From ou statehouse studio in Montgomery.

I'm Todd Sta y, welcome to Capitol Journal.

It was a busy week in the Alabama legislature as the House and Senate met for the 26th and 27th legislative days.

That leaves just three days remaining in this 2025 regular session.

Let's take a look at how that schedule is going to play out according to legislative leadership.

Next week will see two legislative days Tuesday, May 6th and Wednesday, May 7th.

They'll then break for a week and come back for the 30th Legislative Day on Wednesday, May 14th.

Eventually adjourning signing day.

There had been talks of adjourning next week, but the slow pace in the Senat and the backlog of local bills will require another legislative day.

It will also allow the legislature to overturn any potential vetoes from the governor and avoid any pocket veto situations.

Senat President Pro Tem Garland Gunter spoke with reporters about the path ahead.

He said there's still plenty of work to do before lawmakers wrap up this session.

The main thing for me is local legislation.

All politics are local.

We've got a lot of bills that came up from the House that we still have to finish up.

We have confirmations that are in the Senate that we have to finish up.

So those are the basic that we have to get out first.

And any Senate bill that are local legislation as well.

There's a lot of speculatio that we'll still be looking at trying to handle the Tse or Bill that's coming up.

So that's going to take a lo of our time I think, next week.

So just in case the governor doesn't have time to sign all the bills or doesn't want to sign some of the bills, especially local legislation that gives us a week to override her pocket veto.

So when we come back, we can make sure that those bills go through.

Local legislation is important and a lot of time pay increases and things like that.

She doesn't know much about the governor and was ask us.

And so sometimes it's easier for her not to sign those and let us come back and pass those.

The primary responsibility of the legislature is to pass the state's two budgets, the General Fund and the Education Trust Fund.

Both received final passage this week and are on their way to the governor's desk.

Let's take a look at the high points of each budget.

First, the general fund, which totals $3.8 billion.

That's a record and an increase of 348 million over the current fiscal year.

All agencies saw increased funding, and lawmakers made additional funding available for broadband internet expansion.

Port authority capital projects.

Public health and rural energy infrastructure, and the Education Trust Fund, which pays for the range of education expenses from pre-K to higher ed.

That came out to a $9.9 billion base budget, which is a 6% increase over the current fiscal year.

Plus, there is a $524 million supplemental appropriation, a $1.25 billion advancement and technology fund that pays for one time expenses like computer upgrades or facility improvement, and $350 million to fund the Raise act.

That's the bill that's traveling alongside the budget that modernizes the way the state funds K through 12 schools.

Add it all up.

And that's a $12 billion education budget.

One o the most closely watched bills this session is a proposal that could reshape health insurance options for thousands of farmers in this state.

It received final passage this week and a big win for the Alabama Farmers Federation, which has argued that its farmers don't have access to affordable health care.

But opponents remain concerned that it could leave vulnerable residents without key protections.

Capital Journal's Jeff Sanders has that story.

Committee on House Bill 477 cleared the Senate this week by a 30 to 2 vote.

It allows Alpha the Alabama Farmers Federation, to offer its own health benefit plans.

But those are not classified as traditional insurance.

And therefore not subject t Affordable Care Act regulations.

But those backing the bill said the measure offered long overdue relief for farmers unable to afford standard insurance.

Our young farmer most of these guys don't make seven $800 a week.

They're struggling as it is, and all of a sudden you've got you're payin your insurance is 2400 a month.

Say, what does that leave you when your house?

Nope, 600 a month is bad.

When you got that much on insurance and you can't afford a house.

Senator Jack Williams, a farmer himself, said the struggle hit close to home for my grandson.

I mean, we just we subsidizing.

I mean, my wife's paying his bills all the time just where he can keep doing what he wants to do on the family farm.

The proposed plans would include a $2 million benefit cap and would prevent members from being dropped due to illness.

But Democrats on the Senate floor argued those protections did not go far enough, warning that the plans could exclude essential health services or deny coverag based on preexisting conditions.

What happens to the health service is that an emergency claim is denied.

Who do?

Who do the farmers go to?

Who to get some kind of mediation?

Are we going back to the same people who made the draft of the bill?

Making the decision is kind of like the fox watching the henhouse.

You, Senator Linda Coleman Madison, said the bill left too many questions unanswered, especially when it came to accountability.

Others, like Senator Arthur or defended the legislation, pointing out that employer sponsored plans which cover more than a million Alabamians, already operate with similar exemptions.

You know, if we're all concerned about all these protections, and maybe we ought to get into employer plans and and start regulating that as well.

If we're going to try to do this to a membership.

Again it's not Johnny off the street.

It's a membership organization.

But Senator Bobb Singleton warned that unintended consequences could come back to haunt lawmakers.

So once somebody get denied for preexisting conditions, I don't want you to come back running.

Tell me why we need to put this on this plan, because it hurting the farmers in my area.

Alpha could begin offering the new health benefit plans as early as next year.

Reporting from the statehouse in Montgomery.

I'm Jeff Sanders for Capitol Journal.

Thank you Jeff.

Another major bill passing this week is a proposal to reshape the makeup of the Birmingham Waterworks Board.

