got one step closer this week to enacting Presiden Donald Trump's domestic agenda.

House Republicans narrowly passed the budget framework that aims to cut taxes and spending.

Alex Angle reports from Capito Hill on how Alabama's lawmakers fit in to this big dispute.

This week's big vote.

Alabama's delegation split on party lines, and the vote to adopt the GOP budget blueprint that paves the way for Trump's agenda.

Hard line conservatives, including Congressman Barry Moore, were hesitan at first to support the measure until they got assurances that there would be deep spending cuts in it.

Motion is adopted without objection.

The House passed the budget framework on Thursday to kick start the process of crafting legislation to extend Trump's tax cuts and boost spending for the military and border.

All of Alabama's Republicans voted for it.

I think it's, at the end.

It's turned out to be well, and I think it's so we can move forward.

But it wasn't an easy road to get to final adoption.

Congressman Robert Aderholt sai fiscal hawks wanted assurances of deep spending cuts to offset the tax cuts before supporting it.

A lot of members were concerned on the House side that the Senate would not do enough cuts, and that's what we wanted to ultimately see.

One of the GOP members reluctant to back it was Congressman Barrymore, a member of the House Freedom Caucus.

He said the stark difference i spending cuts between the House and Senate, at least $1.5 trillion in the Senate's cut, said that at least $4 billion was concerning.

But Moore ultimately voted for the measure after seeing that Trump would support significant spending cuts.

He know that's just the starting line, and this is just a ball rolling for us to get.

Our gentleman speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune also teamed up to encourage Republicans to get behind the budget framework.

We are committed to funding at least $1.5 trillion in savings for the American people, while also preserving our essential programs.

But Democrats argue there will be cuts to Medicaid in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The House committee that oversees Medicaid is set to cut $880 billion under the plan.

Congressman Shamar figure says these spending cuts will harm Alabamians.

They are seeking to take benefits awa from the most needy Americans.

They are proposing sna benefit cuts that are of a scale that's going to be disastrous for too many families.

They are proposing, taking health care away from the people that need it most.

Now, the House and Senate have adopted the same plan.

The committees will have to hash out the details of exactly how it will knock those tax and spending cuts, which could prove even trickier than this week's vote.

Reporting on Capitol Hill, Alex Ingle, Capitol Journal.

You may remember the Rebuild Alabama Gas tax and infrastructure plan that was passe by the legislature back in 2019.

One of the first announced projects funded by that new revenue was an ambitious plan to four lane highway 82 across a dangerous three mile stretch in Prattville.

That project is finally complete.

And this week, Governor Kay Ivey joined local officials to cut the ribbo on the newly expanded highway.

Our project has widene nearly three miles of highway 82 between US highway 31 and highway 14.

Closing a gap that had languished for nearly four decades.

In fact, this section of highway 82 was one of the highest traffic volume, two lane sections of roadway in the state, making it a priority.

The widening we celebrate today was made possible by the Rebuild Alabama Act and it represents an investment in Prattville and a target county of nearly $40 million in 2019 when w passed the Rebuild Alabama Act.

We did so with US 82 in mind.

We were determined to finally finish what so many of us put on hold.

The approval of Rebuild Alabama has been a game changer for Alabama drivers.

Many under-funded and languishing Alabama Road and Bridge improvement products are at last being completed.

In the six years since, rebuild, Alabama has been long.

We have funded over 500 road and bridge projects benefiting all 67 counties.

The immediate thing that it does is it provides a safer roadway for our citizens.

We have a lot of truck traffic, as you can hear in the background, with the industrie in this area, a lot of, semis.

So the bridges that were there were narrow and, now there will be a bridge in each direction and the traffic will be separated.

It'll be a much, much safer environment for everyone who travels the roadway.

Each year.

Alabama Public Television honors a select group of high school students as young heroes.

Those who have made a difference in their communities and schools, all while facin unique challenges and adversity.

This year's young heroes are Bailey Cox from Hoover, Count Threadgill from Auburn, Jayden Johnson of Decatur, Georgia, Miracle Williams of Marbury and Benjamin Wortham of Madison.

You can read about each of these students inspiring stories on our website.

Just go to AP, tv.org/heroes, and we honor the young heroes this week in Montgomery.

They visited the legislature and I got a chance to interview them here in our studio.

Here's some of what they had to say.

This is an incredible opportunity.

I'm so glad to have been honored in this way.

And this is going to this is this is an excellent, scholarship to help me pay for college in all of my future goals and things like that.

