Latest news with #HB
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Alabama Legislature only passes two immigration bills despite GOP push on issue
Protesters march during a non violent protest in Birmingham, Alabama, U.S., on Saturday February 22, 2025. Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice organized the event for the public to show empathy to immigrants in the wake of all the anti immigration bills currently in legislature. The Alabama Legislature considered several proposals during the 2025 session to place further restrictions on peple without legal status. Photographer: Andi Rice for Alabama Reflector Despite spending a great deal of time on the issue in the 2025 session, the Alabama Legislature only passed two bills targeting those without appropriate authorization to reside in the country. SB 63, sponsored by Sen. Lance Bell, R-Pell City, requires law enforcement in Alabama to take fingerprints and DNA samples of people without the documentation to live in the U.S. and submit them to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the Alabama Department of Forensic Science. SB 53, sponsored by Wes Kitchens, R-Arab, made it a crime, a Class C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $15,000 fine, for people to knowingly transport a person without the appropriate documentation to reside in the country into the state. The bill also required county or municipal jail administrators to investigate those placed into custody to determine a person's immigration status and check with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security if the individual was issued an immigration detainer or warrant. 'Many of these bills were created to address problems that don't exist in Alabama,' said Allison Hamilton, executive director of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice. 'The majority of these bills were copycat bills that were developed at national thinktanks and distributed out to different legislators around the country to implement in their states.' But several other immigration bills stalled before getting a final vote. HB 7, sponsored by Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, would have allowed state and local law enforcement to enter into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to enforce the country's immigration laws, an authority that currently belongs only to the Alabama Attorney General's Office. The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee approved the legislation in February, soon after the 2025 session began, but the full chamber did not vote on the measure until April. The legislation did not come to a vote in the full Senate. HB 3, sponsored by Rep. Chip Brown, R-Hollingers Island, would have enhanced penalties for people convicted of felonies if they cannot prove they have legal authorization to be in the U.S. A Class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison to a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $15,000 fine. Those convicted of a Class C felony would have their punishment upgraded to a Class B felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $30,000 fine. People who commit a Class B felony would have their convictions upgraded to a Class A felony, punishable by up to 99 years in prison and a $60,000 fine. Individuals found guilty of a Class A felony, the most serious offense, would have had to serve at least 15 years in prison. Other legislation would have made labor brokers register with the Alabama Department of Workforce and must then report the foreign nationals they place with companies through contract work. Another bill, HB 297, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Fidler, R-Silverhill, would have originally imposed a fee on international wire transfers, often used by immigrants to support families overseas. But the legislation was heavily amended to require reports on certain overseas cash transactions. All the bills eventually stalled in the Senate. One bill attempted to restrict those without proper authorization by limiting their ability to drive in the state. SB 55, sponsored by Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, would have prohibited people who have a driver's license from another state from driving in Alabama if the state that authorized it did not review a person's legal status. The legislation stalled in the House chamber after it passed the Senate. Legislators from a slate of other states introduced nearly identical legislation, so Hamilton said the bills are not tailored to the problems that residents face in Alabama. 'If they were really trying to address it, there were other bills that other representatives introduced that would have been more effective, but this bill was really about continuing to oppress immigrant communities and make life difficult,' she said.' But those who favor more restrictions said actions are necessary to disincentivize people without appropriate authorization to live in the country. 'The objective here is to present people here with rational choices, and if they believe they are not going to succeed in what they are doing, then they either will not come to the United States at all, or if individual states within the country adopt policies that make it clear they are going to be partners in enforcement, those people will settle elsewhere in the county,' said Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that advocates for immigration legislation like those introduced. Debu Ghandi, senior director for immigration at the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank, cited a 2020 report from the organization that found undocumented immigrants contribute almost $80 million in federal taxes and $41 billion in state and local taxes each year. They also pay another $315 billion annually nationally through spending. 'Many industries often rely on their hard, and often dangerous, work,' he said. 'Undocumented immigrants, in fact, cannot receive social and Medicare benefits, but they have to pay into these programs through the payroll taxes that they are required to pay even though they are not eligible for the benefits that these programs fund.' Hamilton said there are potential negative consequences of these bills for the state. 'What Alabama would like in that case is a lot fewer workers and a lot fewer people, fewer restaurants, and just a sadder place,' she said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
