Hello and welcome to a special episode of Capital Journal.

I'm Todd Stacey, and we are here on location at the Southern Legislative Conference, which is being hosted by the state of Alabama here in Birmingham.

SLC has given Capital Journal unique access to the 79th annual event, which brings together lawmakers and policymakers from 15 southern states to discuss policy and progress in the American South.

SLC has put on by the Council of State Governments and specifically the Southern Region.

The hosting responsibilities rotate from state to state each year and this year is Alabama's turn.

As House Speaker, Nathaniel Ledbetter has served as the chairman of the organization.

It's an opportunity to show off our state to our southern neighbors but more importantly, to share ideas about similar problems and potential solutions.

Participants have taken part in more than a dozen policy breakout sessions on issue like health care, pharmaceutical costs, disaster preparedness education, agriculture, energy, best budgeting practices, and tax policy.

We'll be talking with legislative leaders from throughout the South, as well as some of Alabama's delegation here at SLC, about what they're getting out of the conference and how it could impact legislation in the future.

Our Capital Journal team captured some of the sights and sounds and discussions from this year's SLC, beginning with Governor Kay Ivey kicking off the conference by welcoming everyone to Sweet Home Alabama.

Alabama is proud to host the 202 Southern Legislative Conference here in the Magic City of Birmingham.

It's been a dozen years since we last rolled out the red carpet for CSG South down on the Alabama coast and mobile and tissue is good to have you back.

Y'all, we are family here in the southeast.

We speak the same way, enjoy the same lifestyle.

And most of all love our country the best when it comes to governing.

We must use the same teamwork approach to best serve the interest of our states and our people.

The Council of State Government is rightly focuse on developing leadership skills and sharing the lessons of the best practices.

The art of successful legislating is learning to work together.

Let us lay doors.

Never forget the key to successful governing.

It work best when you share the credit.

The people don't care who takes a bow.

They just expect us to do our jobs.

You know, we are blesse to have the accumulated history and guidance of ancient philosophers, leaders and statesmen like George Washington.

The framers of our Constitution, Abraham Lincoln, and so many others from whose knowledge we can draw.

Is our system perfect?

Of course not.

But capitalism, like democracy, is a self reforming system.

And while there's always work to be done to make the system work better, it's still the only system with such a proven track record.

joining me is the speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives, Nathaniel Ledbetter.

Mr. speaker, thanks for making time.

It's good to be here.

Certainly.

Glad to have you at the conference and something we've bee planning for almost two years.

And as chairman of SLC, let me welcome you for that to house here.

Thank you very much.

Well, yeah, I was going to say not just the speaker of the House, you know, our chairman of the SLC.

That's why it's in Alabama.

That's right.

So it kind of rotates.

It does.

So we've got 15 southern states, you know, in rotation to be Kentucky next year.

I've been the vice chair.

Come in knowing that we knew that we'd had opportunity to bring it to Alabama.

And to be honest with you that's the reason I've done it, is because I believe that Alabama now has grown to the point to where a new Alabama, with the growth we've had in our state and and nothing was bringing people into Alabama.

We're not the cities in the 60s anymore.

You know, this is 2025 and it's a new day.

And I think we've become a new state with the growth we've had and the things that's going on in our state to show that off, to showcase that.

It's been, one of my goals and that we're excited to be able to do that.

You know, we've had people that's travel today from here to Montgomery, from her to Tuscaloosa and to Huntsville.

So we're showcasing the whole state.

I mean, we'r not just Birmingham, of course.

Certainly Bern has been graciou to help us with hosting it, but, we're trying to make sure that everybody sees what we're about.

I was going to ask you about that because, I mean, Birmingham is kind of the obvious choice as the state's largest city.

Plus just the shee number of people to accommodate.

I mean, how many people are we talking about?

More than a thousand, right?

Yeah, we're talking about, we should have between 17, 1800 people.

Wow.

Which is, you know, it's huge.

I mean, the first day we had registration was the largest one day registration that I had, which I think speaks volumes for the program.

Our staff worked hard to putting this together along with SLC staff.

And I think it really speaks to what they've done.

And if you talk to people, you know, we started off the family and I did.

My thing was, I don't know, I don't open it up at Barber Motor Speedway.

Yeah, because it's a jewel.

It's an Alabama jewel.

And the response from that's been tremendous.

And I don't know how many people was there.

I'd say between 1500 and 2000 people that night.

So it's, it's amazing that we get to showcase our state in such a way.

Absolutely.

And I think it's important that it's not just in Birmingham, but showing off other parts of the state.

And like I said, you know, a unique opportunity doesn't come along so often.

Have there been any I mean, you mentioned the Barber Motorsports and and other highlights of the conference so far that stood out to yo in terms of Alabama being able to showcase the progress we have going on here?

Oh, absolutely.

I don't think any question about it.

You know, we, had the what we, call the world's largest tailgate party last night, right, and shut down downtown Birmingham.

I don't know, maybe a rarity, but, the city worked with us and we were able to block it off and had a, tailgate party with the boys in the band, which a tribute band to the group Alabama, which Randy and his group will be here tomorrow night.

I was going to say your your your personal friend Randy Owens.

Yes.

And we're excited about that.

He's excited.

And we've been back and forth a little bit about that.

And I think he he's looking forward to it.

So I think being able to let people see what we're about and they, you know, I can't say you how many times I've had people from different states come up and say, man, it's fabulous.

I've done a wonderful job.