It's definitely been an honor.

I believe that it's kind of shaped the way that I think.

And for my future endeavors, like, I sort of have this passion for international business, and this has kind of introduced me to the legislators and the senators.

And so it's giving me connections for everything in the future, a message that I would lik to give to the young people out there is to definitely just keep on pushing, even if you fall in your face, at least moving forward, because you can never just stop.

And for me, me and my house fire was really hard, but I just had to really adapt and be resourceful with the resources that I had.

You're going to face challenges.

That's a given.

That's a part of life you just can't stop.

You can take a break.

You can breathe.

Just figure it out.

But you just can't stop moving.

You have to keep going.

Really impressive students.

Congratulations again to our young heroes.

Coming up next, I'll be joined by Senate Education Budget Committee Chairman Arthur.

Or to talk about that education trust fund budge moving this week and after that.

Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair is in studio for an update on the state's economic development efforts.

Stay with us.

You can watch past episodes of Capital Journal online at Video adaptive.org.

Capital Journal episodes are also available on AP TV's free mobile app.

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You're watching Alabama Public Television celebrating 70 years of service to Alabama.

Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Joining me next is state senator, author or chairman of the Senate Education Budget Committee.

Mr. chairman, welcome to Capitol Journal.

Thank you.

Todd.

Good to be with you.

You've had a busy week.

I have it is your big week.

You know, education budget in committee.

That's that's a long process on the floor.

Pass would not a lot of fanfare.

Can you kind of give us the high points of this record setting education trust fund budget?

Well, the I guess the the big unique change this year is starting th student based funding formula.

I know that's a mouthful, but it's important for the future of public education in our state.

The research shows that it costs more to educate a child that's in poverty, or an English language learner or special education child.

And we also want to giv more money for gifted programs for those children that want t excel in the in the classroom.

And so all that to say, we used one of our savings account that we put, in plac several years ago when we had, record breaking, revenue numbers and we put that aside and we wanted to wait for a day to establish the student base funding formula.

So we we established it today with the legislation that passed the Senate, that Chairman Garrett will be handling it in the House.

And it puts a funding formula in place for these special, populations of students.

And we'll give the schools the resources to help with those educations of those children.

So that's, that's kind of the big, milestone, I guess, in this budget.

But it will take time.

So there's no, thinking that it's going to instantly translate into higher test scores next year or the year after.

It's just going to take a long, It is going to be a long journey.

But if you don't start th journey, you'll never get there.

So, yeah, we hope it will pay off over time.

And I've been working on this a while.

This task force was at work for maybe over a year trying to develop that.

I mean, look, when you start saying you're going to change the funding model, I'm sur everybody gets a little nervous.

So was it tough to kind of sel your colleagues on the concept?

Well we wound up with a hybrid model.

And by that I mean we're keeping intact the foundation the current foundation program that, was established in the mid 90s.

And then on top of that out of the savings that we have set aside, we'll start funding this student weighted model.

But it's very important that w be committed to the US because, at some point we're going to have to keep raising we are going to keep raising the amount year after year.

But, we're going to have to make the financial commitment year after year after yea because we cannot, shortchange our educators that are relying on this additional funding because they're going to go out and hire people, and establish programs to help these particular children make, physical changes to their schools or whatever, that we just need to be, stand behind that and make sure that we're good on our end of the commitment.

And then there's some accountability in there that we expect if we give you, substantial increase in funding that your test scores and your outputs of your students will improve over time.

So it's a two way street.

We give you more money for these, you know, populations, but you improve the outputs from your schools.

And over time, two wa street is a good way to put it.

I wanted to ask about specific investments, in literacy and numeracy.

You have championed both through these issues and we've seen some results.

I mean, I know you can't directly correlate some of these, but we've had some success.

We've seen some success in terms of reading scores.

Math scores go up.

So how big of a priority was i for you in crafting this budget to make sure those priorities are funded?

Numeracy act or, Literacy Act in this budget?

Well, I'll have to give also credit to Governor Ivey, who the budget that she sent across the street to us, continued those investments.

So we were about, where we need to be with literacy.

And numeracy is, much larger year over year type in this investment.

But, the governor recognizes the importance of keeping the pedal to the metal and, making sure that we push those programs out across the state.

Again we're about there with literacy, but we still have some pushing to do when it comes to numeracy or the math bill.

You mentioned that, you know the governor starts that process right.

It's the second day of session.

She submits her budget an the constitution and all that.

Can you kind of take us through that process.