For years, leader have complained about high water and sewer rates in the Birmingham area, which many blame on a board they see as dysfunctional.

But the legislation to reform it ruffled some feathers in the House and Senate.

Capita Journal's Randy Scott reports.

One of the most common elements on Earth is at the heart of an argument in the Alabama State House water.

Senate Bil 330 is set to realign the City of Birmingham's Waterworks board, both in the number of members and who chooses them.

The city of Birmingham will have one appointment.

Birmingham City Council will have one appointment.

The president of the Jefferson County Commission will have one appointment.

The Blount County Commission will have one appointment.

The Shelby County Commission will have one appointment.

The Lou Tennant governor will have one appointment.

And the governor will have one appointment.

They've upgraded outdated systems and promoted water conservation and work to ensure equitable access for all of the communities, rich or poor.

Mountain Brook or the Who?

Urban or rural?

I also want to acknowledge th transparency and accountability that the board has show in its decision making process.

Well, we have the opportunity to do is to kind of build upon that regional concept and use this water board, which is a regional authority, regional distribution service to strengthen it with with with the regional effort.

And I think this is what this bill does.

I am not up here to fight between the current board and the and the perhaps future board.

That is not my point.

My point is to represent Moody, Saint Clair County, Alabama.

How did Birmingham's water work board ended up serving all of these communities that that we asked to extend our service, or did they ask u to come into their communities?

I wasn't there, so I can't say you've been around, Mister Carnes.

I'm not going to call you no, man.

I'm just saying you've been around, brother.

How did Birmingham end up extending its service into those communities?

You know I mean, it was a past process, and I might add, well, that's customers paid for everything that is in the water system.

If the customers had the ability to pay, they would have asked us to come in the first place.

They didn't have the capacit to build their communities to, to to send water to residential neighborhoods and to retail and to schools.

If they did, they wouldn't have needed Birmingham.

The House approves Senate Bill 330 next up to governor K of his office to be signed at the Alabama State House.

Randy Scott, Capitol Journal.

Thank you Randy.

Also receiving final passage this week was Lulu's Law, a bill designed to implement a shark alert system along Alabama's Gulf Coast.

House Bill 437 from State Representative David Faulkner will establish a system under the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources through Mobile and Baldwin Counties emergency management agencies to warn beachgoers of shark attack near the shoreline.

The alerts would be sent to cell phones and localized areas, and to first responders, similar to Amber alerts.

Can't wait to have Lulu.

With the governor and signed the bill.

It'll be a fun day.

You know Lulu Strong and her inspiration.

You know, this is just to me, the feel good great bill of the of the of the session.

To, you know, for people, she's such an inspiration to so many people.

And so I'm so happy that it passed the Senate.

And I think with, 32 yes votes.

So really excited about it.

When this happened, it was like my own child.

It's like your child has been attacked and those kind of things.

As a father who has a daughter, you know, it just breaks your heart and, but then, you know, watching good come out of something, seeing how God can do that in somebody in Lulu.

Just her faith and her courage, to say that no matter what life throws, throws at you, you know, you can endure and there's hope and you can recover and be stronger.

In the Senate Judiciary Committee this week, a vote on a measure called the bac the Blue Legal Protection Act.

House Bill 202 from State Representative Rex Reynolds, would grant law enforcement officers legal immunity when they use force deemed constitutional and within the scope of their duties.

It would also create a process for judges to decide before a trial whether an officer is immune from prosecution or civil liability.

Supporters say the bill strengthens protections for officers who face dangerous high pressure situation and brings Alabama law in line with federal standards.

But critics argu it could reduce accountability and lead to a more deadly encounters, particularly for black Alabamians.

In the end, the bill advanced along party lines.

Law enforcement officer who use force constitutionally while carrying out their duties are immune from prosecution.

Again, law enforcement officer are not immune, are not immune for any unconstitutional use of force during execution of their duties, so they operate outside the scope of their duties.

They have no coverage.

It is a green ligh like I see it to kill black vote and only black vote but is green light to kill them.

As chairman me saying right now I'm happy that at times.

But they escalate the force.

As I said, this right here opens the green light for them to do anything and their discretion.

They can walk in here now and then at discretion.

They look at me and they say you know, hey, he looked like a threat to m and bam doesn't care about me.

That bill now goes to the full Senate.

Another bill on the mov would make significant changes to the state's grocery tax, aiming to provide relief to residents and grant more autonomy to local governments.

This week, the Senate Financ and Taxation Education Committee approved a substitute version of House Bill 386, which not only accelerates the reduction of the state grocery tax, but also incorporates provisions clarifying the authority of local government on their own sales tax on food.

House Bill 386 from State Representative Danny Garrett would reduc the state sales tax on groceries from 3% to 2%, effective September 1st.

This move builds upon that 2023 legislation that lowered the tax from 4% to 3%.

It goes ahead and removes the second penny on the grocery tax.

And then at that time, it, includes the contents of House Bill 387.

So what this substitute does is basically combine House Bill 387.

And that's the one for the locals.

You know, there's been that dispute about the locals ability to drop a penn on their groceries or whatnot.

