From the Alabama Public Television house studio in Montgomery.

I'm Randy Scott in for Todd.

Stacy, welcome to Capitol Journal.

Our guests joining us tonight will be Representativ Prince Chestnut, Senator Clyde Chambliss, Bureau of Pardons and Parole director Cam Ward.

And Doctor Louis Lambiasi of the UAB Medical Center here in Montgomery.

But first, there's a renewed talk of gambling around the state and at the Alabama State House.

But so far, no bill and no clear plan.

A proposal to legalize a state lottery and casino gaming passed the House last year but died in the Senate.

And as Capital Journal's Jeff Sanders reports, changes in leadership could complicate any effort to try again.

Confirmatio Alabama lawmakers are once again talking about gambling, but not with much urgency.

So far, no bill has been filed and ke figures are signaling caution.

And though there's not bee a bill dropped in the details.

The devil's in the details on that.

So until a bill is dropped, there's really not any details to be looking at.

So right now my focus is in other places that I think the state of Alabama has to be focused on.

Senator Garland, governor now holds the Senate's top leadership post, replacing former president pro Tem Greg Reed, a known supporter of last year's gambling legislation.

Reed stepped down to lead the state's workforce agency.

His Senate seat remains vacant.

And that means one less yes vote for gambling proponents to pass a constitutional amendment.

Any gambling measure would need 3/5 support in both chambers.

A high ba in the sharply divided Senate.

I'm hearing it may be coming back in.

I have not seen a bill.

I've been hearing some concepts.

The concepts that I'm hearing.

I could support it, but yet it's still.

I have not seen the bill.

Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton says informal conversations are taking place behind the scenes, but there is no formal proposal and little sign of momentum.

You know, is still looking at trying to bring in sports, wagering, a lottery in some kind of a game.

In which level, whether it be class two in or class three, which we think that we can ge pass in the House, lawmakers say they're waiting on the Senate to make the first move and not shy about reminding the upper chamber of last year's result.

And I think the speaker in his bar, in his leadership, has really laid out since the end of the 2024 legislative session that any gaming legislation that we will would actually look into here i the House would have to start in passed the Senate, and then and only then when we actually dig into it, see wha and if anything, the Senate pass and then make a timetable and decisions of how we move forward, representing.

Chris Blackshea helped lead the 2024 House plan, which included a state lottery, sports betting and casinos.

Now, with fewer members and no bill in play, a comeback may be hard to pull off.

Reporting at the Statehouse in Montgomery.

I'm Jeff Sanders for Capitol Journal.

Alabama could be a step closer to giving the Space Command headquarters after the Air Force secretary nominee had his confirmation hearing this week.

Alex Angle reports from Capitol Hill on the expected timeline for the possible space car move to Huntsville.

Air Force Secretary nominee Troy Meek appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee this week and pledged to build up the Space Force.

Alabama lawmakers have repeatedly said that once the Air Force chief gets in place, they expect a decision on Space Command headquarters.

This saga, moving Space Command headquarters to Redstone Arsenal could be nearing its end.

Confirming the Air Forc secretary is a critical stepping stone to making that a reality according to Alabama lawmakers.

President Trump's pick to lead the Air Force, Troy Menke, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.

The Space Force is in the process of growing.

I will support that activity to make sure we have the right number and the and the right skill set.

Senator Tommy Tuberville who sits on the Armed Services Committee, says meek will be responsible for choosing the home of Space Command.

Rest assured that I will be reminding him of the multiple studies confirming that Huntsville is the best place for space.

Com on the basis of infrastructure cost, mission capability and the quality of the local community.

Even state officials are joining in on the push to make Redstone Arsenal the permanent home of Space Command.

Alabama Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth visit the white House Thursday, urging the president to move the headquarters to Alabama from Colorado.

Senator Katie Britt said earlier this month that the prospects of bringing it to Alabama look really good.

He does the assessment that that decision will be made and that we believe President Trump will act quickly on it.

The Air Force found in 2021 that Redstone ranked number one as the best location for the headquarters.

But President Joe Biden chose Colorado Spring for the home of Space Command.

Alabama officials have been fighting that decision ever since.

They remain confident the move will happen under the Trump administration.

Getting him quickly confirme so we can continue the process of bringing Spacecom to its rightful home in Huntsville.

A committee vote for Meek's nomination hasn't been scheduled yet.

Once out of committee, his nomination will be sent to the full Senate for vote.

Reporting on Capitol Hill Alex Engle, Capital Journal.

Wednesday Governor Kay Ivey issued a ban on the use of AI platforms deep seek and menace.

Both are Chinese owned, and a ban puts Alabama in lin with ten other states in the US.

Taking the same measures, Governor Ivey says due to these platforms association with the Chinese government.

Quote, these platforms pose an unacceptable risk to the state of Alabama and its citizens in terms of data privacy and cybersecurity, unquote.

One topic lawmakers will be continuing to work on during the 2025 session is fighting crime, especially gun violence.

Alabama lawmakers aren't alone.

The US Supreme Court upheld a federal ruling banning the selling of ghost guns.

They are do it yourself gun kits sold online, which include all the parts for your gun.

