From ou statehouse studio in Montgomery.

I'm Todd Stacey, welcome to Capitol Journal.

Well, with the end of the legislative session comes the beginning of the 2026 election cycle.

Candidates for state office could begin raising campaign funds this week, with th primary elections one year out.

The biggest political news of the week came from Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth, who announced that he will not run for governor in 2026.

The two term lieutenant governor has been widely expected to seek the governor's office but that is no longer the case.

In fact, Ainsworth said he won't seek any office in 2026.

In a statement released on social media, Ainsworth said, quote, Kendall and I have decided that focusing on our children during their last years in high school and transitioning to the private sector make the most sense for all of us at this time in our lives.

Serving as Alabama's lieutenant governor has been the honor of my lifetime, and in the yea and a half remaining in my term, I will continue working night and day to meet the needs, improve the lives and protect the conservative values of the Alabama citizens.

I took the oath to serve.

End quote.

That news came amid growing speculation that U.S.

Senator Tommy Tuberville will give up his seat in the Senate and run for governor instead.

That speculation is getting closer to reality, which was evidenced by Ainsworth's decision not to run.

The former Auburn coaches universal name recognition and appeal to conservative voters make him a tough candidate to compete with in a Republican primary.

This week, a Washington correspondent, Alex Angle, caught up with Tuberville in the Capitol as he was leaving the Senate chamber.

Asked about running for governor, Tuberville didn't directly confirm his plans, but he said, quote, we'll make some kind of announcement one way or another next week.

Stay tuned.

That announcement is expected on Tuesday, as Congress is out of session next week.

Congress was very much in session this week, and most of the action was in the House, which took up President Trump's big, beautiful bill setting tax and spending polic through budget reconciliation.

The bill passed on the House floor Thursday after an all night sessio and now must go to the Senate.

Alabama's delegation was split along party lines, with Republicans supporting the plan and Democrats opposing it.

Alex Angle reports from Capitol Hill on how the bill will impact Alabamians.

The bill is passed as people woke up Thursday morning, the U.S. House took a major step in moving forward with Trump's sweeping tax cut bill.

It's finally morning in America again after last minute change in the president's involvement.

Moderate Republicans and hard line fiscal conservative factions joined together to pass the budge bill, mostly along party lines.

The bill will cut billions from Medicaid and add work requirements.

Estimates predict roughly 54,000 Alabamians could lose health care coverage under the bill.

Republicans like Congressman Dale strong stood by those changes, arguing they tackle waste, fraud and abuse.

Whenever you see the people that are not eligible, the illegals that are participating.

That's what the going to do.

And I think the American people are going to see exactly what he's planning to do, and they're quite excited about it.

But all Democrats strongly oppose the bill, including Congressman Shamari figure speaking on the House floor before the final vote.

The truth is tha people will lose those benefits, all in an effor to make long money even longer.

And so my question is, is ther money being longer worth people in my district lives being shorter?

And it's not.

Snap will also see significant cuts with states having to pick up more of the costs, which could cost Alabama around $90 million.

The package also boosts funding for the border in defense, which is something Armed service chairman Mike Rogers championed.

That $150 billion will fun key investments and initiatives, and President Trump's Golden Dome, revitalize our defense industrial base helped secure our southwest border because border security is national security, deter Chinese aggression, and enhanc service member quality of life.

The legislation extends Trump's tax cuts and creates new breaks boosting the standard deduction and fulfilling a campaign promise of no tax on tips.

The legislation is now sent to the Senate, where lawmakers are expected to make changes to the bill.

Republican leaders hope to get it done and passed and sent to President Trump's desk by July 4th.

Using the reconciliation process, the bill only needs a simpl majority in the Senate to pass.

Reporting on Capitol Hill, Alex Engle, Capitol Journal.

Thank you Alex.

Law enforcement from Alabama, Florida and Georgia say they're standing together this Memorial Day weekend to send a strong message about water safety.

Marine and marine patro agencies from all three states meet in Eufaula as part of National Safe Boating Week.

They delivered a clear warning to boaters.

If you're under the influence, expect to go to jail.

Capita Journal's Jeff Sanders has more.

Marine patrols are already on the water, and so is their message.

At Lake Point State Park in Eufaula.

Officers from Alabama Georgia and Florida join forces as part of National Safe Boating Week.

Reminding boaters that fun can turn dangerous in an instant.

And we want to make sure that when you're out here that you're wearing your life jacket, you want to make sur that all your equipment works.

Check your fire extinguisher and everything on your boat to make sure that you have a safe weekend.

In 2024, Alabama reported 103 boating incidents, 13 deaths and 66 arres for boating under the influence.

Georgia law enforcement says the numbers there are just as concerning.

And behind every one of those numbers is a family devastated and heartbroken.

But I will tell you this many of these tragedies were preventable.

Sometimes just a few simple actions can mean the differenc between a great day on the water and a life changing, heartbreaking one.

Here's what we're asking everyone to do.

Where a U.S. Coast Guard approved lifejacket.

It's not optional for kids.

Don't drive distracted.

Whether you're behind the wheel of a car or the controls of a boat.

Distraction from phones, music, passengers, or anything else in your vessel can be deadly.

Officials say the joint effort is not just symbolic, it's tactical.

It shows unity between neighboring states as they prepare for one of the busiest weekends of the year on the water.

Florida leads the nation in registered boats, and officers say coordinated efforts across state lines can help change behavior before tragedy strikes.

We recognize and Florida boating is truly a Year-Round activity.