This clarifies all tha and gives the local governments the authority to do that if they so choose to do it incrementally, as opposed to one fell swoop.

That they can do it lik we're doing here in Montgomery.

The House Judiciary Committee this week held a public hearing over parole board legislation that lasted for almost two hours.

Lawmakers are considering Senate Bill 324 from State Senator Clyde Chambliss which would increase the number of seats on the Board of Pardons and Paroles from 3 to 5 and make the chair selected by the board instead of the governor.

Some see the change as needed, given some of the dysfunction the board has seen, while others see it as a backdoor way to increase the parole rate.

The law says that those guidelines are to be updated periodically, and the law says that they have to do that.

Well, they've not done that.

And a matter of fact, they only adhere to those guidelines 20% of the time.

Now, that is not the parole rate.

I'm not focused on the parole rate.

My focus is if we as government write the rules, we as a government should follow the rules.

And if we as a government ar not going to follow the rules, we should change the rules to what we're going to do.

People need to know we are asking you to vote against this bill.

I think just offering a different perspective.

When we were over here in 2010 working on the parole board reforms, a really important clause was added to their statute that said that the board's paramount duty is to promote public safety.

And right now, our In-custody prison population is about 80% violent.

Excuse me, 85% violent.

So the candidates coming up for parole, don't make it easy for them to find a lot of people to parole, but the fact that we don't have any oversight means that those folks specifically the chair, can ignore the law, and there is no recourse.

So that's the point.

That's why we're here.

And again, we have to move those deadlines now because we were flat out ignored.

That bill was eventually advanced by the committee and will now go to the full House.

A bill aimed at restricting drag performances in public spaces has clear has cleared a key hurdle in the Alabama Senate.

House Bill 67, sponsored by State Representative Scott Hagan and carried in the Senate by Senator April Weaver, would prohibit public librarie from hosting drag performances when minors are present, unless a parent gives permission.

The measure passed out of the Senate, County and Municipal Government Committee this week, but not before some changes.

Committee chairman Senator Chris Elliott offered an amendment to limit the bill's scope, removing language that impacte schools and could have impacted school theater productions during a public hearing.

Supporter said the bill protects children.

But opponents argued it's vagu and could lead to discriminate.

Am I currently in drag?

I'm guessing that every single committee member here would answer no.

But under the definition in H 67, you can easily make a case that I am in fact performing in drag right now.

I am a transgender man and under new law S 79 courtesy of Senator Weaver.

I've been legally redefined as a woman, and I would like to know what clothing can I legally wea to the Opelika Public Library?

What articles of clothing constitute drag on my body?

A dress is aligned with my gender at birth, but I doubt any of you would be very comfortable if I was standing here in a dress.

I was transgender, I lived 12 years that way.

I cut off from my male anatomy.

I have to be in and out.

I can't grow beard anymore.

And I'm saying this to tell you drag Queen Story Hour.

Whether it's in school, which I think you should put it back i or a library is very dangerous.

And I want to point out that there are gay affirming organizations gays against groomers are duty and others that you can go on to have articles if you're wanted afterwards that say that drag shows are grooming children to be transgender.

That bill now heads to the full Senate and in the House Education Policy Committee.

This wee lawmakers considered legislation that would require schools to include twice in a student's career instruction on life choices that lead to better outcomes.

Senate Bill 289 is sponsored by State Senator Arthur or, but is being carried in the House by State Representative Danny Garrett.

We are a 21% of our state at least is in poverty 40.

We are 45th in the country in terms of family stability.

45.3% of the children born in Alabama are born to unwed mothers.

And we also that was 35% 20 years ago.

So we're on a bad trend here.

This bill basically takes data.

It's not values that it's trying to impose on anybody.

But take statistical data and said there's three things you can do in this order that will minimize your likely the likelihood that you will have a life in poverty.

Number one is graduate high school.

The next thing is get a job.

And the third thing is marry before you have children.

What this bill does is require school boards to set a policy to age appropriate for any, any grade, any age to, t to teach those three sequences twice before they graduate high school.

So you do it in the fifth grade in the Assembly.

You can have a curriculu you want to do more frequently, but you can do it in the fifth grade or the 10th, right?

Just twic for that graduate high school.

Tell somebody, if you do these three things in these orders, your life just might turn out better.

From a economic standpoint.

That bill advance and now goes to the full House.

Turning to Washington where the Trump administration celebrated its first 100 days in office this week.

For Alabama, it has been a mixed bag with some sectors like defense and national security faring well, while other area like health care face deep cuts.

Those implications were on full display in Washington this week.

Our own Alex Angle reports from Capitol Hill on those developments, plus the latest with US Senator Tommy Tuberville, a potential run for governor from Huntsville business leaders to a common cancer survivor, Alabamians were highlighting the state's different needs for federal investment this week.

It all comes as the Trump administration continues to upend the federal government.

Half of Huntsville's local economy is fueled by federal spending.

And yet, because the city is focused on defense and it aligned with Trump's priorities, the area is holding steady.

I'm not expecting any waves of mass layoffs.

It's not it is possible that that things could change.

