Broadband Expansion

The Alabama Senate on Thursday passed legislation sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Clay Scofield aimed at expanding broadband access across the state.

Senate Bill 124 would modify the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) Broadband Accessibility Grant program and its application process. The bill would authorize government entities to participate in the program. Under the legislation, for such an entity to qualify for a grant, it would have had to share its statewide broadband service availability information to the Alabama broadband mapping program over the past year. The bill would also increase the minimum service threshold for high-speed broadband services from 25 to 100 megabits per second of download speed and from three to 100 megabits per second of upload speed.

SB125 is a constitutional amendment which would allow a state, county or municipality to grant federal funds or any other broadband infrastructure-related funds to a public or private entity for the sole purpose of expanding high-speed internet services. This is needed to authorize counties to provide grants to private sector applicants.

English Language Learners

The Senate unanimously passed a bill Thursday that would remove test scores of new non-English speaking students from a performance standard used to evaluate public schools.  In 2012, the law began requiring that each school be assigned a letter grade of “A” through “F” based on multiple factors so that schools could easily be compared.  Under SB 170, the attendance and graduation rates of students who are English language learners would still be factored in when assigning a letter grade to a school or school system; however, the bill would remove from consideration the individual test scores of such students for the first three years of enrollment in an effort to reduce the disparity between schools with little or no English language learners and those with a disproportionately high number of such students.  The bill now moves to the House for consideration.

Transgender Healthcare

The Senate Healthcare Committee held a public hearing Wednesday and unanimously approved a bill that would prohibit the performance of a medical procedure or the prescription or issuance of medication, upon or to a minor child, that is intended to alter the appearance of the minor child’s gender or delay puberty, with certain exceptions.  SB 184, the Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, would also prohibit nurses, counselors, teachers, principals, or other administrative officials at public or private schools from withholding from a minor’s parent or legal guardian information related to a minor’s perception that his or her gender or sex is inconsistent with his or her sex.  A similar bill was introduced last year, which passed the Senate but did not receive a House vote.  SB 184 can now be considered by the full Senate.  Another similar bill, HB 266, is currently pending in the House Judiciary Committee.

Workforce Development

The House Education Policy Committee approved a bill on Wednesday that would make it easier for Alabamians to find information regarding available workforce credentials and the jobs those credentials could help them obtain.  HB 241 would provide free public data about all educational and occupational credentials and competencies available to Alabama residents and establish a database through which students, job seekers, and employers may search, compare, and analyze information before making decisions about educational and workforce programs.  The bill would also require that students earn one or more college or career readiness indicators prior to graduating high school.  HB 241 can now be considered by the full House.

Rioting

The House Judiciary Committee approved a bill Wednesday that would mandate jail time for participating in a riot.  HB 2, the Anti-Aggravated Riot Act, would define a “riot” as “the assemblage of five or more persons resulting in conduct which creates an immediate danger of damage to property or injury to persons.”  Attending such an assemblage after a dispersal order by police would be punishable by a mandatory 30 days in jail, and anyone arrested for rioting would have to be held for 24 hours without bail.  HB 2 was approved by a 10-4 committee vote and is likely to be contested if taken up by the full House.

Elder Abuse

The House overwhelmingly passed a bill Wednesday that would create a statewide registry of people who have abused or taken advantage of the elderly.  HB 105 would require the Department of Human Resources to establish an Alabama Elder and Adult in Need of Protective Services Abuse Registry to publish the names of people convicted of crimes against the elderly and individuals found by the Department of Human Resources to have committed an act of abuse, elder  abuse, emotional abuse, exploitation, financial exploitation,  intimidation, neglect, sexual abuse, or undue influence against an elderly person or an adult in need of protective services.  The bill would also require certain care providers to query the registry for employees and prospective employees.  A Senate version of the bill, SB 169, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday and passed by the Senate Thursday.

School Choice

Sponsors of SB 140, a school choice bill approved by the Senate Education Policy Committee last week, are working to make changes ahead of consideration by each full chamber.  As passed in committee, SB 140 would direct Education Trust Fund dollars to education savings accounts that parents could use to send their children to another school, including private schools and homeschools.  Discussions surrounding a potential substitute bill could result in several substantive changes.  One such change could limit application to students entering kindergarten next year, which would effectively phase in a new group of students each year.  Another possible change could result in homeschool students being removed from the bill in an effort to add an accreditation requirement for all participating schools.

 

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Below is a list of bills currently being tracked by our governmental affairs team.