Even with the highly experienced and passionate boating community, we continue to see a troubling rise in tragi and often preventable accidents.

This is a clear reminder tha experience alone is not enough.

Vigilance.

Education and preparation remain critical every tim someone sets out on the water, and whether it's ou on the water or on the highways.

Law enforcement officials from all three states remind residents that there will be a zero tolerance policy this Memorial Day weekend.

When it comes to anyone caught driving or boating under the influence, you're going to be arrested an you're going to be put in jail, and that's for your safety.

That's one of the things that I think doesn't always get communicated.

We're trying to protect people from themselves and everybody around them when that happens.

And while law enforcement use National Safe Boating Week to ramp up their message to the public, education effort will continue all summer long.

Reporting from Lake Point State Park in Eufaula.

I'm Jeff Sanders for Capitol Journal.

Thank you Jeff.

Well, have you gotten your real ID sometimes called star IDs?

Or are you like me and procrastinated past the May 7th deadline?

The new identification system is meant to offer an extra layer of security, especially for travelers.

And even though that deadline for air travel has passed, officials are still encouraging Alabamians to update their licenses to the star ID system.

Capital journal's Randy Scott reports.

Back in 2005, Congress passed the real I.D.

act again, mandating some some standardized things to to comply with driver's license credential.

Captain Jeremy Burkett of th Alabama Law Enforcement Agency reflects on the recent program by the agency to get more Alabamians complian with the state's star ID system.

For us to comply with the real I.D.

act, we have the star I.D..

Meaning on the Alabama credential, you'll see that star on it, which means, hey, that's a certified Alabama driver's license that is complying with the real ID act.

ALEAs program, educating citizens about the star ID came to an end at the beginning of May.

Now that school is out the temperature is heating up.

People are thinking about taking a vacation whether it be by car or by air.

The star I.D.

is still something to consider, especially if you're traveling by air.

If you did not get your star ID, Alea says, don't worry, there are some things you can do, but also consider this star IDs are used for more than just travel.

Katzenbach says th enforcement period ending on May 7th was mainly used to educat and get people to take action.

And the reason we say enforcement, period, and not necessarily deadline, is because for us, we want to make sure that citizens of Alabama are fully aware and understand that they can still come to an Alea driver's license office and get the star I.D.

added to the convention.

He adds, air trave isn't the only use for star ID if you choose to use your Alabama driver's license as the credential to board a domestic flight in a federal facility to to, for example, lock a courthouse or federal courthouse or go on to a federal military installation, then it means it's compliant.

So they can look at that.

They can know that you've been processed to get their star ID process started.

You need to take certain items to an early driver's license office or check for updates at WW.

Dot illegal of our birth certificate.

Again, because we got to talk about when we would prove where we were born.

We've got somethin for the Social security number, which again, normally is going to be your Social security card in conjunction with, hey, we've got to hav some documentation of some kind that proves your current address, and that can be a whole host of things.

So you can bring in a utilit bill, a lease, mortgage payment.

In Montgomery, Randy Scott Capital Journal.

And we'll be right back with th interview portion of the show.

Stay with us.

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.

Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Joining me next is Attorney General Steve Marshall.

Mr. Marshall thanks for coming on the show.

Always good to be with you Thank you.

Happy Memorial day.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Happy Memorial day.

Lots to get to.

And I know you just got back from the border.

I'll get to that, bu end of the legislative session.

It was a really active one.

You came on really before the legislative session, and we talked about crime and how it was the top priority for the governor for you.

But it's kind of been your thing for legislative leadership.

And they passed a pretty broad package of crime bills.

You were involved in a lot of these, including that speedy trial act that your office authored.

Talk about broadly wh that crime package was important and also specifically on speedy Trial.

What what difference that's going to make?

Yeah.

First of all, it was refreshing to be able to hear both direct comments from the governor, from the speaker, the speaker pro tem prioritizing public safety and particularly the work that law enforcement does.

I think, number one, Alabama embraces what the role of law enforcement is in our communities has always been very supportive of their efforts.

But tangibly to be able to hear state leaders talk about it I think is is refreshing for us.

I think we saw additional tools in the toolbox be given to law enforcement and what they do, which again, allows for us to be able to help keep communities safer.

N was specifically looking at the Speedy Trial Act that gave additional opportunities for some of the older murder cases to be heard.

You know, there's issues of capacity, both from the circuit side and the judges that are able to hear speedy Trial act would allow for the appointment of an additional judge to be able to hear some of these cases and what gets a little bit lost in that, and candidly, is a guy that's been doing this a while, didn't realize that we had a prohibition in Alabama law for a special jury to be impanele to be able to hear capital case, we had a prohibition on that for reasons that are not perfectly clear.

But the Speedy Trial Act takes that away so that, for example, if you have a small rural circuit that don't have any criminal jury weeks, that if we're appointing a judge to be able to help, they likewise have the ability to impanel a jury to be able to hear that particular case.

But I think within this discussion, we need to understand it' one of the pieces of the puzzle.

I think we got to make sure that we're talking about enhancing the capacity of local prosecutor's offices as well.

You know, we've seen the volume that exists right now in Montgomery and in Birmingham and many of our larger jurisdictions.

We need to make sure we have sufficient and experienced prosecutors to be able to have those cases heard.

And I hope that when when the legislature meets again, and that's going to be one o the topics for them to consider.

Okay.

And you talked about it in terms of the backlog and how frustrating that can be for victims of victims families.

Yeah, and I think frustrating for prosecutors as well, because, number one you want to be able to provide timely justice to those victims and the victims families, but also any case that get older is never getting better.