But for now, it looks like it is fairly manageable.

North Alabama is even expected to grow with more FBI jobs coming in a potential Space Command headquarters decision looming, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battl says he's also urging Congress to invest in infrastructure or advocacy here.

As you know, there are state and federal highway systems within our area that have needs to expand.

But not all of Alabama has fared so well.

Federal grants to places like the health department and UAB have been cut.

The threat of capping indirect costs for NIH grants remains.

That's why in Alabama cancer survivor Gary Cornelius shared with lawmakers on the Hill how a clinical trial saved his life.

I'm alive today because of research fundin that was supported 30 years ago.

Uab's O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center Director Doctor Barry Lachman testified on the importance of biomedical research during a Senate hearing Wednesday where Senator Katie Brit introduced him federal funding to understand, how to develop cancer prevention approaches, is critical.

Further speculation has been brewing recently on whether Senator Tommy Tuberville will run for Alabama governor in 2026.

We're expecting decision now soon.

He's saying it will come by Memorial Day, but whether or not he's eligible to become the state's top official remains a central issue over the residency requirement.

I'm 100% committed to serving the great people of Alabama, no matter what.

It's whether it's up here in DC or whether it's from Montgomery.

We have we'll have something announced very soon.

This week, we confir Tuberville has had a homestead exemption at his home in Auburn since 2018, which could be one factor used to determine if he meets the seven year residency requirement to potentially become Alabama's next governor.

Reporting on Capitol Hill, Alex Ingle, Capitol Journal thank you.

Alex and Washington came to Alabama this week as Presiden Donald Trump flew to Tuscaloosa to give a commencement speech at the University of Alabama.

The president was introduced by Crimson Tide, former Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban, and then spoke for about an hour.

The speech, of course, included plenty of politics, but the president also offered advice to the graduates, encouraging them to be original and never give up.

Today, it's my pleasure to return to this campus as the first president ever to deliver the keynote commencement address to thi truly great American university.

It's a great school.

And there's nowhere I'd rather be than right here in Tuscaloosa, Alabama Titletown USA.

That's what it's become.

This year, the graduating Alabama class of 2025 has over 6600 graduates.

You're the largest class in school history.

Among your ranks are among the 801st generation college students and nearly 3000 students from right her in the great state of Alabama.

It's amazing.

And this class also includes many road scholars, Goldwater Scholars, 213 Merit Scholars, and over 1500 students graduating with red caps.

You know what that signifies.

4.0 GPA.

That's a lot of students.

It's a lot of students.

That's pretty good.

I know who I'd pick.

I'd look for a red cap.

I say, I want you to work for the beautiful Trump administration.

This lovely administration.

The Alabama Fraternal Order of Police hosted its annual fallen officer memorial service in Montgomery this morning.

The event honors the law enforcement officers who have lost their live in the line of duty this year.

This year, the memorial honored for fallen deputies Deputy Sheriff James Young with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, deputy Sheriff John Randall McCreary with the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office, Deputy Sheriff Timothy Wayn Johns with the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff' Office, and Deputy Sheriff Jesse Robert Cooper with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.

Governor Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall offered remarks honoring their sacrifice.

Since 1829, over 600 Alabama law enforcement personnel have given their lives in fulfillment of their pledg to keep their communities safe.

We must do all that we can not only to remember them and their sacrifices, but also to stand behind all of our law enforcement and their families.

We must back the blue.

Each of these officers made a difference in their communities, leaving a positive legacy for all to follow.

Each officer is a hero.

The officers we honor today were not only professionals performing their duties.

They were heroes who lived wit a purpose and died with valor.

Their courage was not confined to one moment, but shown day in and day out, in the quiet dedication to duty that defines true service.

Today we also pause to recogniz the families of law enforcement, those who shoulde a heavy burden containing fear, uncertainty and sometimes unspeakable grief.

These families are also unsung heroes whose personal sacrifices are often overlooked.

They live with the knowledge at each shift.

Their loved 1st May not return.

We owe them our deepes gratitude and enduring support.

Lawmakers gathered this week to celebrate the topping ou of the new statehouse building.

Construction has been rapidly progressing, and now the steel and concrete vertical structures are complete.

The project is being managed by the Retirement Systems of Alabama, and its CEO, Davi Bronner said he hopes to deliver a building the state can be proud of.

The people of Alabama need this.

Legislators need this because the future is the future and the way you organize the old highway building.

This is not the future.

My whole ide and my big push on this project, was to get both the Senat and the House on the same floor.

I wanted you guys to talk because when I would talk to Senator representatives, they didn't know who the hell was in the other House.

And that's not good.

We got to get together.

We got to make the state better.

We've got to remember that poor people are poor people.

They're always going to be poor people.

And we've got to help those poor people have a chance to do what they can do, whatever that is.

I'm excited about what we have here.

I know one of the criticisms is, is, oh, y'all just want some nice place for, you know, go ahead to hang your hat down there.

We're not here to that much.

I mean, this is not about us.

This is, you know, the staff that's there all the time has to endure that.

All the building and all the things that go along with it.

The financial, impracticality of of maintaining the building that we're in today, but also having something to show off our state.