The weapons, though, are untraceabl because when they put together, they have no serial numbers to track them.

Also in Alabama, a 15 year old was arrested in Birmingham for violating the state's new ban on machine gun conversion devices, known as Glock switches.

The teen was found in the 9th Terrace North area with the item and was taken into custody on Monday.

One of the many projects the legislature is working on during this 2025 regular session is fighting crime.

Our next guest is going to talk about fighting crime, but from a different perspective.

He is Cam Ward, the director of the Alabam Department of Bureau.

I'm sorry.

Pardons and paroles.

It's a mouthful.

It's a mouthful.

It's a mouthful.

Good to see you, sir.

As I said, the legislature, one of the many things that they're taking a look at is fighting crime.

Because it's become a problem not just in Alabama, but around the country, trying to make sure crime is curbed down to keep citizens safe.

Your perspective is not of the actual law enforcement officers in the street, but what happens to those who are incarcerated for committing crimes?

Or is it not?

Yes, sir.

And you know we have it.

My agency's a very interesting agency.

It's one of the three largest, law enforcement agencies in the state of Alabama.

They're law enforcement, APAs, certified officers.

So we kind of have a carrot and stick approach.

We have we ar we're charged with supervising people who've been released on parole or on probation.

That population includes about 45,000 people.

And so we have to supervise and monitor them with the number one goal being public safety.

But it's a carrot and stick.

The stick is we don't want you to get in trouble.

But if you do, there's punishment consequences.

However, the carrot is we want to give you all the tools necessary so that you don't go back to prison.

So you don't go back and hurt somebody or cause problems or harm in society.

So that's where my angle comes from for reentry.

And I believe that's why Alabama, the second only the second state in the country we joined reentry 2030 as a means of carrying out those goals.

Let's talk about that reentry.

What is reentry?

What does it mean?

And why should people know what it means?

It's different for everybody.

My view of reentry is this it's public safety.

It's a tool of public safety.

95% of everyone in prison, in jail, eventually get out.

I know what I want to like.

I want them to get a job, clean out their underlying issue, which is usually either substance abus or mental health.

And finally, I want to get a good paying jobs or pay in taxes.

And they're not hurting somebody.

That's my goal.

How do we do that?

Different states do it differently.

I've looked at thi for a long time, and I believe it's a great public service tool that we give these people the opportunity to get back on their feet.

The likelihood that committing a crim is absolutely dropped way down.

This has been a point of discussion around the state of Alabama.

What happens to those who are incarcerated?

What is the Bureau doing?

How can lawmakers help out with that process?

How can citizens help out with that process?

Are you getting a lot of feedback from both those?

We are actually.

And where that comes from i as we we're constantly talking and discussing and educating and saying this is what this process means.

So for example, we have electronic monitorin that at one point peak had about 4100 people that we were electronically monitoring that were on mandatory supervision.

So that's that's the stick approach.

We got to make sure we know we are what you're doing.

The other side of it is we have our day reporting centers.

We have 12 day reporting centers.

Plus we have our prep center in Perry County.

Was this residential day reporting center.

What that means day reporting center is it's an intensive supervision that requires maybe a drug treatmen depends on the individual drug treatment, mental health treatment.

And then we have 15 private sector companies that are partnering with us on job training.

Biggest, most important partner being Ingram State Technical College, the prep center in Perry County.

It was the first one that has opened in Alabama, is it not, sir?

Yes.

Or in fact, it's now become a model around the country.

We've had state we've had about seven states.

Call us.

I think we'll also have a congressional delegation come down and look at it.

It's being cited a lo as best in best best practices because it is very innovative.

So I look at success based upon recidivism rates in Alabama, the recidivism rate, recidivism, meaning do I get out of prison and go back in within three years?

That's what most states use.

That's the national standard.

Our rate is 29% making us 25th in the country.

The Prep Center ha been open two and a half years.

We've had over 300 graduates, and the recidivism rate has been an astounding 0%.

So what that tells me i there's something working there that we need to replicate and do more statewide.

And I'm quite sure a lot of people taking notice around the country, even in the nation's capital.

Right.

And so, you know, this is Second Chance Act and second chance.

I was born under President George W Bush.

He signed it in law when he was president.

And every president since then, you're required to reauthorize it every year.

Every presiden since then, Obama, Trump, Biden, and I believe President Obama.

I mean, President Trump's going to do it again.

Coming up here this April, he' he's a big fan of the program.

He has been in the past.

So what that means is second chance is a nationwide issue.

I mean, it's being discussed nationwide and it's discussed in the vein I just talked about.

It's a public safety tool.

I will be up in Washington, DC coming up discussing this issue with our our congressional delegation.

We'll be talking about doing a couple of roundtables with congressional committees to discuss the importance of reentry and how, if it's done right, can be a marvelous publi safety to our goal in Alabama.

My goal is right now we have 29% recidivism.

I'd like to see that go unde 15% by the end of this decade.

That would make us one of the best 5 or 6 states in the country.

And a lot of people, civilia citizens, taxpayers are noticing this, too, and are interested to see what they can do to help out the number of places, West Alabama Works, which is that regional conglomerate over there, chambers.

And the members, they have have been great supporters.