You have witnesses that move.

You have, individuals whose memory are not as good.

Right.

And so the aging of cases is neve something that's beneficial for for those that are responsible for the burden of proof.

And that's our prosecutors throughout our state.

And so the idea that, for example, in Montgomery, that you may have you know, over 100 cases, of individuals sitting in jail that are charged with murder, I mean, that's a significant burden on those prosecutors offices to be able to get those cases moving.

And so adding those resources, allowing there to be more expedited, hearing of these cases, I think is really important as I mentioned, you just returned from the southern border.

Been there several times, bu you talked about, well, welfare.

You saw a difference this time around.

Obviously there's been a tremendous change between the Trump administration and from the Biden administration.

In terms of enforcement.

What did you see on the ground?

Yeah, what was interesting is it didn't require a change in the law.

It was really a chang in leadership and allowing for our federal immigration officials to be able to do their jobs.

We had a chance to meet with several of the outstanding members of immigration enforcement, and they were sharing the the dramatic change that they were seeing.

And this was in the are of Yuma, Arizona, where there is a significant border crossings in the past.

But, you know, just their border encounters have been down.

I think it was 93%.

The gateways, those that we don't know who they are or where they were coming from, was upwards of 98% reduction.

But one thing that I was struck by is hearing those official say that over the period of time during the Biden administration, that there were over 100 countries that were represented by individuals that were attempting to cross this.

I think we just sort of default to this idea that these are individuals that are coming from Mexico, Central America, but in South America, but instead, I mean, it was all over the world.

And so it clearly shows that there was an organized effort going on.

And I think the cartel had a lot to do with that about, for money getting people across the border.

And, and it was refreshing to be able to hear our immigration officials say, number one, we're able to do our jobs.

But also the dramatic impact they were making.

We also met with many of th the officials in Yuma, Arizona, from the health care system criminal justice side who talked about the dramatic and financial impact, on their community costs.

They had to absorb, basically for the entire nation as a result of that immigration policy.

And so it's a reason why you've already seen us be very proactive in supporting the efforts of this administration to be able to secure that border, and will continue to be able to support for the Trump administration, those efforts.

I think a lot I think most people appreciate the fac that the border is more secure.

That obviously was a problem.

On the other side of that coin, you've got a lot of deportations happening right now, a lot of due process concerns being raised about specific cases.

You're an attorney.

You've been an attorney your entire career.

You are a constitutional lawyer.

You are you concerned at al about some of these due process claims of deportations, maybe not going through the proper.

Yeah.

Look, that's wha the litigation process is about.

Due process is a fundamenta proposition in our Constitution.

We've obviously got an overwhelming number that came across the borde claiming, for example, asylum.

They weren't at all seeking asylum.

One of the stories that we were hearing from immigration official were those that came into Mexico with certain lawful paper declaring, for example the reason why they were there, and then suddenly ditching that material so their identities weren't were known.

They come across the border and they suddenly claim that they were running away out of fear from their own countries.

I mean, people manipulating the system in a very, untruth and unlawful way.

So the Trump administration is taking positions in many of those cases.

We've supported those, but we have judges that are going to consider that, and they'll evaluate whether or not the procedures in which the Trump administration are using are, in fact, lawful.

And, will continue to support what the what the courts are doing.

Switching gears, redistricting I think we've talked about this every tim you've been on Capitol Journal.

But I wanted to ask you about this because this there's a case for the Supreme Court there.

We're just waiting on them to rule essentially a lot of the exact same issues, very close to the same issues that Alabama dealt with and redistricting.

So I'm I'm curious, you know, they're going to rule at some point.

And I think we understand if it if it doesn't go their way that Louisiana's way, then the status qu will probably be the status quo.

But what if they don't?

What if they rule for Louisiana and, you know, somehow changes the rules in terms of redistricting?

Would we would that impact Alabama?

Would it cascade dow and we be in a special session to redraw our congressional maps?

Or how would that process play out?

In typical lawyer fashion?

Can I answer with a maybe, right.

I mean, in the sense that, look, what we lose sight of.

The fact is that the law surrounding the Voting Rights Act continues to evolve.

You know, we've had a decision just as recently as the last couple of weeks out of the Eighth Circuit that is, concluded in a majority decision there that there's no private right of action under the Voting Rights Act, if, in fact, that becomes the law of the land across the United States right now, it' limited to the Eighth Circuit.

That would have a dramatic impact on Alabama's case, because we have private parties that are pursuing this action right now.

Yes.

And that's a defense that we've raised.

And in Alabama's case so far, the three judge panel has rejected that.

But that's an issue that's going to, I think, make its way eventually the Supreme Court because of the circuit split that we have out there.

The Louisiana case is really contingent on how broadly or how narrowly the court addresse the claims there specifically.

You know, Louisiana says as a resul of the the district court order, they had to draw a district that was primarily defined by race, that that was the the instrumental reason as to how those boundaries were defined, not some of the sort of common areas that we've looked in drawing lines in the past, like communities of interest, for example, or economic connection of those, those localities.

And so to the extent that the Supreme Court weighs in very broadly in those arguments, then I think it will absolutely have an impact o what's going on here in Alabama.

And we could see, for example, the Supreme Court, asked for the three judge panel to review their recent order in light of whatever that decision is.

But if, in fact, they come back with a very narrow and tailor ruling, that's very specific to some of the arguments in Louisiana that don't have overlap, then in fact, we won't see that have much of an impact.

