NOTE: With state legislative sessions coming to a close, in the coming weeks Facing South will be offering reports on key policy decisions in Southern states. The following comes from the excellent weekly dispatch published by the Progressive States Network.
Session Roundup: ALABAMA
Alabama’s three month legislative session that
adjourned on April 22 was dominated by three issues — passing a state
budget, a controversial bill to bring a referendum on whether to make
electronic bingo legal and legislation to bail out the state’s popular
pre-paid college tuition program.
Budget, Tax and Revenue: As with so many
other states, Alabama faced a large budget shortfall this year. Based
on estimates from the Legislative Fiscal Office, the state’s general
fund faced a shortfall of about $600 million this fiscal year.
But largely through the use of state rainy day funds and federal aid the
state received through ARRA money, major cuts in education, health and
services programs were avoided.
The legislature made their budget situation worse
by approving new corporate tax breaks (HB 260) in the name of subsidizing employers who
hire unemployed workers up to 50 percent of wages paid to new hires.
Unfortunately, a more positive measure for
working families was defeated. A broad-based campaign proposed
repealing the 4 percent state tax on groceries and over the counter
medications, while raising revenue by eliminating the deduction for
federal taxes paid by higher-income earners. The constitutional
amendment (HB 1) received a vote of 54-42 in the House of
Representatives, but the proposal fell just 9 votes short of the 63 votes
needed to bring the bill to the House floor for debate.
Electronic Bingo: The most controversial
bill of the year was one that would have let voters decide whether to
declare electronic bingo legal and set up a gaming commission. While SB 515 passed the Senate, it died without a vote
because the sponsor wasn’t able to find enough backing for the bill
among other House members. Opponents viewed the bill as bad public policy,
especially a provision where, if it had been approved by the voters the
Legislature could have revisited the bill to create rules for bingo
operations. During the time the bill’s fate was being decided, federal
authorities revealed an investigation into possible corruption in the
legislature involving the bingo bill.
Education: One major bill that did pass
was to appropriate funds for the state’s prepaid college tuition program
(PACT). The PACT program covers about 45,000 children. The Prepaid Affordable College Tuition program ran into
trouble when the stock market collapsed last winter. The program’s
assets, once valued at nearly $900 million, were heavily invested in
stocks, and their value plunged below $500 million. However, despite
initial differences between the House and Senate over whether to
establish a cap for state university tuition increases, Senate Bill 162 will provide the program with a
total of $236 million over eight years, as it was signed
into law on April 30th.
Transportation: A major transportation bill did pass the legislature
this session. SB 120, a proposed constitutional amendment that
authorizes the Alabama Trust Fund to make payments of $100 million each
year for 10 years for road & bridge construction, maintenance and
repair programs in the state’s transportation infrastructure. The
measure has been placed on a November ballot initiative. If approved,
the state will make an annual distribution of $25 million of the $100
million to cities and counties based on the state’s gasoline tax
distribution formula, $74 million to the Alabama Department of
Transportation (ALDOT) and $1 million to the Alabama Shortline Railroad
Infrastructure Fund.
Environment and Energy: The Alabama Permanent Joint Legislative Committee on Energy
and interest groups worked to pass several bills pertaining to energy
and energy efficiency. Among the bills passed was HB 128 , which provides for the “Codification of
the Joint Legislative Committee on Energy Policy” and provides for an
ongoing state energy study and energy plan. Additionally, SB 315 requires the adoption of the Alabama Energy
and Residential Codes to comply with certain federal energy and building
requirements.
Defeated Bills Included:
- Charter Schools: Legislators also
defeated attempts to allow charter schools in the state (HB189 and SB202). - Health Care: Alabama joined 24 other states in rejecting bills (SB 233 and its companion, HB 47) calling for states to prohibit mandatory
participation in the health care system established by the federal
health care reform bill. - Immigration: The best immigration
news to come out of Alabama’s legislature this session is the fact that
no anti-immigrant bills were passed. One highlight though was the
passage of a bill, HB 432 to make human trafficking a crime in
Alabama. The new law provides for much harsher penalties for the
criminals and more protections for victims than were previously provided
under kidnapping statutes.
Defeated Affordable Housing: Even though a
bill (HB 512) to create a state Affordable Housing Trust
Fund sailed in the House unanimously (91-0), it never came up for a vote
in the Senate. The estimated shortage in the number of affordable housing units
in Alabama totals about 45,000. Alabama is one of only 12 states that
has not established a housing trust fund as a strategy to address
housing shortages.