We've had meetings with manufacturer Alabama.

Alabama Powe has been a tremendous partner.

We've had so many companies come forward and say, hey, this might be something we can get involved with.

I really appreciate that because that gives it the credibility you need.

It's not just some government official pushing for issues.

It's truly a statewide public private partnership.

It's something that also helps from an economical standpoint by seeing this success.

People are encouraged to come to Alabama and bring more businesses related to it, to get more people involved, to get more people who are coming out of being incarcerated, to be on board with it.

As I was talkin with our secretary of workforce, Greg Reed, you know, we only have a 57% labor participation rate that's really harming ou economy because right now, the to be honest, we have great unemployment numbers.

Income numbers are up.

Everything's up except labor participation.

So I think there's a space in there that this can be used to help fill a void on the labor participation.

We've had people that go in that had a drug problem.

We get them taken care of, we treat them.

We go through extensive therapy, and then they go out and get a job that we've helped them get training for, making 75, $85,000 a year with benefits.

That person, you don't see them again.

And I think that should be the goal of everybody in our society.

That's wha I want the person to look like, because it's not somebod who just lives on an overpass.

The criminal, it could be your neighbor.

Your friend could be a relative.

So it affects crime, affects everybody.

So let's make sure we tackle it in a way that's smart and tackling it like you are you tackling it from a career standpoint and also an educational standpoint in some cases too.

Are you not?

Yeah, we do a lot.

Of course we have a GED programs.

We have programs that Ingram State Technical Colleg is the only technical college, community college in the country that provide what they call prison education.

That's for the incarcerated.

Informing course.

Right.

So they've been a great partner.

And you know, I don't ever downplay that our law enforcement functions critical, but really and truly ours is more of a supervision role, where as a, your county sheriff's or D.A., the attorney general deal with on the front end.

I feel like the back end is where I come into play, but I think there's a tremendous role to reduce the repeat offender aspect if we do our job reentry correctly.

And there are many different aspects of doing that.

Programs that you have that you were saying that could help out and we'll help out with that, wants to get up and running and implement it, are there not?

We have a tree line trimming program in our Perry County Prep Center.

It's been a great program.

The power company did it, an they have a lot of contractors that we work with, teaching these people how to get certified in tree line trimming to trim the lamb so they don't follow power lines during winter storms or bad storms.

And so it's been wildly successful.

And and the participants love it.

They participat and they love getting that job.

So there's an avenue here that we can really make som historical not just for Alabama but nationally.

We have people talking to us saying we want to come and look at this.

This is a great program.

And that's part of the talk I've given in DC coming up, is that this is something that could be replicated.

It's not rocket science, but if we do it right, it's definitely a crime reducer.

So you will be in front of lawmakers in DC?

Yes, absolutely.

Probably twice this month.

This is second chance month.

And it's a big opportunity they go up for they have to reauthorize coming up.

So it's going to be a great opportunity.

I visit with our delegation several times about it.

And they've been incredibly, incredibly helpful.

Congressman Barrymore was a co-sponsor of the Second Chance Act reauthorization.

All of our delegations have been very supportive.

They visited with me on it and very open minded.

And I think there's an opportunity for Alabama, more than any other time on reentry, to show that we can leave.

We don't have to go along with the flow.

We can lead the way in ho reentry is handled in our state.

Citizen sitting at home, they hear this.

They see you and they want to know, okay, we're taking care of business.

We are taking care of business here in state with pardons and paroles.

There was a time where some people were wondering how things were flowing, if the ship was flowing steadily, its course heading steadily to take care.

Part of the parole.

It is.

I think it is.

I think the core, of course, we changed the structure of how pardon and parole was governed back in 2019, and that led to the separation of the board.

The decision making board on who gets released and who doesn't.

And on the other side, my agency, the bureau that I oversee, strictly handles.

Once you're out, we monitor you and watch you, supervise you, ask you to check in, handle your programing, handle your evaluation, and provide services to make sure you don't go back to prison.

The big crux of i making sure there's no return.

There's no return.

And you want that because I mean, everything from some of you only had a third grade reading level when they went to prison.

Well, we offer free GED courses for them.

You know, we offer various courses that we match it to the individual.

What we see, the problem is we do a risk assessment and see what the individual's issue is.

And then we tackle it.

The therapy and programing addresses it that way.

And ironically it's not a extremely large part of our budget.

So that's good.

I mean we're doing it for a cheap cost, but the results have been very promising so far.

It's something else you mentioned before we started our interview.

There's a project, a few projects that you have going on, but one in particular where you're dealing with the art world.

Yeah, this was something I was very skeptical about when I first came in because, someone said, you know, art therapy reall works as far as reentry process.

And I was like, I don't have much.

I'm a Republican.

I don't know if I believe this or not.

I've seen it firsthand.

Knowledge at work.

It's it's incredible.

Every year we have an art show and it's always hosted on this year, April 17th at the Archives in history.

It's open to anyone else to come, but they put on some of the, you see, some o the greatest artwork ever done by the formerly incarcerated and the incarcerated, and we display that people from the public come, they hear abou the therapeutic results of it, what it means, how it's been therapeutic for these people.