So I think everybody on both sides of that case, are looking to see what the Supreme Court does.

And depending on how broadly they rule, it very much could have an impact on what's moving in Alabama.

Would be nice to have some clarity.

It would, to be honest.

And because every round o redistricting is so litigious.

Switching gears again, this embarrassing incident with the Butler snow firm with corrections, Department of Corrections lawsuits.

The reason I bring it up with you is this is this is a firm that y'all have contracted with to handle all this litigation with the Department of Corrections.

They it was, they were accused of using AI to write a brief.

And my thought is, look, it's embarrassing.

Everybody makes mistakes, but it's a pretty, you know, judgment.

Asco really.

Admonish the firm there.

What's the oversight role from your office in terms of something like that.

Making sure that things are done the proper way and mistakes like that don't get made.

Yeah.

First of all, I wouldn't even call it embarrassing.

It was wrong.

You don't use I to be able to draft legal pleadings.

In fact, contrary to the policy of Butler Snow, one of the thing that as a result of the hearing, the judgment Asco held, and rightfully so, to be able to inquire how it happened, who was involved.

And I think it's limited to one lawyer, from what I understood from the testimony there, whether snow is going to investigate every one of the cases in which, Department of Correction was involved, full scale, to make sure that this hadn't happened anywhere else, because the biggest thing for me is to make sure that it's limited to this case and then limited this lawyer, also the lawyer that, transparently told the judg what what he had done, has now, withdrawn from every cas in which that firm is connected to the Department of Corrections.

And so this is not the way that we do business in the state of Alabama.

In fact, we had just held a call with state lawyers just a day before judgment.

Ask us initial where it came out to be able to say that we need to be right on the facts and right on the law.

I think this is limited.

In in scope.

But at the same time, something that we take very seriously look, the sadly died.

This is not limited to this case.

We, in fact, had this happen in a cas opposite of us, where a lawyer that it's safe to say of Alabama used AI in a case here in Montgomery County, the judge became aware of it and admonished that lawyer as well for their actions.

This is an issue in the legal profession that we continue to to, I think, deal with now with the emergence of AI.

But look, you went to law school, you understood your ethical responsibility, and that is to make sure that what you're providing, the court is factually correct, is legally accurate.

And to the extent that that's not something you do, that' not something that we condone.

I was visiting with some attorney friends of mine yesterday and they were, they were talking about this and how in law school you do go through ethical training and things like that and how important that is i terms of the canons of ethics.

Okay.

We only got a little bit of time left, but everybody wants to know this question.

You're going to run for Senate.

Well let me let me frame this.

Let me frame this.

This week we learned that Will Ainsworth, the lieutenant governor Will Ainsworth won't run for governor.

I think everybody understands why.

I mean, he talk about his family and all that.

Certainly appreciate that.

But the elephant in the room is Tuberville.

Senator Tuberville is probably running for governor, set to announce next week.

That leaves a big opening.

We've talked about it before.

You said you might be interested.

So might we see an announcement feature?

I think number one is there is no opening.

And I wouldn't run against Coach Tuberville for Senate.

If in fact, next week or wheneve he announces that he is changing path and going to run for governor, then at that point in time, you know, decisions will be made.

There's no doubt you and I have talked here and I think you broke the story that, in the fall when I said I wasn't interested in running for governor, there was not a position of a constitutional natur or otherwise in state government that really sort of interested me moving forward.

There's no doubt that as AG, we've done, multiple cases and been involved with many of the issues that have overla with what goes on in Washington, and no doubt that we've been pretty aggressive in asserting Alabama's interests in that regard.

There is an interest there, but we'll wait and see what Coach Tuberville does and then be prepare to answer that question fully.

As the dominoes fall, everything kind of cascades down.

Well, we'll leave it there.

And follow up on that, obviously, Attorney General, thanks so much for your time, and we'll see you soon.

Thank you.

We'll be right back.

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Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Joining me next is State Representative Neil Rafferty, platform chair of the Alabama House Democratic Caucus.

Representative thanks for coming on the show.

Hey, thanks for having me on.

I left out your other title with your co whip for the for the caucus.

Correct.

Yes, sir.

In the leadership.

And that's why I wanted to hav you on because, you know, we've kind of done some session, rehashing, especially last week, but I wanted to get the Democrats perspective.

Alexander Willis wrote this great article, kind of, you know, giving you a somebody call it a mixed bag.

Yeah.

Some successes, some frustrations.

Let's start with the successes some of which were your bills.

Yeah.

Well, I mean, I'd say, you know, the aim of government should be good government, not ideological government.

And I think that when we put our heads together and work across the aisle, that we're able to accomplish that.

There's a couple of good examples of that.

One being, you know, Marily Lanza's, Representative Lanza's Medicaid presumption bill for for pregnant women.

That'll hopefully save a lot of, moms and infants, you know, have better health comes out there.

I would also say, you know a huge accomplishment would be the Raise act, which is, you know, was a Republican sponsored bill, but definitel had a lot of bipartisan support.

If not unanimous, I believe.

And it fundamentally changes how we address education to make, our funding more equitable and adequate.

So, Big deal.

Big deal.

Yes.

And I've been talking about that for a while, because I think over the long term, right.

We're going to look bac and say, man, that was a right.

I mean, we're a little late to the game, but I'm just glad we finally got there.

So yeah, we'll go.

Go on.

Because you've got some other legislative successes, including your bills.

Yes.

Benefits.

We talked about that.

Right.