I mean, it's embarrassing t bring a leader in to this area and to go taking the lieutenant governor's office or speaker's office or pro tempore off of Alabama should have more pride than that.

And I'll be speaking in more detail about that statehouse project with Speaker Pro Tem Chris Pringle.

Coming up after the break.

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

Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Joining me next is State Representative Chris Pringle.

Speaker pro tem of the Alabama House of Representatives.

Mr. Pringle thanks for coming on the show.

Thank you for having me.

I want to shout out to my sweet mother and my beautiful wife, Lauren Great.

Yeah.

Watching at home.

Yeah, exactly.

Hello.

Let's talk about.

But I wanted to start with the new state House.

Y'all had the topping out ceremony this week.

Talk about what?

What does this occasion that that means the building has reached its height.

We're not going to g any higher than it is right now.

And it' just kind of a little milestone from the ground up to where it is.

So all the pilings, everything is up there.

I know that there's going to be kind of a dome on top of it.

We've seen that sort of take shape.

What have you see by walking through the building?

It' my first tour of the building, and it is going to be magnificent.

And we're going to have committee rooms where the public can come in and watch us conduct their business.

All the committee rooms will be live streamed.

It's just going to be really nice for the public and us.

That was the whole point, right?

Because this current buildin that we're in, it's been around, I guess, more than 40 years at this point.

Exactly.

Never meant to be a permanent home for the legislature.

And it's really showing its age that and, you know, there's only I only know of one Ada compliant bathroom in this building is behind a locked door.

So the new building will be Ada compliant and accessible to all the all the citizens of the state of Alabama.

But you can also send it home and watch us live stream, both in session and in committee room.

Now, the Legislative Council, y'all, partnered with RS to get this building complete.

Did it.

Was there like a comfort level with working with RSA?

Understanding how I mean, they just did great work in terms of buildings around Montgomery, around the state, mobile included.

Exactly.

They're so experienced in building buildings.

There's nobody better at it than RSA.

And they just made us an offer.

That is a great offer.

And we've not floated any bonds.

We've not paid lawyers to do the bonds.

This is strictly, Doctor Bronner's required to mak an 8% return on his investment.

And what people don't realize, we've been prepay into Doctor Bronner, and he's drawn against that money that we've given him so far.

And when he crosses over what we've already prepaid, then we start going to what we're going the 8% interest.

So we think we're going to reduce our annual payment from 50 million down to about 20 million a year.

Relatedly, ther was a bill in the legislature, the because, well, we're going to build a new state house.

This building is going to come down.

Right?

This building has to be demolished.

You had a bill.

I thought it was humorous because you said that you finally, fulfilled or may fulfill your original campaign promise.

Can you tell the joke?

When I first ran, I said, send me to Montgomery and I'll blow the place up.

And I've got a bill that's going to allow us to blow this building up.

Blow up the state House?

Yeah.

Which is kind of a joke, because we're going to have to knock it down.

You can't actually stick close to the Capitol not to knock it down, but.

Well, and all, you know, think about is business and all the mold, all the different environmental concerns.

There have been concerns about costs.

Senator Albritton brought some of those up.

Are we concerned at all that the new state House is going to be a, a burden on the budget?

No, I mean, I've told you, we've been prepaying.

It's a 25 year lease to own.

But right now we are on budget and, with the timelines, they're okay.

Everything's working out.

Switching gears, let' talk about the session so far.

There's a lot of frustration at this time of the session.

It's always, always happens.

There's frustration between the chambers.

Right.

The the house is frustrate with the Senate and rightly so.

There's it's pretty slow right now in terms of the bills that are passing.

The speaker pointed out that there's a lot more Senate bills that have gone through to the governor than House bills.

Talk about that frustration.

From the House's perspective.

Now, every year this happens, the Senate, the Senate is has a totally different set of rules.

Each senator can talk for an hour.

Each House membe can only talk for ten minutes.

So they're able to tie up the process much longer than the House members.

They're kind of the the body that slows everything down.

And we always get frustrated.

But about this time, the Senate, somehow or another, the stars align and they can.

What if, in my opinion, there's kind of like let a bunch of bills stack up there going through Michigan.

This is good, this is good, this good.

And all of a sudden they'r going to pass a bunch of them.

Well they can also go very quickly.

Yeah.

When they decide to move it happen the other day.

They can move bills really quickly.

But you've been around this process for a while.

So I know that, you know there are some frustrated House members right now because the they've got bills stacking up.

What's the secret sauce?

You got to kind of work the Senate a little bit.

Works for your relationships up there to say, hey, get my bill through.

Exactly.

Do you go talk to your senators and, you know, your home county and, you know, talk to the leadership.

They'll they'll straighten it out and they'll get some bills passed at the end.

So you're not concerned about not not right now.

I think we're more concerned about some local legislation that, we want to make sure the governor signed, before we adjourn Sunday night.

We don't want him to pocket veto some bills.

Understand?

While I've got you.

Redistricting.

We went through this last year, obviously.

But people might not understand that this is still an open issue.

It's still in court.

While the Supreme Court ruled.