And at the same time, if you go to my agency, we have replicas of a lot of that artwork that we hang around the agency headquarters just to show off that people can be redeemed, people can do better.

They do need a second chance in life.

And this is what the Burea of Pardons and Paroles is doing.

This is what we do.

And it's a day in and day out mission.

But I'm very proud of that.

I'm proud of that mission.

I know we're going to reach ou goal and recidivism reduction.

He's director Kim Ward Bureau of Pardons and Paroles.

Sir, thank you for joining.

Thank you Randy, as always, thank you.

Good to have you to and Capitol Journal.

We'll be right back.

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

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

You can also connect with Capital Journal and link to past episodes o Capital Journals Facebook page, and you can listen to past episodes of Capital Journal.

When you're driving or on the go with Capital Journal podcast.

The 2025 regular session restarts next week.

And some of the members of the Alabama Senate expect to be busy as well.

Joining me now to talk about what is going on in the Senate is state Senator Clyde Chambliss.

Senator, thank you, sir.

I appreciate you having me today.

Thank you for joining us.

Hailing from district 30.

Absolutely.

Yes, sir.

Just north of here.

So, so far this session, this has been bus is probably an understatement.

Sure.

It's it's always busy.

You know, some 12, 1500 bills trying to make their way through the process and only 300 or so will be able to do so.

So it's always busy, always reading and figuring out and also talking to your fellow cinema to get things done.

Absolutely.

You know, we were fortunate that we have a diverse, background and all the different legislators and, that, that makes for a good legislature.

And I know what we talk to you a lot of times we're talking from a responsibility, financial responsibility standpoint or governmental standpoint.

I want to talk about a couple of bills that you have definitely been paying attention to.

One is Senate Bill 110, which is also represente in the House by House Bill 204, dealing with an interesting topic, axle weight ratios for trucks in the state.

What is the background for this bill, sir?

Well, current law, limits the axle weights to 20,000 pounds.

And if they're close enough together, then there's some limitations there, and it's a very technical thing, but the whole point of the current law is to preserve the life of our roads and bridges.

If you think about it, the heavier the load, the more damage, the shorter the life of the bridge.

So obviously you have to replace some more.

That's more money.

So, the proposed bill would, raise those axle weights from 20 to 22,000 pounds.

And, there's there's some reasons why they're proposing it, especially dealing with some long, long logs and that sort of thing.

So we're trying to work through, how we can actually solve the problem but not create a larger problem.

And, that' what we're working on right now.

Because if you think about it Alabama is a agricultural state where agriculture is a big business component of the economy of Alabama, the logging industry, the forestry industry, very, very represented here in the state.

So it stands to reason that this is something that the state utilizes to keep its economy flowing and also keep people working.

But you want to make sure that everything is safe that's going on within it.

Right, sir?

Absolutely.

And it it has affected m in the past in a positive way.

Back in the 1970s, my dad, through no fault of his own, had a, a loss of, of revenue through some changes and, and different things.

And so for about 5 to 10 years, we as a family really struggled, until he got a job at the paper mill.

And that was a game changer for our family.

So I am very sympathetic, to the logging industry, to the paper industry and wanting to do everythin that I can to help them because, but for that industry, I probably wouldn't be sitting here today.

I probably wouldn't be an engineer.

So I want to do everything I can to help.

But I think we've got to figure out how we do that withou being detrimental in other ways.

So far how have those discussions gone?

Because I know we talked about it.

There's been a lot of work and a lot of talk into this particular subject already.

Well it's one of those things that, if you're not in the industry you don't know a lot of things.

So as I approach it from, a technical point of view, an engineering point of view, this this will solve it, this will solve it, this will solve it.

But then when you talk about how that works in the field and on the ground, especially coming in and out of the woods and the maneuvering that you have to do, what might sound great on paper, does it fit in the field?

So we're working back and forth through that.

A lot of it's just an education for me personally, because I've not been a logger before.

There's a lot of things I don't know about it.

So I'm getting, that education and we're back and forth, back and forth on these ideas, and and I'm hopeful.

And something you also just said, it's not just getting the logs out of the forest.

You have the paper mill, which you had, the people who work in those paper mills, the people who work around those paper mills with that product.

It goes a long way in affecting a lot of people.

Well, and think about today, with all the deliveries that we have, those boxes are made from trees.

So, it it really affects us all in our everyday lives.

Really does.

So far, how has the feedback been?

Have you been getting some response?

I know a lot of people who have or who are stakeholders, I guess, have been talking to you.

Absolutely.

Obviously everybody brings their background, their experience to the table.

And, in this particular situation, I'm kind of in the middle of it because I have a background on the forestry side, but I also have a background on the engineering side and the technical.

So I'm trying to listen to all of those, different viewpoints and come up with a solution.

And again, we've had great dialog, especially this week.

I guess because our, our minds are more focused on this with us being out on spring break this week.

So I've been meeting with a lot of people this week, talking to a lot of people and, those stakeholders, even to those that are out in the woods, doing the hauling and, that that' given us a lot of good feedback, if you think about it, from literally from the north state line to the east state line of west state line down to the coast, there's a lot of work that goes into this particular field.

It absolutely does.

