From ou statehouse studio in Montgomery.

I'm Todd Stacy, welcome to Capitol Journal.

The Alabama State Board of Educatio met this week and was presented with the latest reading and math scores from from public school students.

There's good news to share, particularly when it comes to reading proficiency in English language arts, which includes reading improved in every grade, tested under the Alabama Cumulative Assessment Program or a cap, which tests all students in grades two through eight.

Each of those grades saw more students scoring proficiently and fewer scoring at the lowest level.

There was some good news in math as well.

The lower grades saw modest improvements in how many students are testing proficient in math.

However, struggles remained at the middle school level where scores remain stagnant.

State Superintendent Eric McKee reacted to the latest test scores after the meeting.

And so I was very excited to see that in level one, our lowest performance level in every grade, we saw fewer students, and so then in 2024 and 2024 was better than 23.

So it means we are pushing students to higher achievemen across the state in every grade.

We saw essentially the same thing in math with with one little glitch in seventh grade that we're still kind of worried about was last year we had an issue with seventh grade too, but but we're still looking at that.

We it appears to be kind of more of an alignment and curriculum issue, because we see a rebound a little bit in eighth grade and in high school.

But in elementary school, again, we say in every grade you've got, you've got proficiency levels going up, the number of student scoring in level one going down.

It's good news for Alabama.

Science.

Pretty much the same thing.

So we feel good about it.

Our A.C.T.

scores just holding steady.

And of course we give the A.C.T.

to every student in this state.

So it's not comparable from state to state.

We're one of the few states that gives it to all of our students.

But 17.3 is our average A.C.T.

score.

And and we feel pretty good about it.

It's just holding steady.

We're starting to like to see it edge up though toward 18.

Doctor McKee also explained the latest, with efforts from the U.S. Department of Education to claw back federal dollars going to Alabama schools.

Last week, we learned tha more than $68 million allocated for Alabama schools is now part of a federal funding freeze.

Nationwide, more than 6 billion is being held up by the Trump administration for what it claims are curriculum supporting immigrants o subsidizing a left wing agenda.

McKee said that freeze is just a review and it's not final, and that much of it goes toward helping students who were born here better learn the English language.

We've not heard any updates on that since.

Since we got our regional letter last week.

We're still, certainly hoping that we will see some lifted out.

I know that the Office of Management and Budget has come out, and they've been very clear to say, well, this is just a review of the funding and there's no immediate intention to withdraw the funds.

Though there is also clearly a pretty strong rumor in Washington that there will be a move for rescission.

And rescission means that Congress can actually pull the funds back.

And we certainly hope that, you know, our delegation understands this money is already being committed to schools.

Schools have already made plans for the money.

So that money is is just frozen.

Title three, which is all the money we get to support English language learners from the federal government is effectively frozen.

Most of that goes to paying in Ell teachers or specialist in the schools.

And then also a piece of the title for funds, which is technology mostly has been frozen and then some some a smaller grant program, for Alabama for migrants, a major upgrade for Alabama's emergency readiness.

Governor Kay Ivey was in Clanton this week to help cut the ribbon on the newly renovated emergency Management Agency headquarters.

As Jeff Sanders reports, the updated facility is built for the next generatio of disaster response and ready to help beyond our own borders when needed.

After nearly 18 months of construction, Alabama's Emergency Management Agency unveiled its newly renovated headquarters in Clanton.

The building, originally constructed in the 1990s, was built for just 25 people.

Today, the renovated space can support more than 90, giving state officials the room and tools to manage disasters in real time.

Building was tired.

She just was tired.

So we had an opportunity while we were doing that to take advantage of increase in workspace and technology.

The new operations center will allow multiple agencies to come together, from FEMA to power utilities, so they can coordinate in the same roo during high state emergencies.

Communication is really the base of our strength has been able to communicate.

So within this agency, in this structure, in this facility, we're able to, tie i with not only at the local level with the municipalities, the counties, also with our state partners that are in here that we represented to include we pipe in with the federal government as well.

Governor Kay Ivey praised the investment, saying it not only prepares Alabama for its own emergencies, but positions the state to step in when others are in need.

Renovation here has been muc needed, and it's obviously more effective for communications and keeping people away, so it's important that this operation system be real effective in times of need for our people in Alabama as well as our friends like in Texas.

And we're still standing by to be of assistance to folks in Texas.

The $2.9 million renovation includes new plumbing, wiring, communication systems, and dedicated workspace for key partners.

The ability of the communities to use that same style of mutual aid from community to community.

If it starts reaching the point where they don't have that, they no longer support that.

We're monitoring that here, and we'll start making those arrangements to bring in resources from other states.

And with weather emergencies and natural disasters seemingly increasing each year, the new upgrades could be just in time to keep Alabamians safe.

Reporting from Clanton.

I'm Jeff Sanders for Capitol Journal.

Thank you Jeff.

Friday marks one week since President Donald Trump signed his major tax breaks an spending cuts package into law.