All that was kind of temporary.

Just to let the election go on about the congressional side right now.

But there has been a hearing, up in Birmingham as to the congressional district lines.

You were there.

What can we what can you tell us about how that court case is going and when it might be actually be decided?

Well, as you know, reapportionment is the most complicated legal issue we deal with here.

When Milligan filed that, whe the Milligan lawsuit was filed, there was another lawsuit by Bobby Singleton.

The three judges took the Milligan case and said, likely violation.

We need to try it.

Instead, we went to the Supreme Court and argued, you know, made the arguments the courts rejected.

They sent it back to us.

We drew a plan.

Those judges rejected that plan.

And then they drew their own plan.

Right.

And that's what this is.

The issues we have right now.

They had stayed.

Bobby Singleton's, plan, lawsuit.

Well, in February, they heard that trial.

Those three federal judges in Birmingham heard that trial from Bobby Singleton on the congressional plane in November.

The three federal judges in Birmingham heard the challenge for the Alabama State Senate lawsuit.

They heard that they'v not ruled on either one of them.

The United States Supreme Court back in March heard oral argument on the Louisiana case similar, which is fairly similar to us not exact, but it's, you know, and I'm not a lawyer but the best we can come up with is the judges are waiting to hear that ruling to see if the Supreme Court drops a major decision, or they drop a minor decision, but they don't want to rule until they hear what the Supreme Court's going to rule.

So, Janet Case, we think the Supreme Court's going to drop that ruling in June as they're walking out of the door to end their session.

So the judges get a ruling in June, six, eight weeks, maybe they'll rule on on the state Senat and on the congressional plan.

And it's depending on what that Supreme Court says.

And if they rule against us on either one of them, at some point in time we're going to have to come back like we did in a special session and redraw a plan presented to the court.

If the court accepts it, then we'll run under that.

The court rejects it, then they'll draw a plan and give it to us.

Wow.

So there's a lot riding on the Supreme Court, and there is this tension between the 14th amendment and the Voting Rights Act.

Right.

There's always been that that tension.

So the Supreme Court, depending on what they do, we could be back here in the legislature, be back at reapportionment, not just for congressional, but for state Senate.

State Senate.

Yeah, exactly.

But I'll remind you, the House has no litigation against it.

And the rule it's always been the Senate draws the Senat and the House draws the House.

So there's a Senate plan that has to be drawn.

We're going to let our our colleagues in the Senate draw their plan.

Okay.

Well, we're out of time.

Congratulate us on the topping out.

We're certainly looking forward to the new state House.

And, we're going to have a brand new studio in there.

It's going to be fantastic, but it's all about access.

Better way to serve the people of this state.

I think everybody understands that.

Yeah, well, I mean, we like 4 or 5000 kid a month come to this building, and we're going to have a way for them to exploit coming in and going.

Absolutely.

Mr. Pringle, thanks again.

Thank you.

Appreciate 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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Welcome back to Capital Journal.

Joining me next is state senator Rodger Smitherman from Birmingham.

Senator thanks for coming on the show.

Good to be here, my friend.

Absolutely.

Well, there's a lot to talk about.

You know, you are, you know, causing quite the sti this, this week in this session.

I wanted to ask about that because you have slowed thing down, as we say in the Senate.

Especially yesterday.

Especially on Tuesday.

So I wanted to ask you what's behind it.

What is your, point in slowing things down?

And what is your message to the majority?

Well, it's it's it's a lot of bills that, it's going to call, in my opinion.

It's going to call unintended damage to people.

And I want to say it that way, to being fair to whatever person's intent or what they're doing.

Okay.

And I use an analysis.

This is like an airplane.

You know, the paladin, the navigator looking down the runway, and it's clear what a way to take off.

And that's the way some of these bills are.

But the incidental, consequences is that under the plane wings, you have the people taking your baggage out.

You have the people who going to fuel it up, and you have the gu who's directing the plane to go.

They're not even looking at those people.

So when they're planning to take off, if those people out there they're going to wipe them out.

That's the way these bills are.

Is that, I'm talking about.

And at this phase of the process, you have to slow things down so that we will be more deliberate, in giving a complete review of those bills would in the consequences of those bills and whether or not we need to even amend those bills to eliminate the unintended consequence, to still d what we are trying to get done.

And so that's, that's one of the main things that, that I look at at this time of the year and, and that's why it's ver important to slow things down.

So you're using the Senate rules the procedure.

Right.

Because I mean the Republicans have a supermajority.

They can pass what they want.

But you're using, filibuster.

You're using, the rules about talking on each motion R and all those kind of things.

And so is that part of the point, you and your colleagues, to use the procedures?

You know, you can't ultimately stop it, but use everything to kind of slow things down with the hopes that the majority will maybe put more of your bills o the calendar, things like that.

Well, that's part of it, too because, the about the agenda, because the is an understanding.

And it's been that way even when we were in the majority that a third of the bills on the agenda has to be because of the minority party.

So at that time they were Republicans, woman, or so we put it, put a third of the bills on, and we did.

Now we are a minority.

And, there's times tha we don't have a third on that.