DeSantis delivers on promise and vetoes ‘free kill' malpractice bill
Sabrina Davis holds a picture of her father, Navy Veteran Keith Davis, who died because of medical malpractice. (Photo courtesy Sabrina Davis) The 'free kill' repeal bill has been killed. Gov. Ron DeSantis stuck to his promise and on Thursday vetoed legislation that would have eliminated a bar against parents of adult children and the adult children of single parents suing hospitals and physicians for non-economic damages for the deaths of loved ones. 'Whether the physician was perfect or whether the physicians was not, if somebody doesn't make it through that, you know, that is a tragedy in one form or another, and the loss for a family member, even in someone that's an adult, an independent, at that point, is real. And I think everyone appreciates that,' the governor said during a news conference outside Lee Health in Fort Myers. 'I think the question, though, is what would this legislation do for costs of health care in Florida, access to care in Florida, and our ability to recruit and keep physicians,' DeSantis said. Joining him were Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, Lee Health President Dr. Lawrence Antonucci, and a spate of others who supported the veto. Non-economic damages include pain-and-suffering. Plaintiffs can still recover economic damages, such as lost wages, medical bills, and funeral costs. DeSantis said it was their collective opinion that 'if this legislation would be enacted, it would lead to higher costs for Floridians, it would lead to less care for Floridians, and it would make it harder for us to keep, recruit, and maintain physicians in the state of Florida.' While the veto drew support from a line of Tallahassee special-interest groups, it drew criticism from those who've been unable to fully win compensation for potential acts of medical malpractice. The bill itself (HB 6017) passed overwhelmingly on bipartisans vote in the Republican-controlled Legislature — more than enough of a margin to sustain a veto override, which takes two-thirds majority, should it come to that. DeSantis said the Legislature could win his support by including limits on non-economic damages in all medical malpractice lawsuits, plus caps on plaintiff attorney fees. The Florida Senate previously voted by a razor thin, one-vote margin to reject limits on non-economic damages. 'I am aware that he's probably spoken to the lobbyists, but I haven't found a single family yet that he spoke to who this is actually affected. That really hurts, because those are the people that he should be speaking to,' Sabrina Davis told the Florida Phoenix. Davis has dedicated considerable time and attention to trying to remove Florida's non-economic damages ban after her father, Navy veteran Keith Davis, died from a blood clot after being admitted to a hospital for knee pain. Davis successfully filed a complaint against the doctor with the Department of Health. The board found the doctor violated the standards of care and committed medical malpractice, hit him with a $7,500 fine, and made him take a continuing education course on blood clots. Even if he had not vetoed the legislation, Davis would not be able to recover non-economic damages because the law wouldn't have applied retroactively. But she went to every legislative committee meeting, every local delegation meeting, and scheduled as many one-on-one meetings with legislators as she could since her dad died in 2020. When asked why, Davis reflected: 'Well, it gives me peace, because I know my dad took an oath to fight for our country's freedom, no matter what it meant. And although he didn't die on the battlefield, he did die by the very people that were supposed to protect him. 'And so, when I think about it, I'm reminded that my freedom was taken away after my dad died, and there's a small part of me that thinks, when this law ends, I can say that I helped and I contributed it to it ending. Then that freedom my dad fought for in the Navy would not be in vain, and that I, through him, or him through I, helped restore the freedom that he once fought for. ' The governor said earlier this month that he planned to veto the bill. So while Davis is upset, she isn't surprised. Or alone. Bill sponsor Rep. Dana Trabulsy wrote the governor Wednesday asking him not to veto the legislation. 'This entire conversation ultimately comes down to one word: justice. When a loved one dies due to admitted malpractice, and the law says their life has no legal value because they were an adult with no dependents —that's not just a legal loophole, that's a moral failing. 'It's shameful. It should break the heart of every Floridian, including yours. Florida remains the only state in the nation where some lives are legally worthless. We are the only state that shields bad actors from accountability in such a sweeping way. Governor, this bill is about doing what's right, not what's easy,' Trabulsy, a Republican from Fort Pierce, wrote. The issue of justice, legal justice, you know, economic damages, noneconomic damages, there simply isn't enough justice to go around and have the system be able to stand up on its two feet. – State Surgeon General Joseh Ladapo Ladapo acknowledged not being versed in legal matters but said he had been researching different states' policies when it comes to medical malpractice. 