Alabama's delegation voted along party lines in APTs Alex Angle reports from Capitol Hill on how the big bill will play out here in Alabama and what comes next.

Oh well.

With the stroke of a pen on July 4th, President Trump solidified his signature agenda bill.

After months of negotiations and long night.

The Senate narrowly passed the so-called big beautiful bill with the help of Alabama's Republicans.

The bill, as amended, is passed.

The sweeping legislation extends the 2017 tax cut and adds new breaks for things like child care, which Senator Katie Britt spearheaded.

Affordabilit and accessibility has hung over so many Americans, coast to coast that want or need the opportunity to reengage in the workforce.

And we took action to make a difference.

The average Alabama taxpayer would have seen their taxes increase by $2,192 per year if the cuts weren't extended.

Senator Tommy Tubervill applauded the extension of those cuts.

This includes the largest tax cut in American history for middle and workin class Americans, but the impacts won't be felt equally, according to analysis.

When taken into account with the benefit cuts in the bill.

The bottom 20% of earners are expected to see a reduction in income.

The top earners would see an increase.

This so-called big beautifu bill is nothing but a big, ugly betrayal of Alabama families and the big handout to billionaires.

Democrats like Congresswoman Terri Soul warned the Medicaid cuts could harm rural hospitals.

In Alabama five hospitals are most at risk of closing under the bill.

A $50 billion rural hospital fund was added to help offset some of the cuts.

The bill expands work requirements for the Supplemental Nutritio Assistance Program up to age 64.

That change could start as early as this year.

States could also have to pay money for the Snap benefit costs associate with their payment error rates.

But that change wouldn't start until fiscal year 2028.

The mega bill increases reference prices in crop insurance for farmers.

They've been shouldering a huge economic burden for the last four years, and hopefully that load is about to get a little lighter.

Border and defens funding will also get a boost.

Reporting on Capitol Hill Alex Angle, Capital Journal.

Thank you Alex.

Earlier this week, Governor Kay Ivey appointed longtime law enforcement official Hal Nash as the new chair of Alabama's Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Nash replaces Lee Gosney, whose six year term ended in June.

She had become a polarizin figure during her time as chair, particularly as the board's parole rates dropped sharply from 53% in 2019 to just 8% last year.

Nash most recently served as the chief corrections deputy with the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.

His background includes decades in law enforcement from narcotics work to service with the US Marshals Task Force in North Alabama.

We want to first thank Lee quietly for her service.

She had made been a good servant of the people.

But I want to shift the focus to law enforcement.

And Hugh Nash brings a strong law enforcement element to this position.

I think that'll be very beneficial for us.

Ivey has also appointed a new Medicaid commissioner.

Last month, longtime Alabama medicaid Commissioner Stephanie Azar stepped down to lead the State Employee Insurance Board to replace her.

Ivey has chosen, though offered often as an attorney who has worke for Alabama medicaid since 2010.

Most recently as general counsel, Ivey said Orford has the necessary experience to keep the state's low income health care agency on solid footing.

His appointment is effective next Wednesday.

A recently christened Navy ship will honor an Alabama hero.

The USS Jeremiah Denton is a class destroyer being constructed at the Ingle shipyard in Pascagoula.

Denton was a mobile native and Navy officer who was famously shot down and captured during the Vietnam War and tortured by the enemy.

He was later elected to the U.S. Senate from Alabama.

Now a ship will bear his name.

Capita journal's Randy Scott reports.

It's a big day for the state of Alabama.

In Pascagoula, Mississippi, this is where Ingalls Shipyards are located, and this is where new sea vessels are built.

Some happened to be designated for the US Navy.

And this one in particular has Alabama roots.

Something that's complicated i this ship takes years to build from starting with flat plate all the way to something that we can take to sea and, fire missiles.

Fire guns.

This new destroyer with the Alabama connection will be named after congressman and military veteran Jeremiah Denton.

Dickson's family made it to Pascagoula for a ceremony to officially name the ship.

He would be overwhelmed.

He really would.

He received many awards, including the Navy Cross.

He was a U.S.

Senator.

He was proud of a lot of things that he did as a child growing up to hear his name and like your history class, you know, to read about him in books and to just know that that you know, what he did what he heart for our country, but also just as a grandfather, all that he was to us.

The ship behind me already has its place in history.

Embarrassin name of Jeremiah Denton, former congressman and statesman from the state of Alabama and naval aviator during the Vietnam War.

This ship earned its place in history, being the latest and greatest in the Navy fleet.

Denton was shot down o a mission during the Vietnam War and held as a P.O.W.

for several years when he returned to the United States.

He took up another mission as a member of Congress.

This vesse will now bear his name to honor that hard work done then and done now.

Obviously, the ship is going to bear our grandfather's name, but it's really, and homage to the men and women who continue to serve.

And we will serve on her.

And they mean so much to us as individuals, and of course, to the country as well.