Because I imagine that y'all are having conversations months ahead of session in terms of, you know, talking to, Lisa, talking to the finance department.

How does that process kind of play out behind the scenes before a day like today?

We see it on the floor.

Well, the the finance office leads the charge and they gather the information, talk to the, say, the superintendent of schools and doctor McKee and, all the higher ed institutions, other, organizations, other agencie that are in the budget, talking to their leadership and say you know, what are your needs?

What we what are your ask?

And they sift through a lot of that, and they do a lot of heavy lifting, if you will.

In, in the process and make determinations.

And of course, it comes across the street.

And at that juncture, that same crowd will descend upon whatever chairman, has the budget in his domain.

Your turn this year.

Right.

So, at that time, you know, they'll come and make the case to either support what the governor did or look to increase or.

Yeah, nobody aske for a decrease so that we, but, do those kind of, you know, it's it's just a process and it works quite well.

We wor well with the governor's office.

Most of the decision that the executive branch makes, we like to try to keep and preserve, because there's been a lot of thought that's gone into it.

And their sound reasoning.

When it does come across the street in most matters.

Well, and y'all are always tracking revenue numbers.

Right.

And so I've noticed in the in recen years, y'all have waited until, you know, kind of relatively late in the session to start moving the budgets because you've got three more months of revenue data.

Then then when the session first began, I guess that's by design and probably human nature as well, because just all that's going on in a particular session, we know when our deadline is or, or our finis line is with the number of days, legislative days that we have in the calendar days.

But, so it's it' I wouldn't say orchestrated, but we know kind of our parameters and operate within them.

But you're right.

We don't know.

There could be some surprises in revenue.

And we've seen, of course, a lot of change in the stoc market in the last couple days.

But, you know, it's something we are constantly monitoring month after month, the different revenues from th different, sources of revenue.

Well, speaking of that, you have been consistently this session warning, if you want to use that word, your colleagues about.

Look, yes, this is a record budget we've had, you know year over year record budgets.

But we've got to say as much as we can because it could be an economic downturn.

Even a slight economic downturn could mean real, you know, revenue shortfalls in the ETF.

Talk about that.

And what your message has been to your colleagues.

Yeah.

So for your viewers, you know, we fund education primarily out of income taxes and sales taxes.

And it's you know, the econom declines and it's in the ditch.

Then you if you're not selling things, people aren't buying things.

So you don't your sales taxes go down.

And a lot of times they're, you know, man hours or they los jobs and unemployment goes up.

So you lose on the income tax side as well.

So that's it can really cause a problem for us.

And one thing that's concerning, Todd, is not many people i the legislature were around here during the Great Recession days when it was awful and we were cutting, left and right.

And, you know, becaus we have to balance our budgets.

We're not like Washington that can run budget deficits year after year after year.

We have to balance.

And if the money's not there, we can't spend it.

And, that's a good thing.

We have to make cuts, and, that's what happened.

So all that to say.

Yeah, I do keep remindin my colleagues about, you know, we love to do tax cuts.

That's great.

We the people of Alabama don't want don't want to pay a penny more than they have to to fun a reasonably funded government that's not fat or wasteful or, you know, exorbitant.

They, they they have that expectation and they have the right to have that expectation.

But, we also have to be mindful of the economy and how a downdraft or, you know, declining economy can really affect how we're able to properly fund education, be it the colleges and universities or K-12 or pre-K, which is so important to many families across the state.

So, it's a balancing act.

And we certainly do the best we can.

Those were some tough years.

I guess it was like 2011, 2012, in that range.

Were you general fund chairman?

Yes.

Okay.

So that was probably even worse is worse.

So yeah, that probably informs I mean, because over the last 5 or 6 years y'all have done so much in terms of that.

We're saving rainy day.

We're saving rainy day.

I'm sure that's informed by that experience.

Quite a bit.

Well, let me ask you, let's just sa there is an economic downturn.

Do we have enough saved in those rainy day accounts and things like that where we could weather the storm relatively well?

On the education side, I would like to think so, because we have rainy day funds, as you said, and we also have the advancement in technology.

Fine.

That is kind of a supplement.

And then this educational opportunity fund, the one that we started back when money, there was a lot of money back in 2023.

And that's the reason we because once you spend it, it's obviously gone.

So just be very conservativ and not get ahead of ourselves on our spending.

And I think that's what happened in 2008, nine and ten.

Before as we went into the Great Recession, they kept the spending high because they had the savings accounts thinking it was all going to get better and it didn't get better.