It affects everything in our everyday lives.

You know, from from just the timber that we think about building our homes.

Paper, as I've already mentioned, cosmetics, chemicals, all the things that come out of the trees during the pulping process, it affects our lives in a significant way.

Not only our lives, but those around us and other states that might not be blessed with, with the forest that we have.

Lisa, my next question about other states watching what happens here.

Have they been keepin a close eye on what Alabama is doing, sir?

I'm not sure about that, but one of the things that we're looking is, after this session is having a team, a committee, of those stakeholders that looks at other states and looks at other ways, you know, there are some things that we just don't have time to d during this legislative session.

So our our hope is, is some of those things we will continue this study.

We're not the only state that that has this issue.

So, we'll look at other states and, and, I know some of those are watching us as well.

So it'll be a back and forth and exchange of information.

Those bills, Senate Bill 110 and Senate Bill 204, how have they been received from the members of your particular chamber?

Have they said they have read them or they're interested in them, or is it still a lot of talk asking the question?

They are very interested in these bills.

Most people are like me that have some background or interest in the forestry industry, either through themselves or a family member or just their county as a, as a big contributor in the forestry industry.

So there's a lot of interest, in the Senate, I'm sure the House as well.

But obviously I'm talking with senators, and there's, a lot of, of support for the forestry industry.

But there's also some caution as well, to make sure that we don't do more damage than we're actually solving or we'll continue to watch those two bills.

But I want to switch subjects if I can, with you for a second.

Like I said, is busy, was busy.

The first half of the session is going to be busy.

The second half of the session.

Of course, a lot of times when we have a halfway point like this, people think when we come back, two of the biggest things going to come up the education trust fund budget and general fund budgets are absolutely, absolutely.

How's talk been about those two?

Well, I think, you know, probably next week.

I think we'll see.

Movement on the general fund, maybe, in the house.

We try not to do the two budgets in the both chambers at the same time, because that really stretches our our staff.

Then, so we can do it.

We have done it, but it's not necessary at this point in the session the last week or two, we have to do what we have to do.

But, hopefully, we'll get the general fund through and then the following week, maybe do the education trust fund in the Senate and then they'll swap chambers.

Obviously.

And the following weeks after that, do them in the opposite chamber and, work our way.

We we are in good shape.

We have, we've saved for a rainy day.

We've we've we've change the way that we do our finances.

We've put money into reserve so that when we have those rainy days, we're able to weather those storms, they will come.

We've we've been doing pretty well the last, eight, ten years, but, we are going into we're in our 11th year now.

Sinc 2011, we've not had proration.

So 14 years.

That is a minor miracle for anybody that knows anything about state finances.

We used to have proration every year.

Every other year.

That is a big deal.

And why does that important to the folks in our state?

Because stability, allows for economic development.

Jobs.

If we have all this instability, those companies will go to other states instead of coming here.

So it is very, very important that our state finances are stable.

And, they really are right now, for the first time, we have, a reserve in the general fund.

And, that's that's very important, just like it is in our house, our personal homes.

It's it's important for the state as well.

Real quickly.

We have about a minute left.

If I can I ask you a question about another subject that lawmakers have been talking about.

Even the governor.

Safety, public safety, keeping people safe.

There have been several bills that have dealt with that, from immunity for law enforcement officer to fighting that Glock switch.

Right issue.

How do you think we're doing with those bills coming o this legislature this session?

We're doing well.

They're moving.

I actually carried one dealing with, impersonating a police officer.

That one has already made i all the way through the process, and the governor has signed it.

There's 2 or 3 others that are coming along that we're a little more detailed than that one.

That one was was was fairly easy.

We we want our police officer, two officers to be police officers and not somebody impersonating them.

So I think those are going well, it's important.

If you're not safe, then all the other stuff doesn't matter.

So, w we want our people to be safe.

He seems to Clyd Chambliss from district 30, sir.

Thank you, sir, for joining us.

We'll be watching because it starts up again next week.

Yes, sir.

Looking forward to it.

Thank you for having me.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

And Capital Journal will return.

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 o Capital Journal's Facebook page.

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

The first half of the 202 regular session is in the books, and it was a busy one for lawmakers.

They are on their second spring break now, but when they come back, they have more business to attend to.

Joining us now to give u some perspective of that first half is Representative Prince Chestnut from Selma.

Representative, thank you for joining us.

Yes, it's it's my pleasure.

As I say, you're from Selma and you are a member of the legislature.

Tell the people a little bit more about yourself.

You have an extensive background, if you will in the legal field, do you not?

Yes.

So, I'm a lawyer.

I've been a lawyer for a while, since 2001.

So what does that make 22 for almost 24 years?

Yeah, 23.5.

And, and so in the practice, I, I get an opportunity to represent a lot of local elected and appointed officials throughout, throughout the Black Belt region.

And, I get an opportunity to go to court, I've been a judge, municipal judge for, 11 years in Selma.

I've also had a chance to serve as an appraisal umpire.

I've, been able to perform mediations.

So, yeah, I love the law.

And you mentioned represent people as a legal person, but you're also now representing them in your representative mode.

You represent Selma and the area around Dallas County, and you've been in the House now for a number of years.