A part of this event is placing a seal box of personal items inside the ship that will be kept there permanently, as a tradition to bring luck to the crew.

It honors the congressman as well.

He was very much a father in that he he.

If a father's job is to instill character and values and principles in the next generation, and maybe you get the chanc to do it for the next generation after that.

Well.

You can talk to any of the family here and you'll see succeeding greatly at it.

In Pascagoula, Mississippi, Randy Scott, Capital Journal.

Thank you.

Randy.

We'll be right back with tonight's guests.

You can watch past episodes of Capital Journal online any time at Alabama Public Television's website.

Appy tv.org.

Click on the online video tab on the main page.

You can also connect with Capital Journal and link to past episodes o Capital Journal's Facebook page.

Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Joining me next is Stat Representative Dennis Garrett, chairman of the House Education Budget Committee.

Representative thanks for coming on the show.

Thank you for having me.

Always good to be with you.

Good to see you.

We have great news on reading scores from all across the state.

Top to bottom.

Looks like it's really great news.

Is this a testament of what you all have been trying to do in terms of literacy and funding?

The Literacy Act and everything throughout the state of Alabama?

Yes.

It's definitely an indication that we're on the right trajectory.

Nothing negative about the numbers.

When you dig.

You look at the numbers, look at the layers of the numbers, the top category, the bottom category.

We see movement within the categories.

And then, you know, movement in a the overall proficiency rates.

It's slow.

You know, it's that's that's the problem.

Things like this take time.

And so I think it's a testament to the, investment we've made to the work of our public educators and doing this to the literacy task force, to the students.

But we still have a long wa to go to get to the proficiency that we want to be in, but we're definitely on the right trajectory.

And of course, post-pandemic, we were one of two states that showed improvement at national level.

So, it's good news, but I don't want people to realize that we're done.

We've got a long way to go.

Well because we saw right next door the Mississippi Miracle, right in all that they did, and we kind of copied a little bit of their literacy policies and things like that.

But we did have that pandemic right in the middle of it.

But talk about the process.

This wasn't easy.

It was wasn't easy in terms of pushing the department, pushing the board.

Y'all had to step in as a legislature and do that.

Talk about the process that would end of that in terms of saying, hey, we've got to make some moves here and like to get our kids going in the right direction.

Well, I think change i difficult for a lot of people.

Change is difficul certainly for governments to do.

But clearly where we were in the education rankings, we really needed to embrace change.

And we looked at what was working in other states.

And anytime you try to make change, you're going to hit the wall.

And we did.

But but the legislature did push through that.

The leadership the governor stepped out there and said, know I want Alabama to be in the top 30, not number 52, which is almost impossible.

But we were number 52 in math.

And so it took a collaborative effort.

But that Doctor Mackey, his team embraced this.

We all realize the world is changing and people have got to open their minds to change.

And so if we're if we're going to get better.

And so it was difficult to do it.

We had to find the funding.

We had to direct the funding.

And we'd already been doin some things behind the scenes.

When you look at the the math area, you know, we had the teams program, which was very successful.

We had overfunded teams, and so we were able to use some of that money to to begin the Numeracy Act.

And so numeracy has done for math what we're saying, what literacy did for reading and math is again on a positive trajectory, but still a ways to go.

And so you're a financial guy, right?

It's like I like thinking about that.

You can see problems and say, okay, well this is where the mone goes and all that kind of thing.

Well, let's switch gears, talk about the choose act.

It's going into effect right now, right?

Parents are when I say the choose act, this is the education savings accounts.

Parents now can say, you know, $7,000 put towards a school of their choice.

Right.

It's going into effect right now in terms of parents are now, you know lining up those private schools, some schools, other, public schools.

Incredible demand.

Did this surprise you in terms of, how much demand out there that that there is?

You know, it it did and it didn't.

So let me just say this, that in the world we live in today, everything is about customization, flexibility and choice in all areas of our life.

It's not surprising that that would also be, we'd be seeing those same themes emerge in the education community.

Education community, again has been resistant to changing like that.

But that's that's inevitable.

And so this opens that door.

And yeah, when we initially di the program, we looked at Utah's commerce, our model, and we did a little bit more than than what Utah did, but kind of took that as our, as our our our base as what we begin the program with.

We thought we would have about 15,000 students involved.

Well, we had 37,000 applications and 24,000 students actually qualified.

And chairman and I, when we saw the fact that we had more demand than we had appropriated, you know, we had two choices.

One was, well, we've appropriated $100 million and first come, first serve and that's it.

Or we could say, you know what?

Let's meet the demand for everybody who wants to take advantage of this becaus we're committed to this concept.

And if the market is driving that and demanding that, and these are the taxpayers and these are taxpayer dollar that right now are not going to some of their children's education, or maybe a child is in a school that needs to be in a better environment.

And when you look at the numbers with this, you know, we saw about additional, 4000 people go into the leave the public schools and go to private school.

And these were, again, all under the 300% of, poverty level income.

Right.

Because that that income thing is so everybody.

