Latest news with #Coleman-Madison
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama Senate votes to ease voting rights restoration for those convicted of felonies
Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, speaks in the Alabama Senate on April 9, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector_ The Alabama Senate on Thursday passed a bill aimed at streamlining the process for restoring voting rights to some individuals with past felony convictions. SB 153, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, would require the state's Board of Pardons and Paroles to develop new procedures to make the restoration process easier. The bill passed the Senate 27-0. 'This requires [Board of Pardons and Paroles] to post notices so people know how to have their rights restored, and once they have met that requirement, that Pardons and Paroles is the one that really is going to be notifying the Secretary of State,' Coleman-Madison said in a phone interview Friday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Under existing Alabama law, individuals can lose their right to vote following a conviction in state or federal court. They may have that right restored by the Board of Pardons and Paroles if they meet certain requirements, such as paying fines, fees and court costs and having completed their sentence. The bill seeks to make the restoration process more transparent and accessible. It requires the Board of Pardons and Paroles and the Secretary of State to develop and make available on their websites a specific form and instructions for applying for a Certificate of Eligibility to Register to Vote. This applies to individuals who met the eligibility criteria outlined in the state code before Oct. 1, 2025. Applicants would submit this form to the board for review. The board would be required to provide the secretary of state with the individual's address and the date their voting rights were restored. Once the information is received, the secretary of state would then notify both the individual and the board of registrars in the county where the individual resides about the restoration date. The county board of registrars would be required to add the individual's name back to the poll list and inform the person of their eligibility date, unless the individual had never been registered to vote prior to their conviction. Coleman-Madison said efforts to streamline the voting rights restoration process go back a few years to when she worked with former Sen. Cam Ward who is now director of the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles. In an interview Friday, Ward confirmed working with Coleman-Madison and said that he had 'no problem' with legislation, calling it a 'great idea.' 'I think she just tried to do an administrative streamlining, which I've always said should be done anyway,' Ward said, adding that it wouldn't be a policy change but an administrative one. Ward said that once a person completes their sentence, they are given a Certificate of Eligibility to Register to Vote in many cases, depending on the crime. He said the individuals then have to take the certificate to the Alabama Secretary of State, where the secretary of state can make the final determination about that individual's voting eligibility. 'What we do is we go through the process of certifying … the right to vote, and then actually, the Secretary of State makes a final call. We don't,' Ward said. Messages seeking comment were left with the Secretary of State's office. Coleman-Madison said the bill would most impact people who 'come out and try to get their lives back together,' saying that 'these are family people who want to be role models for their children and their spouses.' Coleman-Madison also said it's important to notify people who had their voting rights restored. The bill would mandate that the Board of Pardons and Paroles publicly post on its website the names of everyone whose voting rights have been restored under the relevant state code section. The Board must list the county where each person was last registered or their last known county of residence if they had never registered before their conviction. 'You can send it to the last known address. They may not get it, but if you put it up on a site, you can let people know you go to that site, and that's where you can check it,' she said. The bill moves to the House for consideration. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Alabama mothers praise passage of bill giving pregnant women eligibility for Medicaid
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Pregnant women in Alabama will soon have access to health care coverage through Medicaid before the agency approves their application. On Tuesday, the Alabama House of Representatives unanimously passed HB 89, a bill that would give pregnant women 'presumptive eligibility' for Medicaid. Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, authored the companion bill, adding that it would go a long way toward saving lives. 'It's saving the lives of babies,' Coleman-Madison said. 'It's often times saving the lives of the mother, because if the mother has some kind of issues early on, that will be detected as well.' According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, the infant mortality rate across the state increased to 7.8 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023, the highest it's been since 2016 and higher than the national rate of 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births. 