And this year this has been, you said you made mention of thi has been an interesting session.

So far.

Has it not been?

Of course.

It's been a pretty tough session, actually.

Because there's just so muc going on, so many moving parts.

And no matter how much you you deal with it, you never get used to how fast things move at times, you know, at times it's slow.

Things are just kind of moseying along, and then at times things are just going full force at at the same time.

And a lot of really important issues that and bills that, it almos seems like you don't have time to dissect all of them to be able to do what you need to do, to do the work of the people.

And the way that they put us there to do it.

You know, I was reading your biography about being a representative.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

You belong to four committees, if I'm not mistaken.

Ways and means.

Education, education, trust fund, budget in the House, the Judiciary Committee, State Government Committee, and Urban and Renewal Development Committee.

That's that's quite a bit.

Yes.

Yes, sir.

It's, I guess, you know, it's like one of those things I say at church, you they find the person at church that does, good work and they say, well, we're going to put you we're going to put you to work over here, ove here, we're here and over here.

And so I guess that's probably what happens, you know, from time to time, I think, for those of us who, who put in the work, it gets notice and then we get more work.

Now, I want to start, if you don't mind talking about some things, dealing with committees that you will work on, ways I me education, education, trust fund, budget for the House.

When we come back after this break, the budgets will be the talk for the most part.

For the rest of the session.

How are you anticipating is going to go with the Education Trust Fund budget?

Well, I think as usual, the education trust fund budget, I think is going to be it' going to be well put together.

I mean, our budget chairs in the House and in the Senate do a very, very excellent job of, making sure that, you know, it's not a lot of fat there and making sure that, people get an opportunity to, you know, to, to to say, hey, this is what I need in my district.

Is i something that you can look at or you think you can consider this, and they try to find a way to make it work?

So I'm appreciative of that.

And I think we, I will say that the ETF on and both chambers does a very good job of fleshing out the issues and trying to deal with things, as they come.

Putting, you know, being able to look at those numbers and, and make those numbers work, you know, but of course, we also have to sometimes we have to not just simply look at the numbers, but also look at the, the effect, right, the effect on people and on people's lives.

And so, you know, like for instance, we had a worker's comp bill that that is, come up this particular session.

It came up last session also.

I believe that the worker's comp bill is an urgent bill that we need to deal with, and we need to get it passed.

We need to get it passed pretty quickly, because people, they're, you know, their teachers.

There are bus drivers.

There are, you know, people that work in the lunch room.

They're their aides and staffers who and quite frankly, they need this this worker's comp protection, because you know, I have a, a personal friend who's actually gone through a situation, where he was injured, moving some computers out of school, and, and he's in a. Yeah, he doesn't know how he' going to pay his medical bills.

And I've heard of other heartbreaking stories, along those lines.

And so I would love to see us, be able to get that, get that through.

And, I think that, you know, Senator Cormann is doing good work with that bill, SB one, because it was a revelation that came out during the committee meeting when this bill came up that teachers, school officials did not or were not covered for workman's comp.

That was a revelation that a lot of people did not realize was in existence, or the lack of this work when worker's comp was something that they didn't know was actually happening.

Correct?

Yes.

And, and, you know, we owe that to our teachers.

We owe that to our bus drivers.

We owe that to the peopl who take care of our children.

Every day, just as you owe it to other workers out in the state.

Will they be, construction sites or business is something that i well needed, as you just said.

Yes.

Yes.

And I think we we, you know, we can find will to make it happen.

And I, you know I believe the numbers will work.

You know, we just but we kno this is the right thing to do.

When it's the right thing to do, we have to figure out a way to do it.

Well, as you said, education trust fund.

And the house is a very busy committee, both House and Senate, for that fact.

And it covers from a wide range of items.

And these are two that would definitely get on people's radar pretty quickl when it came up for discussion.

Now, another committee that I wanted to ask you about as well too, one that you're serving on is judiciary, a very busy committee as well.

Two, going through a lot of bills every session.

Yes.

Judiciary Committee is it's probably it's a very tough committee.

It's probably the toughest committee, in the House.

But I would say by a long shot, because the, the level of, legal acrobatics that you have to go through, to get things, to get things through, it's, you know, I, I really enjoy being on that committee because it, you get an opportunity on that committee, have so many people who are learning and who are reading these bills and really, you know, checking these bills for, you know, the constitutionality of the bills, the, figuring out whether the, the, the, the consequences, the repercussions, the unintended consequences of these various bills and trying to make sure that when we get these bills that we're looking at it, you know, because we're looking at it from a civil standpoint and look at it from a criminal standpoint, but look at it from a constitutional standpoint.

We're looking at it from a justice standpoint, from an injustice standpoint.

So when you have, people working in unison trying to, really get down t the bottom line and understand and make the main thing the main thing.

Right.

Then we get an opportunity to, really work on behalf of the people.

And many time when you see bills come through judiciary, they've been tested.

And, in many instances when it gets to the floor, you may not have as much debate on the floor, on those judiciary bills.

And I think it's a testament to the hard work that the people put on that committee and to, Chairman Jim Hill.

Now, you talk about people working together you and your committee members.