So the people out there now saying that, well, this is just proof that this is going to, you know, fuel affluent families.

That's not what happened.

That's not who's who's benefiting this program from the get go for the first two years.

Then after that, of course, it becomes universal in terms of who can apply.

But we're still going to be looking at this area of need.

But yeah, we had we had about, 3 or 4000 students that left the private school, public schools to go to private schools.

We had about 1300 students that said, I'm going from one public school to another public school for a variety of reasons.

Could be academic reasons, could be for social reasons.

Bullying?

Who knows what it was a better environment based on that parents choice.

And then we had, of course, an additional, a number of students who went into the homeschool, who homeschool people moved from private school and from public school.

And those are there, those resources.

So basically, it's giving the families the flexibility, just like they do in every other aspect of their life, to deal with education.

And I get a little bit frustrated when I hea some of the education community push back and say, well, you know, this didn't really the person who was in the private school stayed in private school.

This just helps them financially address that.

I hear that too.

Absolutely.

That's that's the point.

That private school that you have, you have two working parents out there right now scrimping and saving to put their child and maybe a Christian school, a private school.

And it takes every dollar they've got.

And and by the way, all their tax money is going to public schools.

So what this does is give them some relief.

And so yeah, yeah, some of that money will, you know, redirected to where your child is going.

That, that that's the world we're in right now.

So I think that's, that's does it bother me at all?

I think that, we're going to continue to see school choice evolve.

It's going to grow the market will take it where it where it goes, and we'll see.

And then we'll have the legislature appropriate the funds.

But, all in all, it wa it was surprising on one hand.

Not so surprisin if you think about the culture and because and I was thinking to, it came to I realized just this week, summer's almost over for students.

A lot of schools start back the first week in August, and we have this model right now that says we have to give 180 days.

You have to begin on this day.

You can't end before this date.

I just yeah, I had a bill a few years ago that tried to open the door so that systems would have flexibility to do different type models.

So it may make sense in some districts to go year round, or they go four days a week or go different, you know, but you've got, you know, kindergarten students now going to school, five year olds going to school who basically say, you can only miss five days this year.

Well, I mean, you know, that that is just to me, kind of an archaic model.

So I think that this is part of the change needs to happen.

And does it make sense that school ended in May?

Now we're going to start August the 7th and we got go 180 days and everywhere in the state.

That's not the world we're in today.

And I believe tha if we're going to be competitive and want to see our, our, our children do better.

We have to be embracing some of these change.

So I'm excited about the school choice.

Now with school choice, we didn't like public schools at all because we also passed the Raise act.

Right.

I wanted to ask you about that, but let's stay on school choice for a minute, because in the in its origin the whole school choice movement was really about improving public education, right?

All of it really, with charter schools and everything, saying like, look, we've got to give kids an option.

We've got to give families an option.

And when and when that happens, when people when people see the difference that charte schools make or whatever it is that will driv the public schools to improve.

Do you think that can still happen with with everything that's going on?

Do you think that I'm thinkin about my hometown of Prattville and everythin that's going on up there, like, can that can the school choic movement drive public education in the right directio in terms of, say, hey, this is this is the way you need to figure it out?

It already is doing that.

And I'll tell you just a, an example.

I don't thin I'm betraying any confidences, but Doctor Walter Gonsolin, who's the chair the superintendent for Jefferson County, was just named the national superintendent of the year.

First one ever from Alabama.

He began, once we started talking about school choice, he talked to me because I've Jefferson County schools in my district.

And he said, look, you do what you gotta do on that.

But within the public schools in Jefferson County, we're going to develop school choice.

And so he actually has done a couple of pilot programs where he's got feeder elementary schools within a the feeder one high school, and letting them choose based on different themes, the way they teach in those, in those, elementary schools.

And he's providing th transportation for that choice.

I spoke to him last week, and he and the superintendent for the City of Birmingham schools are working together on another program that would be targeting one of the big needs there, which is the kids that have some discipline issues and how to best better address that on a cooperative basis.

And we're seeing also in Jefferson County, he's setting up academies at the different high schools so that within the day, students can move from one school to another, bu stay in their home based school.

My point is, it's out-of-the-box thinking, it's innovative, and it's all focuse on improving student outcomes.

And, it's already happening.

And that's actually giv Jefferson Counties one example.

It's had me all over the state.

So, I'm excited about that.

That's the wa we're going to see improvement.

Yeah.

Well you brought up the Razak talk about that.

What's been the feedbac in terms of because you talked about the funding model for the state, but it goes into effect, I guess, this coming fiscal year.

Right?

Yeah, it's in the budget.

So so what happened is we're one of four states that, did not fund education based on student needs.

We had an old arcade resource based funding, which basically is that headcount, headcount, headcount, and regardless of needs or whatever.

And also the roots of it had to do with a lawsuit filed back in the 90s.

And, you know, it was really not an education, but modeled an intentional education funding model.

That's the foundation program.