And so you're going to see a slowdown related to that, but also the fact that we only have so much time on a day, even if it's 12 hours and only so many days on so many days, and you and even if you close you, you can only get so many bills, right?

So the the aspect of needing to get to those other bills is the, it's the part that we work together and compromise with our concerns, so that we can get to those other bills.

Otherwise, using the We rules and procedures will eliminate the ability to get to some of those other bills.

So no, we cannot stop the majority, but we can alter the flow and alter the speed and alter how much is done by using the rules that we are working with now.

I want to get to the specifics of one of those bills in a minute.

But first, let me ask you, I'm hearin a lot of complaints downstairs in the House, Republican and Democrat, saying, hey, we've got bills waiting.

We've got, you know there's a logjam in the Senate.

Are you hearing those complaints from your colleagues in the House saying, hey, we've got to get moving because there's only, you know three days left in the session.

Yeah, I've heard some of them.

But let me say to you, like this.

We all sit down here to represent the people that we represent.

And although there may be people who may criticize the process because they either are not interested, don't care about the issues that affect our people.

So, and that's, that's their prerogative.

But we have to represent the people who represent us.

And as I said, so, so often I say that Roger Smitherman, we pulled off a du to when I come into the Senate, I said, it's my job t take your rules and your views, which is a special order calendar, and be successful for th citizens and Senate District 18.

And so that that's what we do.

We work to try to be successful for the citizens there, in spit of whether there's a major deal.

We were annoyed.

That's that's not control and controlling is that those people have to get, you know, certain things accomplished.

We have to give them a compass for them here at the, state House.

Let's talk about the Birmingham Waterworks because that was one of the most explosive bills really.

And it really got you talking.

It's passed now thanks to the governor.

What were your main objections to that piece of legislation from.

Well, Senator Roberts, but there were lots of peopl kind of joining in on that bill.

Well, first of all, my main objection was one of my main, but one of my objection was the fact that that was a local issue.

I don't care how they crafted it, bill, to try to make it a general bill is still was a general bill with local application one water system that's Birmingham.

That's what it was crafted to address.

It didn't touc any of the system in this state.

And in a situation like that, you know, my opinion then and it is now that people outside of our local delegation should not have been involved with whatever decision that is ultimately made, because what you end up doing, you open up, is kind of like the words I use, you open up Pandora's box, and when you open up Pandora's box more than Pandora, come at the box.

And you said, what do you mean?

Well, the if you if you start a president of sticking your hand and other people local legislation.

Guess what.

You've opened the door for them to put their hand in yours.

Okay.

Yeah.

So and that's, that's a president that, pleaded with him not to get started because is ga can either get out of control.

And so at this particular time, Bill, they chose to put their hand and our local issues and, and said, you know now president has been set and but that's one issue.

The other thing thing about it is simply this is that there naturally is always improvemen that you can make on a system.

And some of those things in the bill in terms of, some requirements for people i positions o engineers engineer.

Yeah, I think it was positive that part were positive, but that can be done without you taking it from the point of toward all you got to do them.

But just like we made a bill that did that and took the point all the way from zero Birmingham, the majority of it, we could have done it without even touching upon it or mandated that this what they would have to do.

And and they would have had to do it so that that that bothered me because the original bill had three counties outside of Jefferson County on a farm and were both, three of the members were outside of the whole county.

Then the county, which is the uses 92% of the water, only had one vote.

The city of Birmingha was used for the 1% of that 91%.

They had only, one vote at that time, and that was Madam Mayor.

So the they gone from 6 to 2.

So yeah, that was a concern.

So I did I was able to get an amendment put on that, added two more members and it adde another one for Jefferson County and add another one for the city of Birmingham where the city council was elected.

So you maybe you'd still not support the bill, but you improved it in your offic and I improved it at that point.

Then the main thin that I had to work with in after I had to try to do and fortunate enough, was successful, is that if we are going, if they are going, if they because it wasn't my bill and and that's from the majorit that if they're going to do this then we surely ought to have the ability to have control of our destiny in our county.

So at that point, the majority of people in there had to be from Jefferson County, even if they weren't from the city of Birmingham.

Yeah.

So now the bill produces that.

We do have the majority of them, two from the county, two from the city on a seven person board.

So I did that because I want our citizens in Birmingham and Jefferson County not to have to go be at the mercy and be these other counties that that we want to expand, grow.

We need the war bringing industry.

And we don't have to go back someone if all we got to do is find a way to work together, the county and the city and then we can still prosper and in the outlying areas still be able to have representation and, you know, do what they need to do because, you know, we have one count on one han about what am I what about 500 customers out of 200 and some thousand?

And, it wasn't any reason for them to have that kind of power in that kind of situation.

These were just customers.

So.

But anyway, we we made it a lot better.

Okay, I understand, and like I said, on its way to the governor's desk, expect her to sign i while I've got you, the police immunity bill, house bill 202 from Representative Reynolds.

It's called back to blue.

You had some pretty tough words in committee about this.

It's headed to the floor.

I'll talk about your objections to the bill.

And I'm.

Can I assume, correctly, that you're going to speak pretty long on the floor?