'The issue of justice, legal justice — you know, economic damages, noneconomic damages — there simply isn't enough justice to go around and have the system be able to stand up on its two feet. It's just not possible. And the correct, I mean the right thing, to do, just the wise thing to do in that situation, is to have caps,' he said. 'Frankly it's insane to have a system with no caps on non-economic damages and expect for that system to continue to sustain itself and function as it was intended to function, which is to provide care for patients. That's just not possible.' The free-kill law has been in place for decades, having been signed by then-Gov. Lawton Chiles. The measure prevents parents of single, childless, adult children (25 and older) and adult children of single parents from suing hospitals and physicians fr non-economic damages if alleged malpractice resulted in death. Florida has had no caps on pain and suffering awards in medical malpractice lawsuits since 2017, when the Florida Supreme Court ruled them unconstitutional. But the makeup of the court has changed since then, with the majority of the justices having been appointed by DeSantis. The medical community is eager to put the rejuggled court to the test and, to that end, supported HB 6017 with the caveat that it include caps on non-economic damages in all medical malpractice lawsuits. 'Florida is in a medical negligence insurance crisis. Significantly expanding medical malpractice liability for the state's physicians and hospitals without any guardrails, as HB 6017 would do if enacted into law, would be catastrophic for Florida's healthcare system and the families that depend on it,' Florida Justice Reform Institute President William Large said in a written statement to the Florida Phoenix. Large, who joined the governor at the press conference, said the legislation 'proposed only to expand liability for our healthcare community without any safeguards to ensure that Florida's healthcare system and residents do not suffer as a result. Gov. DeSantis courageously stood with our health care delivery heroes in vetoing this legislation.' Large says a recent benchmark study conducted by Aon and the American Society for Health Care Risk Management determined that, although the frequency of hospital and physician professional liability or medical professional liability claims has remained relatively stable in recent years, the severity of claims — including indemnity and defense costs per claim — has been steadily increasing. For instance, 10% of claims closed in Florida in 2023 were in excess of $1 million, compared to 7.5% nationwide. The increasing costs mean increasing medical malpractice premiums, he said. Citing the Medical Liability Monitor October 2024 survey, Large added that Florida has experienced a notable 4.7% increase in med-mal premiums, whereas the regional average increase was 2.1%. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
A bill to air-condition all Texas prisons likely to fail again in the Senate
For a third consecutive time, a bill requiring prisons to have air conditioning has likely died in the Texas Senate. House Bill 3006, by state Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, which would have required the installation of climate control in phases by the end of 2032, passed the House in early May. Still, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick never assigned it to a Senate committee, letting the bill miss a key deadline to advance it through the chamber. The contents of the bill could still be attached to another as an amendment or as part of a budget stipulation, but it is unlikely this late into the legislative session, which ends Monday. 'I will say this time was different. The other times the lieutenant governor referred it [to a committee], and it was the chairs of the finance committee who refused to grant it hearings,' said Amite Dominick, the founder and president of the Texas Prisons Community Advocates. 'This time, the lieutenant governor hasn't even referred the bill for a hearing to any committee, and we haven't heard why, beyond he is holding several bills hostage.' The bill would have mandated that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice purchase and install climate control systems to ensure temperatures are maintained between 65 and 85 degrees in certain areas. The installation would have occurred in three phases, capped at $100 million per phase, and completion is set for 2028, 2030, and 2032. Even with the state staring down a constitutional violation over its hot prisons, the future of air conditioning in these facilities is again uncertain. Sen. Joan Huffman, a Houston Republican who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said in an emailed statement earlier this year that the supplemental appropriations bill will include the $118 million TDCJ requested to fund approximately 11,000 new air-conditioned beds. It also will include $301 million to construct additional dorms — which the prison agency requested to accommodate its growing prison population — and those new facilities will all be air-conditioned. 'They've tapped those funds for expanding the prison system. So not only are they understaffed and they can't handle what they currently have, but they are going to use the funds for air conditioning to expand the facilities,' said Dominick. This session, four prison heat-related bills filed by House members were given some hope when they were assigned to the House Corrections Committee: HB 1315, HB 2997, HB 3006, and HB 489. However, Canales' bill was the only one to make it out of the committee. 