And if you go from one hotel, the other, you know, you walk through the atrium and you start out in Huntsville, you know, they've got a showcase for Huntsville.

And then you go from Huntsville to Birmingham and from Birmingham to Tuscaloosa and Mobile in the Wiregrass.

And it's got a a little display from all those communities from one end of the state to the other.

So I think that was, very well thought out.

And they've done a tremendous job.

Yeah, I like different parts of the state kind of buying in t want to show off us all right.

So, you know, that's, what about issues?

I know this is kind of known as a conference to exchange ideas because, you know, we are all in the South.

Every every state's ge different issues and everything, but there are some common threads.

Have there any any issues that stuck out to you in terms of something that states have in common?

Maybe we can learn from each other?

Yeah.

I mean, to me, I guess the the reason I got involved, they'll say, I'll say to begin with that very reason, because you have a chance to sit down with other people from different states and network and see what's work for them, or maybe what hadn't work.

Sometimes it's just as important to know what won't work is this know what will work.

So we do that.

I mean we had a meeting this morning.

We'll have our executive meeting tomorrow.

We got some like ten policies that we'll vote on.

You know, whether it's energy policies or it's policies.

As far as transportation infrastructure, I think there is, I don't know the number of committees we've got 10 or 12 committees that they, they have, sessions all during the conference where they sit down and go over issues that affects them, what's affecting the company or the day agriculture or our ports or whatever.

Rail.

And, we've got some people that chair those committee.

Danny Crawford chairs again for the whole conference.

So that's kind of how I got started.

I was on transportation and economic developmen and got moved up to vice chair and then chair, and then they'd asked me to take the role as vice chair for the whole conference.

And this year as chairman of SLC.

So it's really great.

I mean, you know, you got a chance to sit down and people do the same thing you do in different states.

They may not do it the same way.

Everybody's policies are different and it constitutionally a lot of yo know, it's a lot of different.

So but it's good to learn those lessons from other people.

I certainly think that, the greatest form of flattery is probably sometimes is imitating somebody else or done.

Absolutely.

And there are things that we can learn from other states and things that states can learn from Alabama.

Which is, I think, the hope of, one of everything.

You know, i strikes me something like this, you've got most of your body here.

That's right.

It seems like we do mos of the House of Representatives.

I've seen them walking around.

Do you hope that folks can come back from this conference with some ideas that maybe y'all can put into motion during the legislative session, whether it's this upcoming one or in the future.

Now, I don't think seeing question about that.

I think some of the legislation you've seen us past, you know, in Rebuild Alabam and some of those other things come from this conference, okay, because Georgia had done it, because North Carolina or Arkansas or Mississippi is doing something similar at Tennessee.

So there's been a lot of conversation about, you know, the tax structure this morning.

We talked about that in meeting.

And the do we need to get together and try to see what everybody else i doing, what we can accomplish.

Everybody's just different.

And so, I do think that we will pull from that.

And you will see legislation every year.

We see it every year where the last year in Wes Virginia this year and Alabama next year will be in Kentucky.

So we see it every year where policy is made based on what somebody else has done are the research.

Now SLC does a really good job.

I mean, they've got a staf in Atlanta we work with closely.

You know, if we got policy issues we need to be looking up o something we need to be doing.

They help us do that.

So, you know, one thin I will say this and that I'm on this morning, we did the backpacks where we packed the food for the hunger bank here in the Birmingham greater breakfast area.

The fight against hunger, fight against hunger.

We packed over 100 different packages of food to go on the mostly senior citizens in the Birmingham area.

And I think this morning showed you had everybody from every state involved.

Within 30 minutes we had packed 100,000 meals.

So it just it's amazing to me what we can accomplish when we work together, not only as a state, the state of Alabama, but as a southeastern region with the 15 southern states.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, look, thank yo for including us in this session is to meet folks from other states.

We've got some some more to go.

And congratulations.

It's not eas to pull something like this off.

I know you and your staff have worked very hard on all this.

Hoping to talk to some of them.

Yeah, later actually, but enjoy it.

And again, thanks for letting us be a part of it.

We appreciate you guys bein here and showcasing our state.

I think it's wonderful.

Absolutely.

Mr. speaker, thanks for your time.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

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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Click on the online video tab on the main page.

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The USS Alabama 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 Capital Journal's coverage of the Southern Legislativ Conference here in Birmingham, where Alabama is playing host to 15 southern states gathered to talk about polic and progress here in the South.

And joining me next is the speaker pro tem from the Kentucky Hous of Representatives, David meet.

Mr. speaker, Pro Tem, thanks for making the time.

Absolutely.

Thanks for having me, I appreciate it.

And so you're going to be chairman next year, correct?

I am, yes.

So so, you know, our speaker is the chairman.

This yea we have hosting it in Alabama.

You're the chairman next year it's coming to Kentucky.

What are the plans for that?

Well we're going to have a great time in Lexington next year.

We're going to show everybody what the Bluegrass State's about.

Horses.

We have some bourbon tastings.

And then, of course, we do have a lot of policy issues as we a we go through, next year, say, next year's conference.

Any basketball?

There will be some basketball stuff.

Yes.

Yes.

Stepping up.

We'll look.

It's been fascinating to be a part of this.

It's first time I've ever been to SLC.

And there' just so many policy breakouts.

You know, different kind of conversations going on as vice chair.

What have been some of your biggest takeaways in terms of this conference and the policy implications and the discussions you all are having?