There were two bills in particular that you really worked on that came up.

One was dealing with the immunity of law enforcement officers.

That was a big topic of discussion that people were wondering ho would the committee react to it.

But as you said, you work together because it was a definitel sensitive topic to talk about.

Yes.

That so like with the police immunity bill, that bill was, you know, carried by Rex Rentals, who's really, Chairman Rex Rentals is actually a really fine gentleman, you know, former police chief, and, and he, you know, he he really wants to do what he believes is best for, you know, for law enforcement.

And also, I think it's part of the governor's initiative.

And, there were some concerns that I have.

There's still some, you know, few concerns I still have with the bill, and some of my colleagues.

And so but I was able to go to Rex, talk to him, and a few other my, colleagues we were able to meet with him.

We were able to meet with the governor's, lawyers and with Alea lawyers and we were able to get in, you know, meetings.

I think one meeting went over 2.5 hours.

And we were able to flesh out a few things, within agree on everything, but we were able to get a few modifications to the bill, to try to deal with some of those, unintended consequences that could come as a result of, the bill being, put in place.

Said a couple of bills in committee, but there are a couple of bills throughout the legislature that I'm quite sure you kept your eyes on.

Another one that a lot of lawmakers were talking about.

This first portion of the session dealt with the Glock switch issue, turning, handguns into deadly, in many cases, machine guns.

You kept your eyes on that or 2 as well, did you not, sir?

Yes, yes.

you know, my understanding of when you use a firearm, it is to use it to put down a threat and to deal with the threat.

Right.

Not to deal with things, o people who do not pose threats.

And the only time you pull a gun is to use a gun.

Right.

And so, when, look at, you know, the Glock switch, let's, let's make sure that things, are being, you know, guns are not being used a weapons of war on our streets.

We hav just a little bit of time left.

A few seconds.

As a matter of fact, I wanted to ask you before we got out of this interview, you from Selma?

There was a huge celebration going on in Selma for the 60th anniversary of the bridge crossing.

Something that's very well known or very famous, I should say, in this region.

Could you give us a real quick synopsis of what happened and how things, have moved forward since then?

with 60 years, we're talking about six decades of, of, of change, and we've seen a lot of change and a lot of the change has been positive.

Right.

But you have to understand this, that even though we've had change, we still have so far to go.

Right.

Because I don't believe anyone can say with a straight face that everything is equal, and that all people who are born right now have the same equal opportunity and chance as someone else.

Because that's not where we at.

That's not reality.

But is it much better than it was 60 years ago?

Absolutely.

But we have to keep on pushing and we have to make it get it to the point to where it is fair and equal equal opportunity for everyone.

Representative Prince Chestnut, thank you for coming by and joining us and talking with us.

We really appreciate it, sir.

Thank you sir.

Look forward to seeing you i the second half of the session.

Right.

And Capital Journal will return.

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.

It's springtime now, and people are concerned with health, mainly because of allergie having affect on a lot of people around this area.

But there are other health issues that people are concerned with and will be addressed her in Montgomery within a few days.

Joining me now is Docto Louis Lambiase of the Heersink Health Center here in Montgomery of UAB.

Doctor, thank you for joining us.

Thanks for having me.

Now there's a seminar that's coming up specifically this aimed at health issues and a big thrust of that is going to deal with mental health is there.

Right.

So that's right.

Yeah.

So this is our third annua Montgomery Health policy meeting that we're having on April 9th at the RSA Activity Center.

And we're just thrille because we've got some really, outstanding speakers lined up.

And, we're hoping to attract, people who are interested, particularly in mental health and mental health issues.

As you know, that's one of th biggest problems that we have.

And Alabama, both in terms of, the mental health of our of our neighbors and our citizens, where and also in terms of the resources that we have to bring to bear Alabama's 51 out of 51, in term of the number of psychiatrists that it has, about one out, one Alabama and about every ten minutes commit suicide, 51 out of 50, 51 out of 5 because you can't Washington DC.

So yeah.

So that's that's pretty pretty bad.

So we're a UAB, we're trying to focus on this and and we're we're trying to bring some experts together to talk about various, issues in mental health.

So we have a number of events planned.

We've got three speakers lined up for the health policy meeting.

The secretary of mental health, Kimberly Boswell, is going to com and and, participate in a panel talking about what's going on and what Alabama's doing right now to combat mental health issues.

We're bringing Frederick Vars ove from the University of Alabama.

He's a law professor who is, specialist in suicide prevention.

And he's had laws passed in five states where people who are feeling like they may be a dange to themselves can voluntarily, turn their guns and or and be on a do not sell list.

And then when they're feeling better or their mental health is resolved, they can come, they can take themselves off purely voluntary and trying.

And he has some data from the, Alabama VA where where people have said tha this might help prevent suicide.

And then our keynote speaker is Kenneth Rosenberg, who is a psychiatrist from New York who is also an NYU film maker and is an expert on the care of, acutely, psychotic patients and peopl who have acute mental illness.

And he's, produced a film called Bedlam, which is, a documentary showing about how hard it is for these people to get care.

These are the folks that you see out on, on the streets and on the and in the, byways and highways of the area.

And it's just hard for them to get their care.