'For years, there has been a huge understaffing crisis in the Texas prisons, a crisis that will not be fixed until there is air conditioning. I encourage anyone who questions these bills to spend five minutes in one of these prisons. Officers are suffering along with the inmates,' said Erica Grossman, a Colorado attorney who represents inmates who are suing Texas over its lack of air conditioning in state prisons. Even with the money in the supplemental appropriations bill, officials from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which oversees the state's 101 prison facilities, have said they need millions more to get to the at least $1.1 billion the agency says it will need to fully air condition its prisons. Since the House Corrections Committee wrote in its 2018 interim report to the Legislature that TDCJ's heat mitigation efforts were not enough to ensure the well-being of inmates and the correctional officers who work in prisons, lawmakers have tried to pass bills that would require the agency to install air conditioning. None of those bills made it to the governor's desk. During that time, TDCJ has been slowly installing air conditioning. The department also has added 11,788 'cool beds' and is in the process of procuring about 12,000 more. The addition is thanks to $85.5 million state lawmakers appropriated during the last legislative session. Although not earmarked for air conditioning, an agency spokesperson said all of that money is being used to cool more prisons. Still, about two-thirds of Texas' prison inmates reside in facilities that are not fully air conditioned in housing areas. Indoor temperatures routinely top 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and inmates report oppressive, suffocating conditions in which they douse themselves with toilet water in an attempt to cool off. Hundreds of inmates have been diagnosed with heat-related illnesses, court records state, and at least two dozen others have died from heat-related causes. The pace at which the state is installing air conditioning is insufficient, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman wrote in a 91-page decision in late March. The lack of system-wide air conditioning violates the U.S. Constitution, and the prison agency's plan to slowly chip away at cooling its facilities — over an estimated timeline of at least 25 years — is too slow, he wrote. An internal investigation also found that TDCJ has falsified temperatures, and an investigator hired by the prison agency concluded that some of the agency's temperature logs are false. Citing that report, Pitman wrote 'The Court has no confidence in the data TDCJ generates and uses to implement its heat mitigation measures and record the conditions within the facilities.' Even so, Pitman did not require the state to install air conditioning in his ruling; instead, he forced the plaintiffs to proceed with a trial before a judge. 'We have rights as Americans. If we can kill people, torture people, because that is what this is, and put people to death with heat in the states that we live in and have that be okay, then the Constitution doesn't mean anything,' said Grossman. Dominick said, unfortunately, the best options to get Texas prisons air-conditioned would be for the court system to force the state to install them. 'When I initially chose what our organization was going to focus on with limited resources, I purposely didn't choose legal because I thought it was going to take longer and because of the excess money that it's going to cost the taxpayers, and lawsuits. I believe I was naive at the time,' she said. The court case is currently on an expedited schedule. Still, whatever the judge decides will likely end up in an appeal potentially extending the state's deadline for installing air conditioning for several years. 'I think anything that indicates that (lawmakers) are being humane to prisoners may decrease the likelihood of them staying in office. It's simply not a priority for them,' said Dominick. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Texas just defined man and woman. Here's why that matters.
The Texas Legislature has passed a bill that strictly defines man and woman based on reproductive organs. The bill has no civil or criminal penalties attached, but instead will take these new definitions and apply them across state records. When Gov. Greg Abbott signs House Bill 229, Texas will become the 14th state to implement one of these so-called 'sex definition' laws in recent years. Supporters of the legislation say it's necessary to protect women's rights and spaces, and the immutable differences between the sexes. Opponents say it's an attack on trans people, erasing them from state records as the gender they identify as and forcing them to live as the sex they were assigned at birth. They criticize the bill as problematic for intersex people who are born with characteristics from both sexes. But mostly, there's widespread confusion about what will actually change as a result of this law. 'The question of the hour is how will [HB] 229 be enforced and applied,' said Sarah Corning with the ACLU of Texas. 