So what we did was shift to a we had a joint committee with the Senate and House budget committees, and we worked for a year to determine, do we want to just keep what we're doing?

Do we want t just get the foundation program and start from scratch, or we want to take the foundation program on top of that, build some hybrid program.

And that's what we decided to do.

So we because of our budgeting and the reserves we had in place, we were able to pull additional money to put on top of the foundation program that will go to school district based upon student needs.

And the needs that we're funding would be poverty, special needs, Englis as a second language and gifted.

All of those require additional money to fund.

And right now the state is providing minimal funding for those.

And that' how we came out of local funds.

So when you have districts tha don't have that local funding, they're getting hurt.

So what we did was to put $166 million on top of the foundation program.

That will be going to schools not based on headcount, but based on those needs o the number of students that have with those specific needs.

There's very strict accountability provisions.

That would make sure the money goes there and it's driving the achievin the results we want to achieve.

We also, as a commitment, pulled down three years worth of anticipated funding for that and put that into the accounts for the next three years.

We're showing an increasing growth in that funding on top of the foundation program, which will also grow no that money is going to district, not to schools, which gives the district the flexibility to had to.

I need to address the student need within my district.

For example, if you have a a district that has a lot of Ell, but they have a high concentration in this school, low in this school, rather than have three separate programs, maybe you do all in one.

You know, this gives you th flexibility all in one location.

But the point is, we're giving the district the ability to address those student needs that they have.

And, that is significant.

This could be truly transformative.

You picked up on this, I think, some people have it, but this could be one of the most significant pieces o legislation we've ever passed.

I agree, I can't talk about it enough in terms of, you know, you all do a lot.

Well, the reason nobody talks about it i because it wasn't controversial.

It I mean, I expected it to take, I don't know, 2 or 3 years to actually get it crossed.

We did.

Yeah.

We thought it would take 2 or 3 years.

And if and if we had basically gone in there, started, messing with the foundatio program, we would have had that.

But we didn't do it.

We said, look, we're going to let you have the foundation, so you're going to get everything you would have gotten anyway.

Nobody's losing in that.

Everybody's going to gain because every system has those needs Mister chairman, we're out of time.

But thanks so much for coming on and we look forward to having you back.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

We'll be right back.

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Visit AP tv.org/education to learn more.

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Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Joining me next is Ken Boswell, director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, better known as a Deca.

Mr. director thanks for coming on the show.

Thank ton.

Thank you for having me, as always.

Well, yeah, we need a, you know, regular update, especially on the issue of broadband.

You have overseen this really gargantuan effort the state has undertaken ove the last several years to expand broadband internet acces into especially rural Alabama.

Not only rule Alabama because there are some urban projects, too.

But I wanted to give just I want to offer you the opportunity to give a general update on where we are on this broadband expansion effort.

Sure.

Since 2017, when actually I took the job, this has been one of Governor Ivey's primary issues that she wanted to make sure broadband was deployed throughout the state.

Knowing what it means to education, health care and economic development.

And with her spearheading the efforts, since 17, working with legislators, working with counties, municipalities, ISP's, we've come a long way.

We've made steady progress.

From from the standpoint of the beginning to the point of where we're at now since 2018, we've actually issued approximately 201 grants.

At the end of the deployment or the the actual fiber getting into the ground.

There'll be approximately 142,000 households that will have access to broadband that otherwise would not have had it.

142,000.

Yes.

That's not a small number.

No it's not.

Especially we consider how rural I'm sure a lot of those that a lot of that population is that would be accurate, I tell you.

I was over in Pickens County the other day, and naturally, that is a rural part of the state.

And to see fiber being actually put down into the ground and where they be, houses that would be at least a mile apart was very gratifying.

I'll tell you, it's, is connecting the black belt is connecting the whole state so that, you know, they have the access to internet like everyone else does.

Talk about investments, because we've covered this a lot on this program.

Sure.

You had.

Well, you can go back to the CARES act.

Back in 2020, Arpa.

Big, big deal.

Several differen federal legislation that passed, but also a lot of stat investment in broadband efforts.

I mean, it's kind of hard to keep track of them all, but talk about how those federal and state investments are being deployed and what the different.

I guess it would be hard to do it without those kind of funds.

That's correct.

It would have a big impact on the general fund if we did not have access to these dollars right now in 2018, beginning with state dollars.

They actually meaning the legislature allocated $72 million and we use that for the last mile.

Those are still being worked on.

As Governor Ivey's always said, and she is actually she's described i better than anyone I could hear.

It's a journey, not a sprint.

So we are seeing some of those projects come to completion.

You're accurate.

The Arpa dollars, was, you know, about $400 million to include CPA.

The Arpa dollars are being used for Middle mile and the Anchorage to to middle mile number two.

We feel like the the middle mile project that was starte in 22 will be complete approx.

Well, it's about 95% complete now.

I'm hoping that Governor Ivey will make that part of her state of the state this year, and that she will go down as the broadband governor.