And so his film documents that, and so, w he has some ideas for solutions.

And so we brought hi by one of the interesting things this year is because we have Doctor Rosenberg coming into town, we're actually going to screen his film for free at the Capri Theater on April 8th at 5:15 p.m..

So, really kind of very exciting stuff.

Now, this film has gotten som accord already, has it not, sir?

Oh, yeah, it was it was, presented at Sundance.

It's won awards for, for best documentary at, at a number of, places.

But, and and actually has screened on, or streamed on, you know, usual interne streaming services like Prime.

But yeah, we're really thrilled to have, the opportunity to show it her and then have Doctor Rosenberg available the next day to discuss it and answer any questions or anything like that.

So it's going to be interesting.

And the name of that movie again is Bedlam.

Yeah.

Is it a telling sign that people, citizens are talking more about mental health?

Because there was a time where it was something that people didn't weren't comfortable with talking about, but now it is, and I think there still is a bit of a stigma, but I think it's, it's going away which is, which is good.

And I think a lot of people's both, mental health, their ability to enjoy lif and their, ability even to feel well is is impacte greatly, by their mental health.

And you know, what I would say is it's a really good thing to get rid of the stigma.

If you broke your leg, you'd get it fixed, right?

If you have a if you have an issue with your with your mental well-being, you should get that addressed too.

So I'm really happy that we're able to talk about it.

And now the question is, you know, how do we make sure that people feel comfortable, how do we have adequate resources and that sort of thing?

And this brings me to what our lawmakers are doing, because it has been a topic and in some cases, the speaker of the House and they think lab has said this is something that we need to address and we need to work on.

And Governo Ivey has also agreed that it is you see more and more agencies touching the subject of mental health and what to do and how it affects their operations.

I know Miss Boswell has been very busy talking with different agencies, if you will, it also going many places to talk to people about why it's important, opening new centers to help out with health care as well.

Yeah.

And they've been you know, for example, there have been several things here in Montgomery that have been a result of the legislature, the legislative action last session, for example, we at the UAB Montgomery Medical Campus have started a new psychiatry residency.

So we're going to train youn doctors to become psychiatrists.

And they were fortunate.

We were fortunate to receive the support of the legislature last year.

UAB is also opened a ne residency in Huntsville as well.

And there's going to be a new one at the University of Alabam in Tuscaloosa campus next year.

So four years from now, we just matched our first class here in Montgomery.

So our new interns in psychiatry will start in July.

And the, and we'll have our first new Montgomery minted psychiatrists, in four years.

Hopefully we can recruit some of them to stay in our area.

And this is a big step in the the efforts to help with mental health in this river region.

It's it's huge because, right now, a lot of, a lot of institutions that ar tasked with taking care of our, people with mental illness don't actually have any psychiatrists available.

So this is this is huge and I can't, I'm very thankful to the legislature fo for supporting this last year.

And there's actually a bill, in front of the legislature this year to use some of the opioid settlement money to fund additional residency slots.

And we're very grateful that they're considering that fine tuning people to be more specific at handling cases that deal with mental health issues, because at one time people would say, well, if there was a problem dealing with someone who may have some mental health crisis, if you will call the police, they may be called the paramedics, but now you have people who are correct me if I'm wrong, are fine tuned to help address issues, acute issue with someone who's dealing with a mental health crisis.

Yeah.

I mean, sadly, the the very often still in 2025, in Montgomery, the police and the emergency roo and EMS are where those things are being dealt with.

But there are people who could deal with it.

And then that's really our job is to ge is to get more of those folks, into, into this regio and so that we can deal with it.

Are you seeing off and are you seeing a, influx, if you will, of students coming in looking at this particular avenu of, of a career study for them?

Well, you know, our, our psychiatry residency received 500 applicants for three spots.

So we interviewed 100 people and we just matched.

So yes I would say I think ten students from UAB class of of about 19 students went into psychiatry.

So I think that's really, important.

And then, you know, our, chief of psychiatry, doctor Will Rutland, has just started in partnership with the city of Montgomery, a street psychiatry program where we get to go out and meet the people, where they're where they're living, unfortunately, and provid care there to help them get back and into some semblance of a more normal life.

And that has been extremely popular with the with the students and with people who want to go into the field.

You know, a lot of our students are extremely altruistic.

And so it's our our job and goal is to give them an outlet, for that.

And so we we would like I said to psychiatry, residency is one way looking at other ways to support mental health as another way.

And then the health policy meeting is a way where we can all meet and discuss and try and come up with ideas for our policymakers.

The day for that conference again is the conference is April 9th, starts at 8:00 at the RSA Activity Center.

The movie is at 515 on April 8th at the Capri Theater.

All free.

His Doctor Louis Lambiase of the UAB health clinic here in Montgomery.

Doctor, thank you for joining.

Thank you for having me I appreciate it.

We appreciate it Thank you, thank you.

Take care.

That would do it for this episode of Capital Journal.

The regular session restarts next week, so we'll go back to our weekly schedule of shows from the Alabama State House.

From all of us here at Alabama Public Television, I'm Randy Scott.

Thank you for joining us.

We'll see you on Monday.

Until then, take care.