'We are very aware that we need to do better maternal and infant outcomes, our numbers are at the bottom and that's a trend that has to be reversed, and so I think this is a really good first step toward that,' said bill author Rep. Marilyn Lands, D-Huntsville. A chart from the Alabama Department of Public Health shows that 45% of infant births in state were paid for by Medicaid in 2023. Yuriana Serrano of Bessemer gave birth to her first child in Florida, which has presumptive eligibility, but her daughter was born in Alabama. 'With my first child I had him in Florida, so it's a lot different than the process here, but with my second one, I had to wait about a month until I had Medicaid coverage,' Serrano said. Thanks to new legislation that gives pregnant women presumptive eligibility for Medicaid, that will all change. 'I know the struggle that I went through getting care and everything, so I think it's important,' she added. While Gretchen McCreless, who has two children, had her pregnancies covered private coverage, she was excited about the passage of the new bill. 'I think we have a lot of work to do for maternal care in the country, but especially in Alabama, and so I think that opens a lot of doors for those women to get adequate care sooner without having to go through a lot of hurdles,' McCreless said. The bill now awaits Gov. Kay Ivey's signature. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Alabama Legislature gives final approval to presumptive Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women
Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, applauds during a session of the Alabama Senate on Feb. 20, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The Alabama House of Representatives unanimously passed Coleman-Madison's bill to give pregnant women presumptive Medicaid eligibility on April 8, 2025. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation on Tuesday that gives pregnant women presumptive eligibility for Medicaid. SB 102, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, is the companion bill for HB 89, sponsored by Rep. Marilyn Lands, D-Huntsville. Lands' bill passed the House unanimously in February. 'Women and families in Alabama are proud today,' Lands said after the Senate bill passed. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The legislation would allow pregnant women in Medicaid to receive health care coverage for up to 60 days before their formal application for the program. The bill only allows a single period of eligibility for a woman who is pregnant. The legislation also says care received during the presumptive period cannot be retroactively denied. According to the Legislative Services Agency, the expanded eligibility would increase the obligations of the Alabama Medicaid Agency by an agency-estimated $1 million annually, with $273,700 coming from state funds. Alabama has persistently high maternal mortality rates as well as poor infant health outcomes. Pregnant women in the state also have a high number of babies that are born preterm, before 37 weeks gestation. The bill passed with no discussion. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey to be signed into law. A message seeking comment from the governor was sent Tuesday afternoon. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Alabama Senate passes bill to provide prenatal care to low-income Alabamians
Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham (center) speaks to Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, in the Alabama Senate on May 9, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Coleman-Madison's bill would provide low-income people presumptive Medicaid coverage for up to 60 days for prenatal care before their application is formally approved. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama Senate Thursday approved a bill that would provide prenatal coverage for low-income people. SB 102, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, passed the chamber 31-0. It would provide presumptive Medicaid coverage for up to 60 days to pregnant people before their application for the program is formally approved. 'Presumptive eligibility is for uninsured women who would likely already be on Medicaid once they become pregnant … but in the meantime, they can start receiving the care that they need in the first trimester so that they can have healthy babies,' Coleman-Madison said on the Senate floor. The bill would provide a 60-day period of Medicaid eligibility per pregnancy. It would also ban Medicaid from retroactively denying the care received during the presumptive period. The Alabama House of Representatives last week approved a similar bill sponsored by Rep. Marilyn Lands, D-Huntsville. Coleman added an amendment to sunset the initiative in October 2028, to mirror Lands bill. According to a fiscal note, the federal government would cover about 73% of the estimated $1 million annual cost. Alabama has long struggled with high maternal mortality rates and poor infant health outcomes, with the infant mortality rate increasing to 7.8 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023, the highest since 2016. Additionally, 143 of the 1,112 babies born on average each week in Alabama are born preterm, defined by the CDC as births that happen before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Of those, 22 babies a week are born 'very preterm,' or under 35 weeks gestation. The earlier a baby is born, the higher the risks for breathing problems, feeding difficulties, cerebral palsy, developmental delay, or vision and hearing problems. Coleman-Madison's bill moves to the House. The Senate has not yet scheduled a committee hearing on Lands' bill. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