Well, I think that we've had some really good policy discussions today.

I was, moderated a 340 B panel this morning, which is an issu that a lot of states are dealing with in the health care system right now with pharmaceuticals.

Exactly.

Yes.

And pharmaceuticals in our hospitals.

You're seeing you talk there's a lot of talk about Medicaid, especially with, the budget bill that was passed at federal level.

There's discussion there.

How do we how do we transition from the federal government sending, that money down specifically line item to now sitting us down to us as a state to say, okay you distributed how you see fit.

So there's a lot of discussions going on.

And this is a great place to be because all the states come together, we can talk about it with each other and say, hey, what are you doing?

Maybe we can take that back to Kentucky and implement it there as well.

I was going to ask you about that because, yeah, after the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill, one of the interesting things about that and one of the far reaching kind of consequences, is a lot of decisions and funding decision are coming back to the states.

Thinking about education, thinking about Medicaid.

And y'all are an expansion state.

So that's in not all southern states are.

So yeah, what conversations have the been about because this is going to require more of states, not just financially but just decision making and things like tha taking up more responsibility.

What doe what conversations are going on about how state might figure out how to do that?

Because I'm guessing we might want to implement or emulate each other a little bit.

That's correct.

A lot of us who have passed, earlier on passed the expansion, that was done by a couple previous governors ago in our state.

We have to prepare on.

Okay.

What are we going to do now if the federal government starts making us pay that larger margin on Medicaid how are we going to handle that?

Our budgets?

How are we going to cut back on that expansion population to make sure that the folks who really need to be on it are getting it?

So we're dealing with those issues right now.

And then, of course, as you said, the federal government spending that money dow next year is our budget session.

So we're going to have to start now figuring out how we're going to distribute that ourselves and make sure that we're doing the best that we can for the taxpayers and make sure they're we're good stewards of their money.

Yeah.

It's one thing for Congress to to pass it.

The president signs it.

But yeah, we've got to deal with some of the consequences at the local level, at the state level.

And so I think it's interesting the timing because everybody's gettin ready to make those decisions.

I was going to ask yo just touch on a couple of them, but what issues, you know, can share with our Alabama audienc what issues Kentucky is facing that maybe are noteworthy, worth bringing up here as you exchange ideas with other states?

Well, one of the biggest things is in our in our state, about a third of our population is on, the Medicaid program.

So we're dealing with the work requirements.

However, a few years ago, we passed work requirements in the state of Kentucky.

So we've been planning on it for some time.

And so we'll be implementing that, of course.

And and then as we go through the education funding that's coming down, how are we going to make sure that that's distributive property across our state?

It's the budget is going to be our biggest issue that we face in Kentucky, bu also across the southern region.

One of our biggest issues, as well, is, is how do we have enough energy, for, for all the businesses that are coming to the state?

Our, our electrical utilities are trying to generate enough electric that for all this expansion that we're seeing.

And that's that's something that's happening all across the South.

So that's a huge discussio in our state right now as well, especially tech.

I these data centers that require an enormous amount of energy, it seems like we're always just kind of trying to play catch up.

But they talk about that plenty here in Alabama.

So it sounds like it' we're not the only one.

It is.

And we were, just a couple of weeks ago we had a leadership conference in Florida.

And a lot of that was a big discussion for us down there is how do we come together as a region to try to make sur that we have the amount of power that we need, because right now, the South seems to be the economic driving factor across the nation.

Certainly seems that way.

Well, look, I know you've been involve in SLC for some amount of time.

Talk about the value that you see for yourself personally, but also the members, that come down from your state in terms of bringing things back.

Talk about the valu KSG and SLC bring to the table.

Well, I think this is probably one of the actually, I think this is the best conference that we go to every year.

All of us coming together as states.

As I said before, we get to talk about the we're all facing pretty much the same issues, especially when it comes to the federal government.

And and then like I said, in the South, we say we share so much in common that we share the same problems as well.

And so it' good to come here and say, okay, this is what we've done.

It worked.

It didn't work.

And then we take that back to our home states and we try to implement it as well.

But that that relationshi with the other states right now, I think is the most important thing.

Okay.

Well, look, welcome to Alabama.

I know you've been here before, but welcome.

How are your impressions of of Birmingha and, your time here in Alabama?

Oh, it's been great.

The hospitality here has been wonderful, and we've just had it.

We've really enjoyed it, had a great time.

And, like I said, the policy discussions that we have have been terrific, but also, they've they've shown us a good time as well.

So it's been it's been great.

Well, that's what we like to hear.

Hometown, sweet home Alabama hospitality.

That's what we like to hear.

That's right.

Well, Mr. Speaker, Pro-Tem, thanks again for your time.

And we'll see you soon.

All right.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

See you in Lexington.

That's right.

We'll see you then All right.

We'll be right back.

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Harpe Lee is best known as the author of one of the most affecting and widely read books of American literature, To Kill a mockingbird.

The native Alabamian drew deeply from her coming of age years in he small hometown of Monroeville.

The 1961 Pulitzer Prize winning novel explores the dimensions of prejudice, hate, loyalty and love through the eyes of a young girl as she awakens to the complexities of human nature and its capacity for both good and evil.

The film version of To Kill a mockingbird underscored the success of the novel with its own success.

Both novel and film continue to hold the public and academia's interests.

Lee was widely recognized throughout her life, including the presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007 and the 2010 National Medal of Arts.

This year's SLC has featured notable Alabamians sharing their perspectives and stories with participants here in Birmingham.