And I'm very proud to say that because she took the bull by the horns.

With that, we're working now with CPF Capital Projects funds, and those are allocated to the last mile.

Then I would tell you that we'll have $1.

billion coming into the state.

We've run into some little changes since the new administration came in.

We are.

We're adjusting for those.

But we're we're on track to meet the targets at the federal government to make sure that we get those dollars into the state and get those deployed.

And that will be primarily for the last mile.

Okay.

Yeah.

Middle mile.

Last mile.

Some of these terms of are.

But remind because I think this is important.

We're talking about you know, investments from the state and the federal government.

Remind us why that's necessary.

Because, you know, some people don't be out there saying, well, hey, isn't, you know, or isn't this like a private industry kind of thing?

Yeah.

But there's there has to be a customer base.

Right.

If I'm, if I'm an internet company, i I'm Verizon or AT&T or whatever, I may not go into a rural community because there's not enough customers to make it worth my while.

Is that part of the reason why it's an incentive?

Okay.

It really is.

I mean, it's used as an incentive because the CapEx is you're describing and the distanc between houses and businesses.

And, it's an incentive from the federal government to help those internet service providers literally use it, expand their CapEx, so that they are able to get into the rural areas of the state and help those that otherwise would not have access to the, broadband.

Right?

Well, considering it is a lot of money, a lot of taxpayer mone out there, and you talked about just a number of projects, y'all are keeping up with.

I imagine that's a lot of contractors.

How does a deck, keep account for all of these projects and keep them all on track?

We began back in January of this year.

Now we have a consultant on on contract with us.

And as those projects are completed, we have engineers that wil literally go out into the field and examine and test what has been put into the ground, or whether it's aerial or if it's underground, to make sure that everyone is doing exactly what they say they're doing, and they're, as builds, are there and in place as it should be.

We also started in January with the Alabama Digital Expansion Authority, which was set up by legislation, and that I'm a member of, and we have all the ISP's that have been coming in since January on a quarterly basis.

We began that by wanting to know what their progress is so that we can keep the on task to be able to complete and get this money out the door by 2026.

I'm very happy with their progress.

We have a couple that's, lagging a little behind but we're getting them on board.

That being said, we we asked the hard questions, and the questions are getting harder as the progress goes.

But people, I'm very satisfied with what the, internet service providers are doing it taking into account the amount of dollar that are getting into the field.

I don't think, municipality or county, any kind of governmental organization or the private industry expected to go at this pace and speed.

But I'm very happy to say that, you know, we're making reall what I consider steady progress.

And I think we meet the goal of getting money out the door.

Talk about specifics, because I'd like to give our viewers just to kind of a real world.

You mentioned Pickens County, and that's pretty good.

Yeah.

You mentioned schools, hospitals or any kind of particular projects wher you have seen success stories.

That, man, it really made a difference in this community or that community.

Well, it's funny you mentioned that Jackson County with farmers, telco.

They are the internet service provider there.

And they opened up a center that people of all walks of life could come into.

And actually apply for jobs, engage with the communities through the internet that, you know, I've never seen before.

It's very unique.

So I would say that that particular project has been pretty phenomenal.

And before they didn't hav access to high speed internet.

No.

I think those of us i the cities, we take your point.

Yeah.

We take.

Yeah.

We do.

You got to be.

Yeah.

But you travel not too far.

No.

Too many miles outside.

And yeah that service goes away.

And so.

Yeah, It's interesting.

Well, look, thank yo for this update on the brothers.

Look forward to having you back.

And, again, good luck with deploying th rest of these broadband funds.

Well, thank you.

And as always, thank you for having me on the show.

Absolutely.

We'll be right back.

You can watch past episodes of Capital Journal online any time at Alabama Public Television's website.

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Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Joining me next is Doctor Dylan L Finley, professor of political science at Alabama State University.

Professor thanks for coming on the show.

Good to be here.

Well, I've been looking forward t this because we're going to talk some politics are looking forward to it.

Well, and we've just gotten through this really first wave of candidate announcements.

We were all kind of waiting to see.

It started with Tuberville running for governor.

Steve Marshall's in it.

Now all the Constitution loves is it's kind of ferreting out a little bit.

Still a few more to go.

But let's talk about this cycle.

I guess we should start at the top with Tuberville.

And the big question there is, is anybody going to legitimately challenge him?

I know that there are candidates.

I think, Ken McPhee is challenging it, but is anybody going to b posed him a serious challenge, whether it's in the primary or in the general?

Well, right now, the way it looks, the only thing standing between, the current owner, Tommy Tocqueville, and the governorship is Inauguration Day.

I jus I just don't see any of those, real challenge, rising at this point.

Now, that may change sometime in the future, but he looks very strong now.

And it's not just stron poll numbers anymore, because, I mean, we all know that his poll numbers are very strong, especially amongst the conservative base.

But he's also put up a lot of fundraising for me.

Not only has he put up a lot of fundraising, but he has.