So we just got to be just be careful.

And again, not, not enable a overindulgent government that is spending resources just because it has it.

It's a good message.

Well, look, congratulations on getting the budget through the Senate.

It really is the the biggest single thing the legislature does is pas the education trust fund budget.

So it's a big, big deal.

We'll be tracking it in the house and, onto the governor's desk when it's time.

But thanks again for your time Thank you.

Good to be with you.

We'll be right back.

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is a World War Two era battleship that first served in the Atlantic theater, but was better known for helping to take Japanese held islands in the Pacific between 1943 and 1945.

During the battle of the Philippine Sea, the Alabama State of the Art radar alerted the fleet to incoming aircraft, providing the American enough time to scramble fighters and decimate the attacking force.

Later, the Alabama serve during the Battle of Lady Gulf and anchored in Tokyo Bay t unload Allied occupation forces.

In 1964, the state of Alabama took possession of the battleship Alabama.

School children raised $100,000 in nickels and dimes to help bring the ship to mobile an create battleship memorial Park.

The park features the Alabama, the World War II era submarine USS Strom, and an American military aircraft collection battleship memorial Park as one of the state's most visited attractions.

Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Joining me next is Ellen McNair, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.

The secretary.

Thank you for coming on the show.

Yes.

My pleasure.

Well, there's a lot to discuss.

I wanted to talk about this new report.

You have, new and expanding industry in Alabama.

Your department is responsible for recruiting industry for, you know, and it's been around for for a long time.

What is the newest development?

What can you tell us about new and expanding industry in Alabama?

So this is the report for 2024.

And the governor just recently released our our numbers for 2024.

And we're just really thrilled at what the numbers showed.

So we had over $ billion in capital investment, over 220 different projects all across the state that reflected in the creation of over 8500 new jobs for the state.

Wow.

That's fantastic.

I mean, does that how does that compare to other years?

Is that are we growing?

And in terms of the amount of projects that are coming down Alabama?

So typically in an election year, you're going to see companies little on the sideline waiting.

So if you look back at 2016 and 2020, there was really a pretty big dip between those with those years.

They're waiting to see, okay, what's the landscape going to look like?

That's right.

And however this year w actually had growth over 2023, which was very, exciting to, to see.

So, we're, we're very, you know, very excited about 2025 and 2026 to see because our pipeline, our pipeline is strong.

Yeah.

Talk about that proces a little bit about the process of how you and your tea go about identifying a company.

I mean, I know sometimes they come to you, but maybe identifying a company, negotiating, finding a location, I mean, how does that process work?

Because it seems to be a lot has to go.

And then it's probably last a lot longe than maybe we take for granted.

Oh, yeah.

For each of these over 200 projects, they can range anywhere from month to literally years to develop.

And the competition is extremely tough.

I mean, it is it is a full on competitive process, which is exciting becaus we have a great team in Alabama, our local economic developers are very strong, and that's where so much of this work is done, is at the local level.

And we at the state try to support we try to identify the opportunity, ease and then support with resources, the communities to be able to land these different projects.

Because these projects do land in communities, and it's important for us to provide, that assistance and that resource to come in and help those companies locate there and grow.

But they the entire process is really quite complex.

And the, economic development strategy that we, designed last yea and, and rolled out last October really does roll out and lay out our targeted sectors.

And then the strategies with each in, in each one of those sectors.

So we have a great team at Commerce that is out there every single day all over the globe looking for opportunities.

And then they bring those opportunities back.

And we work very closely with our regional partners, our utility partners and our local ideas, our local economic development organizations to to make them a reality.

Absolutely.

I saw Bob Smith on a plane the other day, and I was like I wonder where he's going to go all over the globe.

Yeah, all over the globe.

Yeah.

You mentioned the local and I keep hearing from a lot of, especially local lawmakers about the impact of the Seeds Act, that it's really a game changer in terms of local investment, something that was long needed in the legislature.

Delivered.

Yeah.

No, that that program, in just, you know, a year and a half has been so successful, so what the problem was, is we really were a victim of our own success.

So we were really ou as a state, of industrial sites that prepared and ready, for, for market.

And when you don't have product, you can't compete for the projects.

So the idea with the Seeds Act, which was Secretary Canfield and and and that team prior to my coming on board, was to get legislation that, provided resources by the state to support the locals in identifying, industrial sites that together we could work to develop and then have available for the market.

So last year, the state gave 29 different sites and communities across the state approximately $30 million.

And in investment.