When this bill comes up, too?

Well, at that, I'll say this on his present form.

I don't have any intention of voting for it.

I can just tell you that I don't know from there, you know, will take place on the floor.

But I can assure you that I, on this present form, I don't know, one.

You have a situation where all police officers are not to train, so you don't even have a, set standard of what they are going to be made by and held accountable in terms of their training.

So that's the first thing they need to be, April certified train the way all of the should have the same training.

And yes, it's going to take some time to do that, but that should be in place first, because what you are doing now, you're asking a person who had been trained to make a split second decision, or whether they're going to shoot somebody or not on the average circumstances that can exist, then the bill moves to a point where it gives it has another buffer.

Before you get to court by having some review panel look and see whether or not it ought to go to court.

Well, you know, that's that's all you got to do is just tag the review panel and then they're going to rule in favor of the Everytown.

So the citizen is as lost in at that point.

They did and they lost.

The third thing is that the bill talks about that.

If you own a legitimate assignment, legitimate going to search, there's going to serve a warrant that's legitimate but you go to the wrong house.

And then that person, you tell them to get you, ADR or something, they go in your pocket and then you think they get the gun.

If you kill them is no.

They protect to be a bit kind of action.

You can't bring a court action.

You can't be successful in a court action, or you may not even get to.

Cool.

So what I the statements I made, I say that that's a green light to kill black folks.

That's what I said.

Because if you notice most o these folks getting shot anyway.

Are African-Americans around the country?

No different situations.

And now you got a situation where you got one group of officers who are very good officers.

You don't have to worry about them.

You've got another group over here.

I don't know what percentage.

You've got another group over here who could have biases against black people.

They tell true fantasy they are buyers.

You've got another group that may have a little fear.

They too group they don't.

I'm worried about these two groups because it that used to be a pretext.

The action the the bill sponsor and everybody from the governor, most of the Republicans are saying, look, we've got to do something to protect police officers because we have the shortage, right?

They're not signing up enough.

And that's one reason why because they fear, you know, being sued, being prosecuted, you know, in the courts.

So don't they have a point?

Shouldn't we be doing something to boost our police officer ranks and do something to recruit in places like Birmingham?

They've seen a shortage.

Yeah, I think we should be doing something.

But Imma tell you, one of the things we need to do, we need to pay them.

I mean, you know, I heard of one of the a small little small sai it makes $13 a fifth to send out a police officer.

We need to be paying them people 67 and $80,000 just to start because it's a high risk job, kind of like we've done with corrections.

That's correct.

The same thing.

That's the problem.

The way you can't get in one.

I can't just pick somebody to go out there and, and on an inherently dangerous job and make $13 and 50 cent out.

Now that's that's the problem.

We got in the States.

You got to come up with the money.

These communities, some of them don't have the funds.

If we have money for some of these new projects we come out with and, you know, I could name some of them, but we just had $90 million over here and all these projects, you we can make this a special project that is attractive, you know, good salaries, good bonuses, have a great retirement for them and and give them the necessary equipment.

That's what we need to do in term of getting some more officers.

That's interesting.

I, I'd like to follow up on that in future sessions.

We're out of time.

But we're almost out of time in this in the session.

What should we be lookin forward to in these final days, or is it going to be wild and wooly like it always is where we hope, is not it depends on, what the agenda.

It depends on the objective.

If the objective is to pass, as much good legislation as we can as to pass local legislation that's sitting in the basket and the pass, confirmations, then it's going to be a smooth session if we are.

These are the words I use.

But if, if, if there is a hunger and a taste from the majority for red meat, then it's not going to be a smooth session as it could easily be.

If that's not the case, we will be watching and y'all can move quick when you decide to.

The Senate can move very fast and pass a lot of bills.

It's a disaster, Senator.

We're out of time.

We'll see you next week.

All right.

Thank you.

Enjoyed it.

Absolutely.

Okay.

We'll be right back.

Birmingham entrepreneur and businessman A.G. Gasto was one of the most successful African-American business owners in Alabama.

Gaston overcame humble beginnings and racial discrimination to build a $40 million business empire.

Gaston work behind the scenes to financially support the civil rights movement, created an employee stock option and sold his insurance company to his employees for a fraction of its value.

Before we go, some needed levity.

Earlier this week, state troopers reported that a kangaroo got loose on interstate 85.

Yes, a kangaroo.

Here's video shared by James Spann on Instagram.

Troopers said the kangaroo was spotted hopping along the side o the interstate in Macon County.

The incident shut down traffic in both directions as drivers were clearly flabbergasted.

We had to turn down the volume on this because of some special language use.

Not to worry though.

The Kangaroos owner Patrick Starr, told authorities if the animal is back home and safe after being treated by the Auburn University School of Veterinary Medicine.

And get this the Kangaroos name.

Sheila.

Yeah, or maybe more properly, in the Italian Sheila.

Sheila' slang for a woman in Australia.

And that's our show for this week.

Thanks for watching.

We'll be back on Monday with more coverage of the legislature here on Alabama Public Television.

For our Capitol Journal team, I'm Todd Stacey.

We'll see you next time.