Oh, he's also, tertiary right buttons, you know, and turns up the issues that rise to the forefront in Alabama, the cultural issues steering, being in this state.

What do you talk about?

The LGBTQ augmented transgender thing?

What are you talking about?

Immigration.

All of those things.

Tuberville has been right in line with what President Trump wanted to do.

And that's very popular here in Alabama, particularly on the Republican side.

And I think is going to play very well for him in the Republican primary and the general election theme, the red meat, as they say.

Absolutely.

We'll talk about the Democrats, because the last two cycles, 20, 18 and 2 have been pretty disappointing on a statewide level for Democrats.

Can they find a candidate that can compete?

I mean, I guess you already said that.

Not on the Tuberville front.

Anything statewide, they can find a candidate that coul that could find a resonance and, and actually put up a good fight with the Republicans understanding this is a pretty conservative state.

Well, right now, the political environment statewide just is not contrary to the Democratic Party.

And a Democrat you put up for a statewide election at this time is going to be just a little more than a sacrificial lamb.

Now, that may change in the future.

But right now, the political environment is not kind to the Democratic Party statewide in Alabama.

That is the reality we see well and see that being the case, because I take your point.

If you if you sign up to run just like what happened in 22, I mean, I was like a huge margin between Ivey and flowers.

So that may serve to deter quality candidates.

I'm thinking about the Doug Joneses of the world.

Right.

Somebody who is, you know, would be considered but the best you could put up.

But why would he do it if he's, you know, no matter how good you are, you're just that sacrificial.

And so it might deter some quality candidates from even considering.

Oh, absolutely.

And let me just say that there are some good people in the Democratic Party.

I just, like many of them, have looked at the political environment and just realize that it would not be a good use of time and resources.

You got Maddox up at what, Tuscaloosa there?

Many believe that he would make a very good candidate.

But the Democratic Party problem in Alabama is to crack 40% of the vote.

If you remember, Tubervill in his Senate race, he got 60.1% of the vote against Jones, against Jones.

And so, look, if he gets 60% of the vote against a quality candidate like that, think of what he's going to do against the lesser known candidates in this political environment.

So I think the quality Democratic candidate might have decided to just wait a little longer, because it just wouldn't be a good use of, you know, time and money.

Bide your time.

Yeah.

Speaking of Maddox, yeah, I agree with you because that 2018 race, you wouldn't have found a better candidate than Walt Maddox.

I, I went around with his, bus tour to do some reporting on that, and I'm just a fantastic candidate and still didn't come close.

Absolutely.

Great candidate.

Yeah.

You just got to look at that and say, okay, if that's about the best you can put up.

So you're right.

I take your point.

Well, what are the key to running in as a Republican?

Because you're going to have some tight races.

That AG's race is going to be really, interesting, lieutenant governor.

Others.

What is the key to standing out and winning?

Well, first of all, State Marshall, the outgoing attorney general is going to be, very popular among people.

And I think any candidate, who is closely associated with the outgoing attorney general is probably goin to be in a good position to win.

I know you have what, Jay Mitchell I know you have the, prosecutor for it from Blount County.

And I believe Steve Marshall's assistant chief counsel, Kathry Roberts, has gotten in the race.

And so I don't see any one of them winning without a runoff.

I do think it's going to be a runoff there, but, you would probably have to give a slight no to the person who is seen as being most like Steve Marshall at this time, and that might favor his assistant, depending on what the other two candidates are able to do.

Right.

That's interesting because jus in terms of campaign strategy, if you know it's going to a runoff or if you're confident it's going to a runoff will hold some of that campaign cash back, right?

Not not spend it all in one place.

You definitely want.

Well, first of all, you're probably spending a lot of it now because you don't know how much it's going to take to get into the runoff.

True.

And so you probably will find, all three of the candidates.

And there may be more.

I'm just looking at the top three now, you're going to find him spending a lot of money, because they may need to get into a runoff if they can't win that thing outright.

And at this point, you just don't have any way of knowing where you stand.

Let's zoom out a little bit, at the national picture, because, you know, those midterms are coming up.

It's Alabama's not really our midterms.

It's our main elections.

Oh, absolutely.

All constitutional of al the legislatures on the ballot.

But for national races, you know, the president's not on the ballot, but all of Congress is.

And a third of the Senate is.

So they you know, the Republicans have a sliver of a majority in Congress.

I mean, depending on who show up, it's 4 or 5, you know, and, you know, that's that any election can can tilt that when it's that close.

They just passed this big bill, being picked apart as we speak.

Does that put them more in danger?

Do you think of of losing the majority come 2026?

Understanding it's still a long way away?

Well, I know this big, beautiful bil with a big, beautiful law now.

Right?

It is very unpopular in many parts of the country, and I think it i going to hurt a lot of people.

And the conventional wisdom out there suggest that the Republicans probably will lose some seats because of it.

I have not jumped on that bandwagon yet.