And that was matched by a local match of over 37 million by the local.

So, you know that one year, $67 million went into developing sites across the state, like infrastructure, rail, stuff like that, that it was an industrial site to become marketable.

That's correct.

And even the testing to be sure it's viable.

Okay.

Like, you know, phase one environmental, geo testing, that kind of thing.

Okay.

So so the company knows, okay, this is a viable site and all that.

That's really what I keep hearing about the seeds act, as it's really impactful.

You mentioned economic incentives a little bit.

I wanted to ask you about that because you all are.

You were before the committee the other day kind of explaining the incentives process, what gets utilized and what does it.

And I wanted you to comment on that a little bit, because I think sometimes there's a perception when it comes to economic incentives, because it is an arm race many times for companies.

But y'all don't actually use them for everything, right?

And so it's not just like this giveaway.

I found those comments.

Can you kind of elaborate on that?

Sure.

So, just using this past year, the 2024 report, as I said, we had over 220 different projects.

Only 15 of those projects used the Jobs act resource.

Wow.

So it was used for the most competitive projects where we really had to come in and step up.

But we use those i is prudently as we possibly can.

We do have other incentive and other resources that we use, like our training program abatements those kind of other incentives.

But for the Big Jobs Act, big ticket item jobs, tax incentives.

Only 15 of our over 220 projects, were utilized last year.

That's notable.

And, you know, over the years it's evolved because if you go back to the 90s or early 2000, it was basically cash, right?

I mean, I'm sure the legislature would have to approve, you know, each project by project because it basically it was coming out of the the ETF.

Now it's it's very accountable, you know, very targeted.

And you get that you got to deliver the jobs to get the to get the jobs act money.

So I think that's worth noting.

Well and and that all changed in 2015 with the new incentive structure.

And I really again commend, the team that was in place at that point, really looking at what could be the most impactful and really the most, cost effective and prudent.

So, as you said, with the Jobs Act, the jobs have to be created.

The investment has to be made before the state is, coming up with the money.

So there's not any upfront money that is utilized.

And then if the project doesn't come to fruition.

Right, it's with that risk.

Right.

And there is a, a really strong process of making sure that these companies are, are fulfilling their responsibilities with the jobs created and the maintenance of those jobs.

So it's just not one in in done.

Yeah, we're almost out of time.

But I wanted to ask you about this.

It's just you look at the news.

It's such a, I don't know uncertain global economy right now.

And with I mean, like yo mentioned, election year, people getting a little hesitant.

What is what are you hearing from site selectors, those who companies hire to locate and everything.

What are you hearing in terms of the uncertainty globally?

Is that impacting at all the folks who might be looking at Alabama for their next investment?

We're always monitoring every opportunity and every challenge that could be facing us.

Because that' that's a constant thing, right?

The world is always evolving, so there's always room for opportunities and to jump on those opportunities.

And then there's always challenges out there.

So you've always got to be aware of that.

You're always looking at that.

We are very excited about the hopefully opportunity with some additional funding that we're requesting is to opening, new European, offices and international offices in Korea and Japan.

Oh, wow.

So we're very excited about that and really being able to have people on the ground in those different countries to be able to, sell Alabama full time.

Absolutely.

And the dredging at the Port of Mobile will be done, I think, in July.

And so I don't think we've even, you know, can imagine the, impact that that's going to have on.

Yeah.

Just, just another, another great tool for our state.

Absolutely.

We're out of time But thanks again for your time.

Thank you.

Know, we'll see you soon.

Okay.

Thank you.

We'll be right back.

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In terms of importance and influence.

Few performers in the history of country musi can compare with Hank Williams senior, revered by fans draw to the sincerity of his songs.

Hank Williams, during his brief 29 years, was instrumental in turning hillbilly music into country music.

The Butler County native became enthralled with music from a young age, playing harmonica and orga and acquiring his first guitar around the time he was eight years old.

By the end of 1951, Williams had amassed 24 top ten singles, with six reaching number one.

A key figure in the development of modern country music.

Williams personified the musical genre shif from a regional rural phenomenon to nationwide acceptance.

His legacy remains aliv today, with the heartfelt nature of his performances remaining the benchmark by which country music performers are measured.

In April 2010, the Pulitzer Prize board awarded Williams with a posthumous Special Citation Award.

That's our show for this week.

Thanks for watching.

We'll be back next week, starting on Monday with our nightly coverage of the Alabama Legislature for our Capital Journal team.

I'm Todd Stacey.

We'll see you next time.