Auburn head basketball coach Bruce Pearl sat down for a candid conversatio about how his leadership style applies to more than just basketball.

And Kelsey Bernard Clarke of Top Chef fame, sat down for a Women in Leadership luncheon to share her thoughts and perspectives.

We are blessed to have some o the greatest public institutions in this country and people fro around the world, and y'all know what I'm talking about here in the South.

You all know exactly what I'm talking, because you know what's going on on these colleges campuses.

Although they're not happening in the South, we're not having it, and it's not happening.

And one of the things about Alabama as a institution, seriously, there's a ton of kid coming from all over the country that are coming to University of Alabama.

And you know what?

They're getting a little taste of southern hospitality.

They're getting a littl bit of taste of our way of life.

They're getting a little taste of how we treat one another, how we don't necessarily need big government to be able to solve our problems.

Like we can actually take care of our own, like we can take car of our own families and people that have less than we have through our churches and through our communities and through other things that are that are available.

And so no, seriously.

Why?

Well, I give Alabama a hard time actually think it's great that we've got thousand and thousands of kids every year coming from all over the country to University of Alabama.

And just to see, you know, what what this is all about, my job is helped me put my kid in positions to be successful.

That's my job as a coach and as a leader.

You get to evaluate your talent.

You got to know what your talent, strengths, and their weaknesses are, and your job is to put them in those positions where they can be successful.

And if they fail, sometimes as leader, it's your faul they're doing the wrong thing.

So that's what it's all about.

You know, putting teams together.

Young people still want to be disciplined, young Steve.

Young people still want to be held accountable.

Young peopl still want you to see something.

And then they don't see in themselves.

There's got to be a level of discipline.

There's got to be a level of tough love.

Coach Pat dye used to say, yo can coach as hard as you love.

Why do your children, why do you put up with some things that your mommy or your daddy tells you?

Still, to this day?

The only one I can tell yo you're too heavy is your mama.

She's the only one.

What I'm saying is, mama can tell you that loves you.

Daddy loves you, and you put up with him.

Same thing in coaching.

Same thing in leadership.

If you're just honest with them.

We know that you were on chopped, Top Chef.

Everything, all of these shows, everything in between.

They're all intense.

So what inspired you to compete?

For me, it goes back to the same reason I dropped out of Auburn to go to New York, which now I'm sure that doesn't seem wild, but y'all, back when I did.

You know, this wasn't that long ago, but I was a small town girl that went to Auburn, and all my friends were like, you have lost your mind.

I'm like, I think I have, actually but I'm going to do it anyways.

So it wasn't it wasn't a thing.

That's so normal now as to be moving off and doing crazy things.

But it just sort of became this mantra of mine that if it scares me a lot, I should just try it once.

And that's sort of what it wa as Top Chef really terrified me.

The first job I had with the caterer, he was terrifying to me.

All of the chefs that ended up being the most influential mentors to me scared me to death.

And it just turned into this thing of like, the fear is your gut telling you to go.

And if it's a horrible idea, then turn around and go back.

Dozens of Alabama lawmaker are participating in this year's Southern Legislative Conference, acting as both participants and hosts.

Capital journal's Jeff Sanders and Randy Scott caught up with Alabama House and Senate members about their experience here at the conference and how it might apply to legislation in the future.

I just left a meeting just a few moments ago concerning higher education, which is extremely important to me, and Education Policy Committee and the Alabama House is very important to me.

Great information about abou how we can help our students to, get the degree that they need that will cause them to be productive, members of society also bringing in the income they're going to need to sustain a good, healthy lifestyle.

That's just one thing.

They said that they are planning on coming back again.

That's what their impression is of, Birmingham and Alabama.

So w I think we've done a good job.

We've, we'v put out to southern hospitality and you can see it everywher that people have been going and, great times are having and of course, it's a great conference to be abl to pull off the southern states where, you know, we have things in common in many of our states in the South.

The other areas they do not have.

So to be able to come together and be able to see what other states are doin and looking at how things that they've implemented, what the impact has me.

And so it helps us to be able to see the good and avoid some of the mistakes.

Well, it's all about networking with the other state.

The other southern states, and it's about looking i a deeper dive into the topics.

We can't really do all the studying and that we need during session.

So you come to conferences like this to find out from the experts or from people that know more than we do other states that have tackled this issue before.

And you go to the breakout sessions and you learn how they did it and formulate a plan for Alabama.

Some of the AI panels and some of the stuff around cybersecurity, ala, I, because I brought a quantum computing, task force.

So it's just interesting to see what other states are doing with Ada and regulations and how they're gearing up for quantum, because you know, that that's coming in 2028.

So just kind of being able to see the uniformity from each southern state, because a lot of times we, draft legislation, we're looking to the Georgia, the Mississippi the Tennessee and South Carolina to basically get some kind of ambition or some some kind of thought, a mind of what we're going to bring next.

Have you heard anything about dealing with veterans here at this event?

I have, and that's something we're going to bring to the forefront some other conferences that I belong to.

Based on the legislation that Alabama has carried that we've done in our committee, you know, we write our own legislation, and we do it for the benefit of folks in Alabama, other states now want to copy what we're doing.

So I'm very proud of that as well.

Well one is organization structure.

The volunteers have done superb.

Make sure the planning was in place.

But also, you feel safe.