'What we do know is that it's incredibly disrespectful to so many Texans the Legislature represents, and completely disregards their identity.' The bill defines 'female' and 'woman' across the government code as an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to produce ova. A 'male" and "man" are individuals whose systems are developed to fertilize the ova of a female. After an amendment added in the House, the bill says intersex people are not considered a third sex, but 'must receive accommodations in accordance with state and federal law.' All government entities are directed to collect data based on this binary. The bill contains a legislative intent section which doesn't change state statute but is included as guidance on interpreting the bill. It says that men and women possess 'immutable biological differences,' including that women can get pregnant, give birth and breastfeed children, and men are, on average, bigger, stronger and faster than females. Women are more physically vulnerable to violence and have historically suffered discrimination, warranting the creation of single-sex spaces, like locker rooms, bathrooms, prisons and shelters. It also says that 'in the context of biological sex … separate is not inherently unequal.' 'With this bill, women and girls will know that Texas has their back and will not allow hard-fought rights to be eroded by activists who seek to erase them,' said bill author Rep. Ellen Troxclair, a Republican from Lakeway, in a statement. 'There are pages and pages of references to 'man' and 'woman' in Texas code, which now refer to a specific, clear definition," Since 2017, Texas lawmakers have been attempting to legislate strict applications of sex in specific zones, like school sports and bathrooms. Some of these proposals have gotten wide support from the Republican-dominated chambers, while others have stalled out amid partisan fighting. In the last two years, however, state legislatures across the country have begun considering these sex definition laws, which have a more sweeping application across state statute. At least thirteen states have passed legislation like this, many, including Texas', based on model language from a group called Independent Women's Voice. The national political advocacy group has support from conservative activists like Riley Gaines, who lost out on a fifth place swimming trophy to a trans athlete and has said she was exposed to male genitalia in a women's locker room. The push to strictly divide everyone into two sexes, male and female, based on biological differences, got a boost from President Donald Trump, who issued an executive order in January. Abbott followed suit, directing all state agencies to ensure that agency rules, internal policies, employment practices and other actions 'comply with the law and the biological reality that there are only two sexes — male and female.' Texas voters are, largely, on board with this type of legislation — seven in 10 voters, and 94% of Republicans, believe the sex listed on a birth certificate should be the only way to define gender. More than 120,000 Texans identify as trans, meaning the gender they identify as differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. Many of them have physically transitioned; some have obtained court orders to change their birth certificate or drivers' licenses. Abbott's executive order, which was followed by an opinion from Attorney General Ken Paxton, directed state agencies to no longer recognize those court orders. Lawyers representing trans people anticipate that the state will not go back and reissue documents, but rather require they be changed when they need to be renewed. This will inevitably lead to mismatched documents, Shelly Skeen, a lawyer with Lambda Legal, said earlier this month. Someone who presents as a man but has a driver's license that says they are female will have to out themselves every time identification is required. Plus, they may have other documents, like a passport, school records or medical documents that align with their gender identity, worsening the confusion, legal experts say. Heather Clark, an Austin woman whose wife is transgender, told a Senate committee that it would be 'untenable' for her to carry documents that said she was a man. 'Anytime that she is required to show her driver's license, she could be compelled to explain why her appearance doesn't align with her documentation,' Clark said, adding that could happen anytime she flew, took money from the bank, applied for a job or voted. 'That creates ample daily opportunities for discrimination.' Trans people and their advocates are preparing for the changes to drivers' licenses, birth certificates and other identity documents. But they're also trying to prepare for the unknown — all the other ripple effects this bill will have across their lives. Laura Lane-Steele, a law professor at the University of South Carolina who studies gender and sex discrimination laws, said the application of these sex definition laws tend to be a 'big fat question mark.' To fully understand the implications would require combing through state statute and applying this definition every time the words male and female are used. The language of the bill indicates it was motivated by keeping trans people out of bathrooms that align with their gender identity, but it doesn't attach criminal or civil penalties for using an opposite sex bathroom, for example. 'We'll have to see if the legislators really looked at the code to understand what unpredictable, unexpected implications this will have,' she said. 'You could foresee there being changes that are unanimously considered bad, no matter your political ideology, that they just weren't prepared for.' One possible unintended consequence is for the approximately 1.7% of people who are intersex or born with chromosomal and physical differences to their reproductive organs, Democrats have argued. They raised examples of people with various conditions that would prevent them from falling into this definition based on reproductive organs. 