Session Roundup: KENTUCKY
Although the General Assembly met this year in regular session from
January-April, the session was overshadowed by negotiations over how to
resolve a $1.5 billion budget gap in 2011 and 2012. Governor Steve
Beshear’s initial proposal to close the shortfall relied heavily on new
revenue from the expansion of gaming. The House agreed to support the
increase in gaming revenue, but Senate leadership refused to consider
it. A State Budget Director report shows that April 2010 revenues were
lower than in April 2009, suggesting that the projected deficit could be
growing – a gap that will be increasingly difficult to control without new sources of revenue. Both houses issued their
own budget bills, but were unable to come to agreement, and the
legislative session ended on April 15 without a budget.
On May 12, Governor Beshear issued a revised budget proposal incorporating elements of
the House and Senate versions. The new budget includes spending cuts of 3.5% in 2011 and 4.5% in 2012.
The General Assembly will meet in special session, beginning May 24.
There has been much attention on the $63,000/day cost of the special session, so
Assembly leaders and the Governor wanted to make sure an agreement on
the budget was in place to limit the special session to the minimum
length of five days.
As of this writing, Governor Beshear has not
formally issued the special session order, but said he expects to add transportation plans for 2011-2016 to the agenda.
These items could still be contentious. House leadership has said that,
while the House approved $300 million in bonds for transportation in
the Governor’s original plan, members may be less receptive to it now
that funding for most other construction projects has been cut. Also,
the House may object to the full $2 billion transportation plan for
2013-2016 proposed by the Senate.
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
Incentives: In 2008, the General Assembly enacted a law (HB 2) creating a package of tax incentives
for renewable energy and efficiency projects. However, the state has not
been able to implement the programs due to a legal challenge based on
the fact that it was passed after midnight on the last day of the
legislative session. This year, the General Assembly passed HB240, which repeals and reenacts HB2 as a way to
settle the legal dispute and enable the state to make real progress in
reducing global warming pollution and bring down energy costs. The
law’s major provisions include:
- Creating the Energy Efficiency Program for
State Buildings, with a provision allowing the program to move forward
with low-cost/no-cost projects (based on projected energy cost savings)
when appropriations are not available in a given budget year. - Requiring that all public buildings for
which 50% or more of the financing is provided by the Commonwealth meet
“high-performance building” standards set by the Finance and
Administration Cabinet. - Creating the High-Performance Buildings
Advisory Committee to inform the Finance and Administration Cabinet’s
standards for “high efficiency buildings,” incorporating LEED, Green
Globe, EnergyStar, and other recognized benchmarks and taking into
account guidelines issued by organizations such as the U.S. Green
Buildings Council, and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating
and Air-Conditioning Engineers. - Requiring best practices in the field of
energy efficient construction, such as utilizing life-cycle cost
analyses for in developing construction plans for public buildings. - Implementing reporting requirements that
ensure transparency and make the program’s reports measurable. - Making tax credits available for certain
energy efficiency improvements, at 30% of cost. The law limits future
state liability under the program by capping the maximum credit at $500
for single-family residences and $1,000 for multi-family and commercial
buildings - Creating an energy technology career track
program to be organized by the state’s Department of Education and the
Department for Workforce Investment. - Empowering the Public Service Commission to
evaluate energy conservation programs (or “demand-side management
plans”) proposed by public utilities, including cost-recovery mechanisms
funded through charges to ratepayers - Creating a Center for Renewable Energy
Research and Environmental Stewardship to provide leadership, research,
policy, and technical assistance to advance the state’s renewable energy
and efficiency goals. - Creating the Kentucky Bluegrass Turns Green
Program to provide funding to and to guide the development of public and
private sector demand-side management programs.
Natural Gas Deregulation: HJR141 directs the Legislative Research Commission
to open a case on retail competition in natural gas supply. Advocates
have warned that the state should proceed cautiously in considering
deregulation of natural gas because of evidence showing the likelihood
that consumers’ energy costs will rise rather than decline. Of
particular note is a pilot competition program in Columbia Gas service
territory. During the program’s first eight years, consumers who have
participated have paid $4.45 million dollars more in gas costs over and
above what they would have paid had they chosen to remain with Columbia
Gas.
Setting Livestock and Poultry Care Standards:
As originally filed, SB105 would have preempted local ordinances
defining certain industrial livestock production practices as animal
cruelty by creating a state Livestock Care Standards Commission. The
House Agriculture and Small Business Committee amended the bill as HB398 to make the commission advisory to the state
Board of Agriculture, and to protect the ability of communities to
control and abate nuisances arising from concentrated animal feedlot
operations (CAFOs) and CAFO siting ordinances.
Care for Children with Autism: The
General Assembly unanimously enacted HB 159, which increases the amount of coverage
health insurers must provide for autism spectrum disorders. The bill
requires large-group and state employee insurance plans to provide
coverage in the annual amount of $50,000 for children with autism from
age 1 to 6 and up to $12,000 a year for older children with autism.
Labor and Workers’ Rights: Not
much progress – or regress – was made on labor issues this year. Two
pro-worker bills that passed included a job creation measure and a
workers’ compensation measure, including a Bid Preferences for
Kentucky Contractors (SB 45) and Workers’ Compensation Claim Guidance (HB 38), which updates existing workers’
compensation legislation and requires workers’ compensation guidelines
to remain current with the most recent medical and scientific knowledge
by continually updating the law’s reference to the relevant AMA document
as new editions are released.
Hospital Visitation Bill: A significant
step for LGBTQ-friendly legislators and advocates was unanimous passage
by the House of HB 118. The bill would allow any adult hospital
patient to designate another individual to be treated as a member of the
patient’s family with regard to visitation. The bill died in the
Senate Judiciary committee, but the House’s vote was a strong statement
in the face of HB 440 – a bill that would have legalized
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity
(see below).
Notable Progressive Defeats Included:
- Payday Lending: HB 381 would have capped the interest rates that
payday lenders can charge at 36% APR. Currently, these predatory
lending establishments are permitted to charge $15 for each $100 loaned
every two weeks – subjecting consumers to a 390% annual interest rate
and making it all but impossible for many low-wage workers to escape the
cycle of poverty and bad credit and subjecting them to endless
harassment from collection agents. The bill was sent to the House
Banking and Insurance Committee but did not receive a hearing.
Legislators introduced this bill last year, but industry lobbyists were successful
in making amendments that took out the substantive consumer
protections and replaced them with the creation of a database to help
check cashing companies better track their compliance with the existing
law. - Clean Energy: Significant
energy-related bills were introduced but that did not pass included a
Renewable And Energy Efficiency Portfolio Bill (HB 3), which is expected to be reintroduced in the
2011 Session. - Alternative Schools: HB 412 would have increased accountability and
required data reporting for alternative schools. It passed the House
Education Committee on February 24. Progress on the bill halted when an
unrelated amendment was tacked onto it. Governor Beshear is
considering adding it to the agenda for the upcoming special session. - Early Childhood Education: HB 190 would have established a framework for
expanding quality preschool for 3-and-4 year old children as funds
became available. The bill passed the House 99-0 on March 3, but failed
to pass the Senate. - Restoration of Civil Rights: HB 70, a bill restoring voting rights for people
who have completed their sentences and parole for felony convictions
passed the House of Representatives but died in the Senate
Notable Conservative Bills Defeated Included:
- Lifting The Nuclear Power Plant Ban: SB 26, which would have eliminated the current
state prohibition on construction of new nuclear plants until a
permanent waste disposal site is approved, was defeated. - Immigration: One significant win for
progressive legislators was the defeat of HB 321, an anti-immigrant bill. HB321 would have
criminalized the hiring of undocumented workers by public agencies and
their contractors, and it would have required those employers to
participate in the federal e-Verify program. - Entitlement to Discriminate Bill: HB 440 would have amended the constitution to
enshrine discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
and to pre-empt local nondiscrimination laws. The proposed amendment
would have allowed discrimination as long as a person or organization
claims their action is based on “sincere religious belief.” The bill
died in committee. - Abortion Restrictions: SB 38 and HB 373 passed the Senate (32-4), but died in the
House Health and Welfare Committee. - Criminalizing Pregnancy and Substance
Abuse: This bill (HB 136) would have criminalized the ingestion of
controlled substances or alcohol by a woman while she was pregnant,
based on the presence of such substances in the blood of the baby after
birth. The bill died in committee without a hearing