There's enough, state troopers and a leader that's around to make sure that, our stay, and everyone stay in the city of Birmingham is a safe state.

joining me nex is a program participant, Kelsey Bernard Clarke of Dothan, better known as Alabama's Top Chef.

Right.

Yeah.

Right.

Yes.

And not false.

True.

So talk about that.

You won Top Chef.

That was back in 2020.

No, it was actually it was season 16.

So back in 2018.

Okay.

All right.

So pre-COVID free.

Correct.

Well, what went into I want to get to the women in leadership form.

You led this Women in Leadership forum today.

I want to get to that, but remind our audience or enlighten us.

How did you get started as a chef and what made you pursue that dream?

I started, as most chefs do just knocking on someone's door at 15 and kind of like, can I work with you?

I'll do anything.

I'll wash dishes.

Which was a local caterer at the time, Larry Paul Catering.

And I did exactly that.

I started washing dishes and then doing everything you didn't want to do.

And then, honestly, never saw it from there.

Which led me to the Culinary Institute of America in New York.

And then I worked i some kitchens up there as well.

Interesting.

I'm having flashbacks to the bear.

Wow.

I knew you were going to say that.

And so some of the chefs on the bear were my chefs.

Know what, Daniel Ballard?

I worked at his restaurant.

Yeah.

It's very accurate, chef.

Interesting, accurate.

I've heard that.

I've heard that describe.

We'll talk about your presentation today and what your message wa to these women who are leaders.

A lot of these women who were here, lawmakers lobbyists, other policymakers, there are leaders in their own right.

But talk about your messag to them from your perspective.

The biggest thing we talke about today was, honestly, it's something that I feel strongly about, which is being a mom more than a woman is a lot of it, trying to balance career and motherhood, which is never a balance.

So a lot of the discussions that we were having were a lot about, just how hard it is to make the choice to continue working once you have a baby, and then how how it actually looks to be a working mom, just how hard it is.

And that I think that if any mom could actually choose, they would choose to be with their kids all the time, but it just usually isn't a choice.

So that was a lot of the discussion today.

Yeah, and unfair choices sometimes, you know, why should you give up on ambition, you know, and things like that.

So many talented individuals.

And so, you've had to live that in your own life, I'm sure.

Yeah.

And I'm really lucky that I started so young that by the time I did have children, you know, I have the extreme luxury to stay home when I want to stay home, for the most part, to say no when I want to say no.

And if my kids are sick, I'll pick them up and bring them home.

That in and of itself is incredibly rare.

Because I didn't have to say I quit.

And I also, you know, I get to do both, which is, again, a luxury.

And so I think that if any woman you asked with children that is working right now, they're there.

Most of them would probably say, I wish there was an option to slow down the first ten years of of the baby's children's life and just to be home more with the without slowing my career down.

And that is the thing is, if we don't want to quit, but we would love to have more time with our children.

And I think that that's the most impossible decision that most women face is quit or not quit.

It's not an option t to taper off and then be fine.

And ten years to go back full speed ahead.

Yeah, I've heard women talk about it's not, you know, doing 50% here and 50% here.

It's actually doing 100% here and 100% there.

You're just constantly burning yourself out.

And then and we all know if you're trying to give it all in every area, you never are, right.

And that's really what the balance is, is I sa that all the time, like when I'm pushing for my book deadlines, for example, I feel like the worst mom on the planet that month.

I'm absolutely absent.

I'm laser focused on a deadline and a career that I can't stop.

And I have a contract with it, but I feel like a complete failure at home, and that's what that looks like.

That's the balance that it looks like when you're pushin really, really hard in one area is you feel like you're failing somewhere else.

Why?

I think it's so important, especially in this context with lawmakers, policymakers, leaders we'd be missing out on so much if there if there was no choice right?

Think about if there were so a lot fewer or no women in leadership positions in statehouses across the country, in Congress, we would be missing as a country, as a state, as all these states.

Such an important perspective.

And so it's good to have these conversations and to offer that encouragement and maybe, you know, lessons that you've learned and maybe some of the others have learned to to kind of lift each other up and say it's, you know, we know how to do this.

It can be done.

Right.

And I think it goes farther than tha of the partners of these people.

It is a partnership.

Now, this this whole households are 50, 50 people working.

So it goes into just it's not just about women, it's about everybody.

You're working as a team, typically in a household, and it affects everyone.

If you're not feeling like you're able to do your best.

And so I think that the biggest thing that would be the most important is how can we support everyone better.

Before I let you go what you get cooking.

You get how would you get cooking down in Dothan.

I have got a new book coming out in the spring and a new show coming out on Netflix in September.

All right.

Yeah.

Can you give us any clues of the titles or.

Yeah, the new show is called Next Gen Chef.

On Netflix.

And then the new book is called Flavor of Fire.

It's an outdoor cooking, specifically grilling book.

How about that?

Just in time.

That's terrific.

Well, I encourage everybody to check that out.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you all so much.

Appreciate it.

We'll be right back.

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

aptv.org.

Click on the online video tab on the main page.

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

Singer Wilson Pickett was renowned as an energetic and intense performer.

The Prattville native gained international fame with such hits as land of a Thousand Dances and In the Midnight Hour, and became one of the biggest music stars of the 1960s and 70s.

He remains one of the most unique and significant artists of the soul music era.

Atlantic Records produce Jerry Wexler encouraged Pickett to record at Stax Records in Memphis, merging the gospel roots of Pickett's vocals with the strutting, layere rhythms of the Stax musicians.

Picket soon was topping the R&B chart and crossing over to the pop charts.

In early 1966, Wexler took Pickett to Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, which had built a reputation as a versatile source of hit records.

He and the Muscle Shoals Swampers recorded celebratory, hard driving hits such as land of a Thousand Dances and Mustang Sally.

Wilson Pickett was inducted into the Roc and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.

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

Welcome back to Capital Journal's coverage of the Southern Legislative Conference on location her in Birmingham at the Sheraton.

I'm joined next by West Virginia delegate Anitra Hamilton.

Delegate.

Thanks for coming on Capital Journal.

Thanks for having me.

And welcome to Alabama.

What have been your impressions so far?

Alabama is hot and humid, but I love it.

It's been beautiful.

I love to see, a lot of the, roll tide.

Pride would love to engage with a lot of Alabamians, so it's been great being here.

Don't forget a little bit of War Eagle there.

Okay?

Yeah.

You're right.

We've got pride to know.

And y'all hosted last year.

All right, your state hosted last year at The Greenbrier.

So we were excited to be a part of it here.

I'm curious.

What have been your highlights of the or maybe a couple of highlights of the session so far?

One of the things that really, impacted m was listening to your governor, and one of the things that she said was the key to successful legislation was working together.

Me coming into, government work, I come from, working with NAACP, which is nonpartisan.

So coming into working, government has been for me a higher level of public service.

So I enjoy working together.

So I loved when she said that.

And I think that's so key to all states and to all legislators working togethe to ensure that our communities are impacted and that we work together to ensure that our states are getting the best program and services that we all need.

Yeah.

Governor Ivey i kind of known for teamwork talk.

When she was lieutenant governor, she would take, you know, opportunities to admonish the legislature from time to time.

So I'm not surprised to hear that SLC is kind of meant to be this exchange of ideas, like you said nonpartisan, different states, folks coming together.

So I'm curious about some issues, maybe that y'al are working on in West Virginia.

That may be worth sharing with your colleagues from other states down here.

Absolutely.

One of the biggest things that we have been working on in West Virginia, coming into our last legislative session, was we were dealing with flooding.

And last, last legislative session, we advocated very hard for our caucus, for, our legislative body to fund our flood resiliency fund, which we were very unsuccessful in doing.

But we brought a lot of awareness to it, not only to the legislativ body, but to our constituents.

And unfortunately, since then and starting that legislative session, we were on the heels of a major destructive flood.

And after our session, we experienced two more floods that, unfortunately, we lost eight individual, many businesses, many organizations that, were destroyed due to flooding.

And as we can see, this is a national issue that many states are not prepared.

And it's something that is bringing awareness across our nation.

So our last panel really dealt with emergency preparedness.

And to see some of the answers and some of the potential solutions, I think has been great because it's something that we have advocated for very hard.

I would imagine just considering West Virginia, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, all the flooding we've seen, we had some in Alabama through this inland flooding.

I would imagine that will continue to be a topic amongst the state leaders here.

And again trying to be ahead of the game instead of reactionary to it.

Well, look I really appreciate your time.

Hey, you know, it strikes m that you represent Morgantown, Rice University West Virginia mountaineers.

Yes.

You know, there are som some prominent West Virginians, that we have here in Alabama, namely Nick Saban.

Absolutely.

So, and, you know, I guess, you know, he's no longer in the coaching business anymore.

But I guess on behalf of our Roll Tide friends, I guess we should say thank you for for Nick Saban.

Absolutely.

We're so proud of the great work that he's done.

And just to see where he's been, even though we played against Alabama, it's always a source of pride to see the rich legacy that West Virginia has and a lot of coaching, a lot of great players have come from West Virginia.

When I kind of wish we wer in the mountain air right now.

Absolutely.

It was.

Let's do it.

But thank you for coming to Alabama.

Welcome.

And enjoy the rest of the conference.

Thank you for having me.

We'll be right back.

Born Henry Louis Aaron on February 5th, 1934, in mobile.

Baseball icon Hank Aaron first honed his baseball skills while growing up in Alabama.

He is best known for breaking Bab Ruth's record of 714 home runs, ultimately hitting 755, a record that stood from 1974 to 2007.

During his career, Aaron was a member of the Milwaukee and then Atlanta Braves for 21 seasons and made the National League All-Star team every year from 1955 to 1974.

He won three Gold Glove Awards for outfielder, and his lifetime records for most runs batted in and most extra base hits still stand.

Aaron was elected to th Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, with 97.8% of the votes cast in 2002.

He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

Welcome back to Capital Journal's coverage of the Southern Legislative Conferenc on location here in Birmingham.

And joining me next from the state of Mississippi is state Senator Rob Hickman.

Senator thanks for coming on the show.

Absolutely happy to be here.

Well, you're right across the line, right?

I'm right on the Alabama line.

I leave my house in about 10 to 15 minutes.

I'll be in Alabama.

Okay.

I was going to say welcome to Alabama, but you just can cross the line any time you want.

Yes.

What have you been on your impressions of Birmingham so far in terms of the conference?

I think the conference has been great.

Logistically, everything is flow smoothly.

Everything I've been to has been on time.

I like the fact that we have lots of security around here.

The programing has been fantastic.

I just left a, session talking about education, education, formulas and stuff like that, which is something I'm, pretty interested in, one of my focus areas.

So I think the conference has been great so far, and I'm looking forward to family night.

My daughter's here with me.

There's a amazing family for us.

And like, my daughter enjoy this conference more than I do.

I dropped off at 9:00 this morning and she basically said, I'm not her dad until five when I pick her back up.

She's having a good time.

She's having a good time.

That's great.

It's great that everybody involves their families and things like that.

You talk about education.

Any other highlights of the of the conference so far that has impacted you as a state lawmaker?

Yeah.

So like I said I've been to, a policy session that talked about like some criminal justice reform.

That's something that, I'm, I'm excited about.

The one thing I do like about this conference is that we get to get in the room.

We get to see what other states are doing that may be doing something better than ours.

And we really get to, you know, copy without really cheating.

Like, it's an open book.

And they're saying like, this is what you do.

And so I like to go to the policy session to see ho we can make Mississippi better, what things we can implement that other states are doing and doing right.

And one of the other highlight that I just get to see friends and people I know from all across the country, all across the, all across this region and networking and things like that.

Right.

Well, it is meant to be kind of that exchange of ideas and everything.

I'm curious about, issues that y'al are working on in Mississippi.

That maybe might be a point of conversation with your colleagues from other states.

Yeah.

One of the things that, I've been working on and looking into, and I think a lot of state have the one of the main things that constituents want from a government, a working government, is they want to feel safe in their homes and in their, neighborhoods, in their communities, in their towns.

And there's recently, I think, across the country, the southern region.

And it's even seeping into rural America, rural Mississippi, rural Alabama or wherever, is the crime rate.

Everybody's looking to try and get that down.

And criminal justice reform is, I think, a place that we can start that conversation.

One of the things that we're working on in Mississippi is we're doing a comprehensive study of our youth court syste to figure out how we can better, do you court becaus most of the time that's people's first or individual's first encounter with the criminal justice system.

And so if we ca if we can reform that to a place where we can have the first interaction with you, and we never have to interact with you in a court setting or a criminal court setting.

Again, I think we've done the right thing.

And so that's out.

That's, something that we're doing.

And the one thing I can sa that I think we're doing right is that we're taking the time to step back.

We're talking to practitioners, we're talking about youth court justice.

We're talking about youth court attorneys.

We're lookin and doing a comprehensive survey of the entire system to see what we can do better.

Interesting you say that because that has been a big issue in Alabama this past session.

There was a big focus on public safety criminal justice and all that.

Also, on drug courts, the Supreme Court chief justice had an agenda about it was like drug courts, menta health courts, veterans courts.

These specialty courts that really do make a difference.

So it's interesting that that's a common theme.

It's a it's a common thing.

And we have some specialty courts.

That's another thin that, we started to look into.

We've had drug court for a while.

For a while it's been working.

But of course there are other specialty courts.

And one of the things that I've personally wanted, to do, and I'll probably look into something like that, is creating just, you know, a specialty court instead of having like, drug court, this court, that court, if we have a system of specialty courts that deal with these particular things, kind of streamline, streamline all of it, because we have in Mississippi, we have jurisdictions that we have one jurisdiction doing is we have one jurisdiction or that we have one jurisdiction doing is they may have a drug court or, you know, they may have, a different specialty court or here they are.

And so we're looking into things like that.

We'v only got a little bit of time, but I want to I'd be remiss if I didn't ask yo about the Mississippi Miracle, because in Alabama, we've bee covering education specifically.

You know, we passed our Literacy Act in 2019.

It was modeled quite a bit after what Mississippi did in terms of literacy.

I think we did the same thing on numeracy.

Maybe we led the way on that.

But talk about what happens, because it seems to me that it must have had i must have taken a lot of people having to be on the same pag to pass something so ambitious.

But the result have been nationally recognized.

Absolutely.

And I will say I wasn't in the legislature when it passed, but I've I've looked at it, looked at what happened I'm on the education committee.

And what happened was you're right.

A lot of people got on the same page.

Mississippi simply got tired of being on the bottom, and we came up with a solution.

And one thing that we found is that if you can get a child to read at the third grade level, then their education experience is much more enhanced.

They, they do better throughou their entire education career.

And so we implemented, of course, a reading gate, the literacy exam to make sur that we weren't missing anybody.

But on top of that, we we, instituted literacy coaches that went into the classroom and gave special attentio to children who were struggling.

And I tell you this, I think the miracle is going to continue.

We're looking to d the same thing in mathematics.

And, kind of around, a wrap around the process of making sure.

Because what makes a difference is, is when you have specialized people going in and targeting those students that need extra help, you may have ten kids tha just get it right off the bat, but you have 2 or 3 that are struggling.

And if we can get som specialized help to boost them up, I think that' what's made all the difference.

Absolutely.

Well we copied literacy from y'all.

Y'all can copy Numeracy Act from us because it's getting some good results.

Absolutely.

Well, Senator, thanks again for your time and enjoy the rest of the coffee.

Absolute thanks for having me.

We'll be right back.

Alabama Public Television is your place for quality educational services.

Free professional development for educators and childcare providers with access to free, curriculum aligned videos, lesson plans and instructional resources with PBS Learning Media and all the PBS kids programs, parents know and trust.

Learn something new every da with Alabama Public Television.

Visit us at AP tv.org/education to learn more.

The quilters of G span are world renowned for their traditional quilt designs.

The inhabitant of the small Alabama River town are mostly descendant of enslaved African Americans.

Gee's bend has demonstrated a persistent cultural wealth in the vibrant style of its quilts.

Quilt making has a long history in Alabama, and there are no finer examples of this art form, and the motifs and craftsmanship of the quilts of G spanned.