And, sale tax off of, maternity products and things like.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So that sales tax off of, you know, I've been getting multiple emails, phone calls, my neighbors even, like, write letters to me, be like, thank you for this because they know that it's going to save them a lot of money and that, you know, when you're with a young family, that extra little bit of money goes can go a long way.

So and then, you know, it was a Republican bill.

But the Glock switch ban originated with Philippines, where I think you've got to put that as a success to and credit him on that.

Oh, 100%, yes.

So Representative Insula has put a lot of work into that, and I was happy to see it cross the finish line.

Because those are dangerous.

Those are dangerous things.

We need to keep them off the street.

So there's actually been some arrests made this week.

Based on that, that law.

I keep seeing the press releases come out.

So it's it's impacting.

It's making an impact.

Good.

Let's talk about some frustrations.

I don't want call them failures because they're just frustrations.

Right.

Obviously with Democrats in the super minority.

Y'all don't run the show, right?

You know.

Sure.

But were there any bills or initiatives that maybe you thought, hey, this really has a chance, but it didn't work out for one reason or another.

Bills that we wis that we could have been pushing.

So, I mean, obviousl the overtime tax exemption and, you know, Anthony, Minority Leader Daniels bill, you know, it sunset i I think there's got to be a lot of working people here in the state come around July when they not having as much take home pay or were going to be wondering what what what exactly is going on down here in Montgomery.

Let's say the expanded police immunity bill was a huge problem.

I think that's a very problematic bill.

I think that we're going to have to be revisiting that one at some point.

And, you know, we also made unemployment harder to get, where now you have to do five job applications, I think, per week.

So, I mean there's some frustrations here, but I think the real thing would be the kind of political games and not really focusing on th really bread and butter issues that the people of Alabama really want their state government to be working on was, again, good government, not ideological government.

So you mean like culture war kind of culture war stuff, you know, not things that are, you know, focus on putting more money in Alabama workers pockets but instead focusing on these, these issues that have gotten national attention and national traction and are being pushed by national out of state interest groups, too.

So I did notice that there were a couple of culture war bills that didn't make it to the finish line.

One was gender ideology in the classroom, right?

Right That's, as red meat as it gets.

And the other one.

Oh, religious instruction.

Right I didn't that ended up failing.

So do you expect those bills to come back up?

I'm thinking, like, next year?

Yeah.

It is in an election year, right?

That's when we tend to se those red meat kind of things.

Right.

And what would y'all's strategy be for dealing with?

I mean, like I said, an election year.

Here comes the red meat.

And I imagine some proposals y'all would disagree with.

yes, I think a lot of, what our strategy is going to be is a good offense, which you know, is the best defense.

So making sure that we're focusing on the issues that really matter to the people of Alabama, really asking the questions about if these big culture war issues are really going to be game changers or alter and move the needle for for Alabama families lives.

I don't think it's going to I don't think, and I think most of Alabama would agree with that, too, that there's more important pressing issues here.

So, I mean, I think ou strategy is largely going to be focusing on those bread and butter issues.

Stop in the political games, making sure we're focusing on the people and putting them first.

That's what I believe.

Let's revisit that over time.

Income tax.

You're right.

So it sunsets in June.

So you're right that probably that impact will be felt in July.

So this is you know right no based on that law that passed, no overt, no sales tax.

Sorry, no income tax on overtime hours worked.

Right.

So the whole reason behin letting it sunset is, you know, it it came with more revenue cost to the state.

Correct.

So my question to you, because the original estimate was 30 million, right.

Ended up being 350 million.

So that's obviously problematic.

So is there a way to do it because I imagine this will be coming up because we don't know what the Trump administration and Congres are going to do with it, right.

Is there a way to do that tax cut without that $300 million hole in the budget?

Right.

Well, I think you can set certain limits on, on o how much like a maximum amount that you could be deductin a capping it along those lines.

But I think we also need to really be exploring other revenue sources too.

But that is a much bigger discussion, obviously.

And it might not be as obviou as what you might be thinking, but there are some, but there's definitely some other ways we need to explore revenue.

It's not needs to be taking money out of working people.

It's pockets here in Alabama.

Yeah.

And I know we always talk about how nobody likes to raise taxes.

And the Republicans, of course.

But, you know, every year we see fee get increased on certain things.

The PBM bill that passed this year, that was a tax, if you will, on some on PBMs.

So it's not, you know, completely off the table.

I'm just interested in if that comes back if Congressman the administration does that.

I think it's going to force Republicans hands.

And so it may have to get clever and how we do that in terms of revenue.

So that maybe something coming up next year I got some ideas I got some ideas.

Yeah.

Well, look I really appreciate your time.

And in that perspective.

You know, congratulations again on the, ending the session.

We're all taking a deep breath but it also allows you to spend more time in your district, which is.

Oh, yeah, you know, visiting with your constituents, sort.

That's that's why you get the job.

That's why you love it.

So.

Well, thanks again, and I will see you soon.

Oh, absolutely Thanks for having me on, Todd.

We'll be right back.

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

aptv.org.

Click on the online video tab on the main page.

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

Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

With the end of the legislative session comes bill signing season.

And joining me next is the person at the center of that process, Will Parker, general counsel for governor Kay Ivey.

Will thanks for coming on the show.

Thanks for having me.

Love the show an and watch acting all the time.

Well, good.

Well, I appreciate it again.

Y'all have been really busy because, you know, in the legislative session you go through, I say bill signing, it's really bill review because it is a very important part of this process is the executive branch.

The governor can sign, can veto, can send back amendments, things like that.

And it al kind of happens at once, right?

Y'all had a flood of legislation at the very end.

Can we start with just kind of that process?

How do y'all work that bill review bill signing process?

Because it really matter just the details of legislation.

You got to be careful, I imagine.

Absolutely.

This is a massive undertaking.

Not just by m or the governor's legal office, but the whole governor's office, the whole executive branch of government working in collaboration with the legislature.

You mentioned this is a busy time.

Was looking at some of the statistics about the session.

And as you may know, there were almost 1500 pieces of legislation introduced this session.

Can you read them?

All right.

Well, I'm not personally, but a lot there are a lot of bills and a lot of resolutions.

And the process, we hav certain things that we look for.

We're going to look for capacity issues.

Is that, Bill, you know, consistent with the state and federal constitutions, we're going to look for litigation risks.

We're going to look for unintended consequences that may be lurking in some of the bills.

We'r trying to accomplish some goal, but is there potentially a drafting error that could, you know, creep up and frustrate that goal?

We're looking for policy concerns and also always looking at the impact on the executive branch of government.

Very important to mak sure that these bills and laws, can be executed by the executiv branch once they go into, into branch into effect.

So we have all these things that we're looking for.

But to your point, when you have 1500 pieces o legislation that are introduced, that's a massive undertaking.

So really we have this huge team, every and I should say that the session, the bill review really starts, before a bill gets anywhere close to the governor's desk.

We're trying at the very end.

We want all issues to be worked out, because Governor Ivey really cares a lot about having a really good relationship, working relationship with the legislature.

So you run the trap before it ever reaches her desk?

That's right.

Every every week during the session, we've got a really big team.

Link consists of governor's office staff and multiple executive branch agencies here coming together to look at every bill that's introduced to track down those issues and work them out befor they get to the governor's desk.

And that's that's our goal, is we don't want to have any of the options that are at the governor's disposal.

Those are there.

Sometimes they are exercised.

But we our goal is to work things out ahead of time.

You mentioned other agencies and that's a really good point because every agency has counsel, and specific to their, you know, realm.

Right.

And I'm, I' guessing that you count on that because if a bill affects Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Well, somebody specializes in that.

You're going to absolutely.

Things like that.

You really count on your colleagues in these agencies?

Absolutely, absolutely.

We've got, like I said, a whole network of folks, council, we've got, a lot of agencies have government relations folks whose job it is to help us with this process.

And they're really talented peopl throughout the executive branch.

And that's one thing that's really exciting in our role, is to get to work with so many of those different people, as we all are trying to serve the people, just like the governor really wants us to do, and make sur that this process is seamless.

I mean, you can picture a duck swimming on the top of the water.

That duck needs to be, you know, immaculate, peaceful, all that's underwater.

You've got the the, feet going.

You know, 90mph.

And that's, you know, people of Alabama, I think, expect to see their government operate smoothly.

But there's so much work that goes into that.

And so we we really do work very hard to help our boss, the governor, ultimately be ready to do her job, which is to execute the laws of legislature in a in a way that seamless and ultimately serves the people in the best possible way.

switching gears.

It's not just the bill review process.

Y'all released a list of successes, that the governor had this session.

Cell phone ban, the veterans legislation, parental leave, public safety was a real big one.

A lot of that originated in the governor's office.

Obviously every time we talk about a bill, we talked about the House sponsor, the Senate sponsor.

But y'all help write some of this stuff.

Not just write, but help, you know, kind of navigate it through.

Talk about how that work in terms of working with House sponsors, Senate sponsors to not just support legislation, but help author it and navigate it through the process.

Absolutely.

Of the, 305 bills that became law this session, there were about, I would say, 10 or 11 that the governor's office authored.

And I can say from firsthand experience, I got to see, you know, a blank wor document turned into this bill and go all the way through the process, which is a, as you know can be a very lengthy process.

And it's really exciting to get to see that happen.

Actually, I was thinking, you know, the last time someone from our office was on here, Governor Ivey cam and she brought to you a gift.

I thought you might want to.

Yes, I thought she might bring a gift for you.

These are the bills that the governor's office author this year.

And, I thought you might need some summer reading for the off season.

So we're going all right to have you check in and test you on these, it's a pretty lengthy.

He said.

Summer.

Well, we are talking about summer reading, you know, on Capitol Journal this week.

There you go.

So.

Well that's interesting.

That's a lot of lot of, not just original writing amendments, things like that.

I wanted to ask you specifically about that, because I'm thinking about going back to the state of the state.

She said her top priority was public safety.

Absolutely.

Some of those bills were non-controversial.

One that was was House Bill 202.

That's right.

Back to blue police immunity.

What was interesting to me about that, in terms of your office is obviously sponsored by Chairman Rex Reynolds.

He did a lot of work on that bill, but I was noticing throughout the session, obviously past like close to midnight, last day of session, I was noticing that he and some of his colleagues would walk across the street to the Capitol, and I was assuming.

All right, there's an amendment.

There's something going on, a substitute.

He's coming to see you.

Right.

He's coming to see you and the governor about whatever amendments happen.

Talk about that process on such a complicated bill that went through so many different revisions.

Yes.

So the back the blue legal Protections bill is somethin that's really been in the works, since, you know, well into last year, you know, we have a policy making cycle where right after the one sessio ends, the governor's as asking, okay, what's next?

That's her M.O.

and we're always asking what's next?

And clearly, with some of the issues that we've been seeing, on a range of front within the public safety area, we're seeing, okay, this is something that we've got to take some leadership on.

And this idea in particular came, really from, seeing some of the instances across the country of where you hav some law enforcement officers, perhaps be unfairly drugged through the court process.

And we don't want that ever to happen in this state.

And we want the police officers to out there making these split-second decisions to know they have our back.

So it starts with an idea we can draw on, all sorts o existing federal legal sources, and, and, ideas that we've, we've take and we've put together a draft, we work on it with a lot of stakeholders that includes, all sorts of people.

You know, earlier, the state law enforcement agency, of course, will be working closely with them.

We worked a lot with, legal lawyers who worked for county and city police officers and sheriffs and deputy sheriffs.

There's a whole universe of folks that, are interested in this.

They're also lawyers who believe in holding police officers accountable.

And that's one thing that is important to note about this bill is it's a balance, is a very carefully crafted balance of ensuring that we can protec law enforcement from unfounded claims while holdin the true bad apples to account.

And so we worked with, all sorts of folks to try to make sur that we could get that balance, you get that introduced, and then you realize all the things that you still need to do to, to improve it.

And so we met, you know, with, Democrats i both the House and the Senate.

We were really trying to work as best we could.

It goes back to that principle that is set by Governor Ivey, which is we want to work well with the legislative branch.

And we took a lot of amendments.

And every time that happens, yes, we're we're, taking the idea from someone and then we're running it back through that network and making sure that it works.

I mean, that works fo everybody as best as possible.

And sometimes you have to compromise.

And everybody we worked with was always really trying to, ultimately serve that ultimate goal of showing these law enforcement officers that we have your back.

And that was a success at the end.

And you mentioned you know, things go into court, assume tha this is going to court, right?

Somebody is going to sue.

Somebo It's constitutionality.

You think about these things all the time.

That's your job.

Are you confident that Hous Bill 202 is going to withstand scrutiny of the courts?

Oh, very confident, very confident.

I actually don't really foresee any serious constitutional challenges on this bill.

It's setting a lot of it is setting procedures.

There we in place for, for for various, you know, whether it's civil litigation or criminal prosecutions if there ever were any.

And so I, you know, I just don't see a huge risk on that, obviously.

If that does come, I'm confident that it would withstand scrutiny.

And I think that it will ultimately be to the benefit of law enforcement and therefore to public safet in the communities of the state.

We'll we're out of time.

I really appreciate you coming on and explaining some of the stuff.

I love getting into the weeds of process and everything.

So I know it's bee a long session for you as well.

Absolutely.

You know, get some rest.

But thanks again for coming on the show.

Absolutely.

It is a great, joy to be here.

I, like I said, a fan of the show, and I'm really thrilled to get to.

Come on, you can keep the mug.

That's your, door prize.

Awesome.

I will do that.

Thank you.

Thanks again.

We'll be right back.

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

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

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

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

Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Joining me next is Bonnie Shaw director of the Alabama Reading Initiative at the Alabama State Department of Education.

Bonnie, thanks for coming on Capitol Journal.

Thank you so much for having me.

I've been looking forward to this because we're entering summer and, you know, kids are getting out of school.

I'm seeing everything on Facebook and Instagram and everything.

But summer is so important now in terms of learning and reading and everything.

You know, 20 years ago, somebody had to go to summer school.

That was a real bummer.

But now the summer learning period is crucial to really avoiding some of that summer slide.

And what y'all do wit the Alabama Reading Initiative.

We'll get there.

But before we do, can you kind of explain the Alabama Reading Initiative, its roots and what you do?

So the Alabama Reading Initiative started in 29 through legislation, and the aim of it is to have readers by the end of third grade students who are able to tackl the reading that they're going to need to in school by the end of third grade.

And so all of the elements o the Alabama Reading Initiative and the Alabama Literacy Act are really working to achieve that sole goal, to make sure that we're moving in that right direction for our students.

So fundamental was the Alabam Literacy Act passed back in 2019 because there was that slide.

Right.

We saw that.

And so lawmakers came together with policymakers to say, hey, let's at least address that.

Talk about how that law has been implemente in terms of catching us back up, because we've seen the numbers improve.

Yeah.

It's exciting.

The numbers are really moving in the right direction.

And we had some past information that we knew was really going to help support us in moving in the right direction.

We had been doing coaching previously.

We just took our foot off the gas and we're in a different direction.

And so now the coaching is back in full force.

We've got a lot of preventative strategies that are recommended in national legislation, national policies to hel move us in the right direction.

And then we have those intervention supports, just like summer learning, to help help support students and help the catch up and close those gaps.

It was interesting.

I was listening to the governor of New Mexico, talk about what she wanted to do with learning and reading specifically, and mentioned Alabama, saying, we want to do that.

It's nice to hear people from other states that know we want to do what Alabama has been doing.

And so I think that's interesting.

Let's talk about summer learning and how that works, because you have these reading camps, things like that.

As I mentioned it.

You know, when I was growing up, that would be a bummer.

But these are really exciting opportunities for students to be engaged to talk about the summer learning that goes on.

Well.

And it's it's really exciting with summer learning, because it's that opportunity where everything else is kind of stopping.

And so you have that extra time, that extra class time to be able to support the learning.

And we call them summer camps because we want it to have that fun, aspect.

Now it starts with the mandates.

We've got to make sure that we're adhering to what's in the Literacy Ac 60 hours of reading instruction and intervention.

We want to make sure tha students are getting that time in that instruction, and we're making sure that, our teachers are to be highly qualified.

We need to make sure that they have the skills that they need to be able to support the students as they're moving, you know, into these summer camps.