'We can't forget that a certain population exists, and you can't necessarily force them to choose one or the other,' Dallas Rep. Jessica González said on the House floor. Troxclair and others have argued that intersex people have long had a singular sex indicated on their birth certificates and drivers' licenses, and this would not change that. The bill that passed the Senate indicates that they are not to be considered a third, or separate, sex. Democrats also raised questions about women who can't conceive, are post-menopausal, or are born without a reproductive system designed to produce ova. Troxclair said the bill should be interpreted to mean people who have systems that, if normally developed, would fit into these two categories — 'whether or not they are fully developed, whether or not they are capable of functioning.' 'We should not be boiling down a human's existence into one's ability to reproduce, because this is harmful, it is dangerous, and it is really freaking insulting,' González said. When Kansas, Tennessee and Montana led the nation in passing these sex definition laws in 2023, they faced potential backlash from the federal government. Fiscal analysts in Montana estimated it would risk $7 billion in federal anti-discrimination funds, and Tennessee worried about $2 billion in federal education and health funds. Texas is passing this law in a very different political climate, with a very different administration holding the purse strings. In April, the Trump administration briefly froze Maine's access to federal child nutrition funds because the state refused to bar trans athletes from youth sports. 'The federal government is definitely pushing a worldview similar to these state laws,' said Paisley Currah, a professor of political science at City University of New York. 'And that's concerning for people across the country, not just the states that have adopted these laws.' Montana's sex definition law, which listed out more than 40 places it would be applied across state statute, was struck down by a state judge in February, who said it was 'facially unconstitutional' because it violates privacy protections and equal protection rights for trans people. Kansas' law is facing legal challenges from the ACLU, which say the law is unconstitutionally vague and should be interpreted in such a way that protects trans people. Lane-Steele said there's a number of potential constitutional arguments against these laws, from privacy to free speech. Corning said the ACLU of Texas is closely watching to see how far Texas goes to implement this law. It's not clear to them whether it will narrowly apply to statistics and documents, as the language of the law says, or be used to pursue broader policy changes based on the legislative intent. 'If it starts being used that way, they'll definitely hear from us,' she said. For mental health support for LGBTQ youth, call the Trevor Project's 24/7 toll-free support line at 866-488-7386. For trans peer support, call the Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860. You can also reach a trained crisis counselor through the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Black America Web
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Black America Web
‘We Can Bearly Wait': Serayah & Joey Bada$$'s Baby Shower Was A Vibe
Source: Kristina Bumphrey / Getty One of our favorite culture couples, Serayah and Joey Bada$$ (and their baby), is back on our timelines, and we are loving it. Photographer Shakira McQueen dropped exclusive photos of the couple's recent baby shower on Instagram, and the visuals are everything! Though the proud parents-to-be haven't shared their own posts yet, the gorgeous images have fans buzzing. Serayah was glowing in a soft, ethereal, baby-blue maxi dress. The actress has been serving maternity fashion we love, and her baby shower fit was expectedly a slay. Her off-the-shoulder floaty gown perfectly showcased her growing baby bump without clinging too tightly. She oozed 'proud boy mom' and big mama-to-be energy. She wore strappy gold sandals on her feet, which peeked out perfectly from beneath her flowing gown. Her glam also had us swooning. She kept her makeup soft and natural, emphasizing her radiant skin. She styled her hair in an elegant ponytail with a deep black swoop bang. Gold hoop earrings and a glossy nude lip added a subtle pop to the look. Joey matched her energy with classic New York streetwear swag. He rocked an all-black look – wide-leg trousers paired with a matching oversized shirt, black leather shoes, and dark shades. The decor for their special day featured an adorable blue bear theme. A pastel rainbow balloon arch in shades of cream, tan, and blue was a dreamy photo backdrop alongside the gold script sign that read 'We Can Bearly Wait.' Oversized teddy bears, string lights, and lush florals helped create a soft, cozy vibe that still felt luxe. Guests mingled under a large tent with warm lights, a lounge area, and baby blue accents. Serayah's joy was contagious in the pics. The singer smiled brightly, posing with family, friends, and, of course, Joey. Every snap captured the love and warmth surrounding their expanding family. Serayah & Joey Bada$$ Celebrate Their Baby On The Way, Fans Are Loving Their Story Fans have been living for these sweet glimpses into Serayah and Joey's parenting journey. They're quickly becoming one of our favorite couples to watch. The couple's baby shower pics come shortly after a gorgeous cover shoot drop with Essence . As HB previously reported, the couple opened up about their relationship journey, their instant chemistry on the set of Joey's 'Show Me' music video, and their excitement about welcoming their new baby. Both turning 30 this year, Serayah and Joey shared how symbolic this milestone feels, marking a powerful season of transformation and growth. Joey even revealed how meeting Serayah shifted his previous preference for polyamory to embracing a committed, monogamous relationship. SEE ALSO 'We Can Bearly Wait': Serayah & Joey Bada$$'s Baby Shower Was A Vibe was originally published on Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE
