In the Weeds with Alabama Daily News

This week marked the arrival of Trisha Powell Crain at Alabama Daily News as our Senior Education Reporter. That has us all excited, but especially Mary who can’t help but gush about all the fun possibilities this brings.

In this episode of In the Weeds, we talk to Trish about her journey to becoming Alabama’s premiere education reporter and then get into her latest education stories: exploring a new funding model, the CHOOSE Act, charter schools and how the Literacy Act implementation is going.

It’s springtime for education wonks at Alabama Daily News!

Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.

For this latest episode of “In the Weeds,” Mary and I are on location at the recent Alabama Retired State Employees conference in Birmingham, where they interview House General Fund Budget Chairman Rex Reynolds.

We discuss a number of topics, from how budgets are going to look to the crime issue and what might happen on gambling.

It’s a good discussion with a fun ending that brought down the house.

Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.

In the latest In the Weeds podcast, Todd and Mary get into more details on Alabama Veterans Department Commission Kent Davis’ forced resignation following the messy, and later dismissed, ethics complaint he filed fellow state agency leader Kim Boswell of the Alabama Department of Mental Health. When Davis initially said he wouldn’t resign, Gov. Kay Ivey’s office released information about concerns raised about the department’s proposed spending of American Rescue Plan Act money.

They also run down the statuses of the state’s current General Fund and Education Trust Fund and outline some issues and big asks looming in the 2026 legislative session.

Todd and Mary discuss their recent story about the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs filing an ethics complaint against the head of the Department of Mental Health over an opioid funding dispute. Messy!

Also their trip to the Business Council of Alabama conference and the latest with prisons and ADN’s plans to hire a reporter based in DC.

Mary and Todd discuss the crazy last 30 days it has been in American politics, including how national events will impact Alabama. Specifically, they get into how the switcharoo at the top of the Democratic ticket might impact the big race in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District.

Following through on his commitment from a few weeks ago, Todd submits himself to a round of “Ask Me Anything,” fielding questions from In the Weeds listeners. Topics range from the origins of Alabama Daily News, go-to political stories and, of course, Toby the dog.

Rep. Jamie Kiel, R-Russellville, was in the minority in the Alabama House this spring when he twice voted against the gambling proposal that would have allowed Alabamians to vote on a statewide lottery and expanded casino-style gambling opportunities in the state. 

In a wide-ranging conversation on Alabama Daily News’ podcast, In the Weeds, Kiel said his opposition to gambling started before he became a lawmaker in 2018 and is multifaceted.

“It’s a long-held belief of mine that we’re growing government again by expanding legalized gambling and I think there are societal ills that come with casinos and that type of gambling that I am philosophically against,” Kiel said.

The proposal ultimately failed in the Senate by one vote.

Though he opposed the legislation, Kiel said Thursday there is one aspect of it he liked. Proponents of the bill said it would allow law enforcement more effective ways for addressing illegal gambling operations in the state.

“The part that I did agree with though is that we do have an illegal gambling problem in Alabama,” Kiel said on Alabama Daily News’ In the Weeds podcast. “…I do agree we have to do something to address that; I don’t know exactly what it looks like.”

Kiel, vice-chair of the House education budget committee also discussed his concerns about a proposal to raise the state’s sales tax on online purchases. That proposal will come back in 2025.

Kiel also discussed Senate Bill 1, which he carried in the House, the GOP-led effort to criminalize monetary benefits for helping people fill out absentee ballot applications. Several groups have said they’re stopping some get-out-the-vote efforts in the wake of the new law, Alabama Daily News reported this week. 

https://aldailynews.com/some-groups-halt-voter-outreach-efforts-in-wake-of-alabamas-new-ballot-harvesting-law/

“It’s a very short law,” Kiel said. “It simply keeps people from getting paid or pay to assist with applications.”

Senate Bill 1 makes it a Class B felony to provide a payment or gift for assistance with an absentee ballot application, punishable with up to 20 years in prison. It also makes it a Class C felony to receive payment or gift for assisting another person with their absentee ballot application, and further prohibits anyone from pre-filling an absentee ballot application on behalf of another voter.

Kiel said he’d like to see 100% voter participation.

“What I don’t want is for outside groups to influence our election in some way,” he said. 

Kiel said he’ll bring back next year two pieces of legislation that advanced this year but fell short of final passage. 

One would require law enforcement to notify parents if their minor child receives a traffic citation.