I want to get a little bit closer to the 2026 election before I, see if the Republicans will really pay a big price for it, because you have to consider the cultural issue we that we talked about earlier, those things still ring pretty high on the list.

The voters here, I don't care what are you talking about?

You know, the immigration issues, the in the transgender issues, you know, same sex marriage, all of the cultural issues that raise a lot of emotions.

Still out there, they have not disappeared.

And it remains to be seen whether people will put their economi interests ahead of those things.

And to this point, they have not otherwise Donald Trump would be losing.

And at this point, he is winning.

It's interestin you say that economics versus, the social issues in that last election, both of them disfavored the incumbent.

Right.

Well, that's man I' calling here is the incumbent.

But you know what I mean.

But that is going to be interesting to see.

And we don't know the effects.

I mean, everybody's kind of trying to predict the effects of this bill when it comes to Medicaid and things like that.

I think a lot of that is going to depend on what area of the countr and how it affects your state.

And so we may not really know until a year from now what you know.

Well, well, the projections out there, you know, would suggest that over the next ten years, you're going to take away more than $1 trillion worth of benefits from people who need it.

But again, until you put that thing into play, you just don't know what the losses would be.

And you are absolutely right.

You need to look a different regions of the country to see what the impact is going to be.

And quite frankly, if if you see the adverse impact in deep red states, I'm not sure that that is going to have a significant impact on the turnover.

I think in deep red state, even if the if the impact of that is adverse, people are still going to vote for the Republican Party.

It's not that close anymore.

It's not that close.

Well, I've got you.

You know, we've seen, I guess over the last week, Elon Musk.

He's just this interesting figure now because he was, you know, 100% with Trump.

And then they kind of broke up.

And now he's he's sayin he wants to start a third party.

Who knows what he's going to do next.

But I wanted to it's brings u a good point about third parties because it's tough to start a third party.

It's been tried many times, whether it's Green Party or Libertarian Party or whatever.

It's tough to really start that third party.

I'm thinking of Ross Perot, with the Reform Part back in the 90s and everything, his his share of the vote actually went down after he absolutely did that.

Why is it so difficult to start a third party and have it actually be effective?

Because most people have already vested their interests in a two party system.

Even now, where you get so many people saying they don't like either.

Yes.

People may call themselves independents, you know, but then when you get down to the general election and you talk about identification of interests, people need a look in at the Democratic Party or the Republican Party.

That's the reality.

If you favor lower taxes, more favorable, policies towards businesses, you're probably leaning towards the Republican Party.

If you favor more policie that would support a safety net in this country.

That you say will look mor after the working class people, the lower class people.

You're probably lookin at the Democrat Party and people identify their interests along those lines.

And as long as that is the reality, people may call themselve and dependent or something else.

But at the end of the day, you're going to vote Democrat or Republican, because those are the only two parties that would have that chance of winning at this time.

Since I have a system is a winner take all and the loser goes home with nothing.

And so the only party who has a chance of winning would be either of the major parties.

And that's the reality.

I think you're right.

I think voters know that now, and they understand that they're voting strategically and that okay, yeah, maybe I like the Green Party.

Yeah, or the Reform Party guy, but I know that my vote will take away from this this 5050 horse race.

And the other point on that is thinking about Perot.

The he starts the Reform Party in 96 runs as a third part candidate doesn't get anywhere.

But after that, Clinton and the Democrats kind of absorb a lot of those ideas, right?

They absorb the deficit reduction and debt reduction and all that kind of stuff into their you know, congressional agenda.

And there's there's s that's also what happens, right?

If you if you have a good idea as a third party, one of the other parties is going to take it from you, right?

If you don't believe it.

Yes, that's the Libertarian Party.

Okay.

Yeah.

The Republican Party has pretty much, solve a lot of the Libertarian Party's ideas in terms of conservative policies.

They're and so you don't hear a whole lot of talk about the Libertarian Party like you used to.

The same would be true of the Greens party.

If you're talking about, the environment.

So, yes, many of the third parties often have, their interests, you know taken over by the major parties.

If you look at those policies that are more to the left, the Democratic Party would pick them up.

Those policies more to the right.

The Republican Party is going to pick them up.

And that is exactly what has happened over the years.

Yeah.

It's interesting how that happened.

So maybe not.

We're not gonna hold our breath for Elon Musk.

New party to to take, well that friendly we're out of time.

But thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing your insights with us.

Enjoyed being here.

Absolutely.

Great.

We'll be right back.

The Alabama Department of Archive and History was founded in 1901, becoming the nation's first publicly funded independent state archives agency.

The archives identifies, preserves, and makes accessible records and artifacts of enduring historical value to the state.

Thomas owned, founded the agency and served as its first director.

He was succeeded by his wife, Marie Banchero, who headed the archives for 35 years and was the second woman to lead a state agency.

That's our show for this week.

Thanks for watching.

We'll be back next week at the same time, right here on Alabama Public Television for our Capital Journal team.

I'm Todd Stacy.

We'll see you next time.