Welcome back to Capital Journal's coverage of the Southern Legislativ Conference here in Birmingham.

And joining me next are the architects really the braintrust behind the SLC being here in Birmingham?

Lindsey Gray, regional executive director for the Council of State Governments.

And Jade Schofield, deputy chief of staff for House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter.

Ladies, thanks for.

Thanks so much for making the time.

Thank you for having us.

Yeah, we're excited to be here.

Absolutely.

Well, again, y'all are the architects.

Lindsey, you fro the organization's perspective.

SLC you do this year after year.

So I'm curious what goes into planning SLC in a different state because I'm imaginin different states have different opportunities, challenges and things like that.

Every state's different.

So what goes into it?

This is a two year long process that starts with an invitation from the legislature and our executive committee approving that invitation.

And from there we are off to the races and selecting the locations that work best through an RFP process.

And once we select the city that we're going to making sure we put all the key players in plac to have a successful conference.

We have over 1700 people and this is our 79th year or so.

It definitely takes a lot of architecture, as you said, to make that happen.

But, it's a two year process.

Jade, you all have worked so hard.

Like she said, two years.

And I'm really thinking of the last year intensely.

After Birmingham was selected, you got the venue.

Talk about the work.

Because you were the lead for the speaker's office.

Talk about the work that you and your team put in to actually turning this ide into a reality here in Alabama?

Well, you know, from day one, the speaker's goal has just been to, showcase a new Alabama to everyone coming in for this conference.

And so, you know, it took the speaker's staff, it took the pro tem staff.

Aliya stepped up in a big way and helped us, with security needs.

We had wonderful sponsors from across the state.

Our House and Senate members have come to show out, and they've really stepped up to the plate.

And so I think everyone's having a great time.

We've we've all been hands on deck.

And I think I think it's it's been very positive.

And shout out to all the staff that have come to volunteer.

It was so interesting walking in.

There were familiar faces, you know, that I see you in the House and Senate every day and really happy to be here.

So happy to be able to showcase Alabama.

I think that's really fun.

You know, from a staff standpoint, don't you think?

I think absolutely.

We can't not say enough, lik you said, about our volunteers.

It's all, like you said familiar faces at house staff.

At Senate staff, it's like staff is volunteers from around the state.

You know, Birmingham volunteers that have come in.

And so again, we're just really appreciative of everybody.

You mentioned earlie because I've seen a huge Aliyah presence, but also from other states.

Right.

Everybody has their protection details and everything I'm imagining after, you know, what happened in Minnesota, there are just heightened, yo know, concerns about security.

So was that an extra challenge this year to say could you make sure everybody was understanding that, yes, we're going to have a secure environment, enforcing the rules and things like that.

We're really proud of that.

We've been able to have a secure environment for so long, in so many years.

And so security has always been a top priority for us.

But this year, with recent events, obviously it ramped up just a bit and Aliyah has just been wonderful t make sure that we're all safe.

And, we have a presence with our youth program and our guest program, as wel as within the conference area.

So we know our folks are safe and secure, and Aliyah has made sure that that has happened.

And we can't speak their praises enough.

This has been a very secure conference, and I can't tell you how many people have come up to m and said, hey, we feel very safe and we appreciate what you've done this year.

Absolutely.

Well, let me say, the events have been fantastic.

But every time I've had a conversation with a lawmaker from Alabama or other states, they're not talking about the events.

They're talking about a policy session they went through.

They're talking about an idea they just talked about.

I think that is is worth sharing and, and makes, SLC so valuable, to individual lawmakers and policy makers.

Well, look, we're out of time, but thank you all so much.

And congratulations on pulling off a wonderful conference.

Thanks, Don.

Thank you.

We'll be right back.

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

aptv.org.

Click on the online video tab on the main page.

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

The World War Two era Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American pilots in U.S. military service.

Because Tuskegee was the only training facility for black pilots in the United States during World War II.

Potential pilot came from all over the country.

The first African-American flying unit was the 99th Fighter Squadron, which deployed in the spring of 1943.

The 99th earned a Distinguished Unit Citation, flying missions against enemy targets over Italy.

The second flying unit, the 332nd fighter Group, flew several successful bomber escort missions throughout the war.

Its P-51 fighters ha distinctively painted red tails, earning the unit and its planes the nickname Red tails.

In 1948, Presiden Truman issued an executive order mandating the racial integration of all military services.

The way was paved by the Tuskegee Airmen of Worl War Two, and in 2007, President Bush collectively awarded them a Congressional Gold Medal.

And that's wrap from here at the Birmingham Sheraton and Alabama's hosting of the Southern Legislative Conference.

A special thanks to the Council of State Governments, and for House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter and his staff for allowing Capitol Journal t be a part of this unique event.

And as we leave you, here's a special treat.

The participants got Randy Owen and the group Alabama playing some good Ole mountain music.

Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time.

I swim across the river just to prove that I'm a man to spend the day I will.

Well, being lazy, just be nature friend and I climb a long tall hickory, bend it over, skinning cats playing baseball with chert rocks usin sawmill for bats.

Play some back home come on music that comes from the heart.

Play something with lots of feeling.

Cause thats where music has to start.. Oh, play me some mountain music, like grandma and grandpa used to play.

Then Ill float on down the river to a cajun hideaway, hey, hey.. Oh, play me mountain music.

Oh play me mountain musics.

Oh, play me mountain music.

oh play (yee-haw!)

You.