The bill is named for Tyler Jeffery “T.J.” Morgan, a 21-year-old Tuscumbia resident who died of blunt force trauma in a wreck in 2022. He wasn’t wearing his seat belt. His mother, April Vafeas, later found three seat belt citations he’dreceived as a teenager while he was driving a vehicle registered to her.

https://aldailynews.com/legislative-briefs-for-april-11-2/

The second bill, known as the Pregnancy Resource Act, would allow up to $10 million a year in tax credits to be awarded to Alabamians who make donations to pregnancy centers. 

Pregnancy centers are nonprofit organizations that offer medical services to pregnant women such as testing and sonograms. The centers also provide women with information on alternatives to abortion, including adoption. 

Kiel said his bill was modeled after a law in Mississippi. It passed in the House but died in the Senate.

“These are mothers, these are babies and we need to do everything we can to make sure they get a great start in life,” he said. 

https://aldailynews.com/bill-allowing-tax-credits-for-donations-to-pregnancy-centers-up-in-house-tuesday/

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Sen. Garlan Gudger, one of the Senate’s primary negotiators this past session on the gambling legislation, said  Thursday another bill could and should come back in the 2025 session.

Gudger, R-Cullman, was one of the three senators and three House members on a conference committee that tried to work out the differences between bills allowing a lottery and expanded gambling in the state. The House-passed version was broader, allowing online gambling and sports betting and more casino-style gambling in the state. Senators wouldn’t go that far and a scaled-back compromise ultimately failed by one vote in the Senate.

That was discouraging, Gudger said, but a lot was learned and lawmakers got closer to allowing Alabamians to vote on a lottery constitutional amendment than they had in 25 years.

“I’d like to see it come back up,” he said on Alabama Daily News’ podcast, In the Weeds. “We were only one vote short. It’s not like we’re, you know, 10 votes short. And so we’ll see what happens with the leadership, if they want it to come back up. I think there will be some people that want it to.”

He said he thinks small changes to the bill could flip some of the 15 no votes in the Senate.

“Having a few tweaks would bring us a vote or two back … and I think it doesn’t take too much to do it. The question is, do we bring it up at all? I would like to see it come back, personally.”

He’s not alone. David Bronner, the Retirement Systems of Alabama’s CEO, this week said he’d like Gov. Kay Ivey to call a special session on gambling, citing how the revenue could fund raises for state retirees. 

While lawmakers got close on gambling, the bill’s failure this year caused more tension between the House and Senate than in previous years. Still, Gudger says he sees a chance for communication and work before February 2025.

“The house was a little frustrated, obviously, with us because they had passed that bill multiple times and we had not passed it at all,” Gudger said. “We gave them a different bill but they didn’t like it, non-concurred and brought it back up. So, we are at odds, kind of fighting each other. The reality is, that’s politics. We’re gonna have grudges and that’s going to linger for a little while. But the key is, in the end, how do we get something done for the people of Alabama, in my opinion, so they can have the opportunity to vote.” 

He also warned that some things said in frustration could come back to haunt members.

“This is politics and politics in Alabama runs deep and people have a long memory,” he said.

Gudger also talked about the need in 2025 for a dedicated funding stream for mental health care, particularly the 988 crisis hotline. More money could guarantee calls from those considering suicide would be answered by professionals in Alabama, who could better connect them to local resources. Currently, about 25% of calls are answered out of state. 

“We were hoping to get funding through the gambling legislation, it didn’t happen,” Gudger said. “So what do we do now?

“… We’re trying to figure that out.” 

Gudger said one of his best friends committed suicide right before the start of the session.

“I am passionate about trying to find funding for this,” he said. “I do think that this is becoming a large epidemic in the state of Alabama and by not having consistent funding for this, I think that we’re hurting Alabamians …”

Gudger is the chairman of the Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee and sponsored this session one of the priority bills to over tax credits to employers who help provide child care to workers. It was part of a package of legislation leaders hope will get more Alabamians in the workforce. 

In his second term, Gudger has made a name for himself as someone who can bring his colleagues together, hence his placement on the gambling conference committee. Mary and Todd also asked the two-term senator what else might be in his future.

Gudger said he didn’t know yet what might be next when this quadrennium ends in 2026, but likely will at the end of the 2025 session. He said he’s happy in his current role representing the North Alabama district and working on economic development efforts, but if the stars and moon align for another opportunity, he’ll consider it, he said. 

“Right now, I’m happy where I am,” he said.

It has been a while since Mary and I sat down to record a podcast.

It had been a pretty slow news week until the Trump verdict broke. We talk about how that will reverberate in Alabama, plus what can be discerned from the legislative session now that the dust has settled a bit.

Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.