So those are two key components we want to make sure are going on.

Then we had the numeracy act that came in.

And so we're adding that time for problem solving into our camps okay.

So those are our mandate items.

But I talk about freedom within the fences.

What else can we bring i the fences or kind of our gate?

What else can we bring in to really make it exciting?

And it gives that freedom to the districts, to really hone i on their strengths and talents, to make learning really fu and exciting for the students.

We want them to come in, a lot of schools ar having themes which are so fun.

The kids come in and it might be a splash theme or a water theme that they have going on.

And so the students are coming in.

I know one camp I was a part of, they had, it was a camping thing.

So it fit really well with the summer camp and, being able to bring tha into this desire for learning.

That's really great.

And I love how you said you give them the freedom because, yeah, you don't want to be a top down approach.

You're, you know, talking about teachers.

Some of the most creative people that exist.

Right.

And so you want to give them the flexibility to, you know, have their own ideas and they and they know their students better than anybody.

Right?

That's right.

And also really looking at what other opportunities can we bring in to make learning fun.

And I talked about havin a water theme or an ocean theme.

What about these schools that have aquaponics in their high school that can bring the CTE students in to teach about some of the aquaponics?

We can read about some of the things that are going on that affiliate with that, do some writing activities so it really can connect to some really fun and exciting topics, that students will enjoy learning about, but we're also strengthening their reading and writing.

When the Literacy Act passed, there was a lot of controvers about hey, you know, there's a there's a accountability provision.

Right.

There's a hold back provision lockout discussed in this building about that.

But it's not just a hold back provision.

It's there was so much in that law was about we're not just going to hold you back.

We're trying to get you to the fourth grade.

We're trying to get you there.

And over the summer, that's part of it, right?

Is taking advantage of these opportunities so that we can promote.

You talk about the importance of summer in terms of bridging that gap from the third grade to the fourth grade to avoid the hold back.

That's right.

Because we're looking at students to be invited who showed some kind of deficiency throughout the school year, some sort of consistent deficiency.

They were given a student rating improvement plan.

They have the opportunity to come and really close the gap on those targeted scales.

There are assessments that are required by the Literacy Act.

And so they look at those assessments to see what skills ar our students really struggling with and opportunitie for progress monitoring, to say that we're moving them in the right direction and closing the gap on those specific skills for those students.

And then we have students who maybe on the Icap, they weren't successful.

And so it gives them an opportunity for those students to also come in and receive that extra support.

And then if we have a school that is, what we call an ASAP school, one of the schools that's in the lowest 5%, it gives them opportunity to invite their whole school to summer reading camp.

If I'm a parent, I'm thinking of our viewers.

If I'm a parent out there, or just know a student who might be able to take advantag of some of these opportunities.

What would be your message to them about why it's so important to maybe enroll your student, or just look for opportunities like this?

Why is it so important?

Well, we know that once they move into fourth grade, once they move past the grades that they're in, the rigor of rating that it takes for them to be successful in school goes up so much more significantly.

And they're not necessarily having that specialized instruction on a day to day basis.

On how do I sound out this word?

And so we want to make sure that they're secur in those foundational elements before they move on to fourth grade, because it's really hard to catch up.

Learn to read versus reading to learn.

Oftentime we hear that phrase absolutely.

Okay.

Well, that's really interesting.

And is there a way that parents can find out more about it?

You all have a website and things absolute like we've actually, the State Department has established the Office of Extended Learning.

Jeff Norris is the person who's in charge of that, and he has done amazing work to bring together all different elements at the department.

We have, Amsterda coming together with great Stem activities.

We have our edtech coming together.

Oh, am I the Office of Mathematics Improvement coming together so that we have cohesive plans for our K-5, but it doesn't stop at K-5.

There's also elements, to be able to support those students who have summer learning beyond grade five.

He has a podcast where he's interviewing people about things that they're doing.

Holly McKnight are here in a talk to a Targa County.

I just heard a, her podcast that she recently did.

She's got some great community things happening.

She's tying in the YMCA where students will go over there.

She's working with her students who are in the career tech program, learning to be teachers, and they're coming over and working to support the summer camps.

So there's a lot of things that can be done.

We have a group, the, Alabama, Afterschool Alliance.

They help pull together a lot of community agencies.

That we really want to come and be hands to support our summer reading camps.

It's about tying all these things together, to make it more exciting.

A camp that kids want to com to, a camp that supports parents and the needs that they have and really ultimately closes the gaps that those students have.

As someone who grew up at the Provo YMCA and the Provo Library, I really appreciate hearing hearing that.

Bonnie, thanks so much for this.

You know, so much happens in this building, to support, you know, they pass laws and policie and things to try to get there.

You all are the ones that are implementing it.

And I know it's tough work.

I love to hear comeback stories, especially about the Alabama Reading Initiative.

You've come back and it's going to be fun to watch these results only because of you and your team's work and and of course, the teachers on the ground.

So thank you for what you do.

Really appreciate you coming in to explain this for our audience.

Thank you.

It's been great to be here.

We'll be right back.

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

aptv.org.

Click on the online video tab on the main page.

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

That's our show for this week.

Thanks for watching.

We'll be back next week at the same time here on Alabama Public Television.

But before we go.

Monday is Memorial Day, not Veteran's Day and not the 4th of July, but Memorial Day.

A time when we remember and honor the sacrifice of the brave men and women who have laid down their live fighting for this great country.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, and I hope you'll take time to remember that sacrifice and share the meaning of this solemn holiday with younger generations.

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

We'll see you next time.