Latest news with #HB480
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House passes Senate bill prohibiting use of foreign national IDs to vote
Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, speaks in the Alabama House of Representatives on May 8, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery. The House passed a bill Treadaway carried that prohibits the use of foreign national IDs in Alabama elections. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that prohibits the use of foreign national ID or drivers license to vote in Alabama elections. SB 158, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, is the companion bill to HB 480, sponsored by Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, which passed the House on April 16. People from foreign countries with legal status in the country may apply for driver's licenses or IDs from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency but are not authorized to vote. House Democrats criticized Treadaway's bill as unnecessary. 'Our citizens might think that there's a problem with foreign nationalists using any form of ID they might have gotten from this country to register to vote,' said Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham. 'But we don't even have enough documentation to show where a foreign national would even try to register, let alone vote in the United States.' The bill passed 82-13. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama House passes bill prohibiting use of foreign national IDs to vote
Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, speaks in the Alabama House of Representatives on May 8, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery. Treadaway's bill that prohibits a "foreign national" ID from being used to vote in Alabama passed the House on April 15, 2025. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that prohibits people from using a foreign national drivers license or ID to vote in Alabama elections. Sponsor of HB 480, Rep. Alan Treadaway, R-Morris, said he has heard of people using one of these IDs to vote in Alabama elections. Treadaway did not say where or how many. 'My understanding is there's been some confusion at the polling places,' he said. People from foreign countries with legal status in the country may apply for driver's licenses or IDs from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency but are not authorized to vote. House Democrats criticized the legislation saying it is unnecessary. Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham, prodded Treadaway for proof that this has happened. 'I would like to know where it happens and how frequently it happens before we jump into this,' Moore said. Rep. Laura Hall, D-Mobile, questioned the need for a law if the ID is not on the list of approved photo-IDs to vote. 'If it's not one of them, why do we need a bill? It's already not one of the ones you can use to vote,' Hall said. Treadaway said the IDs have caused confusion at polling locations and the bill would clarify that one could not be used in order to vote. 'If they have, or haven't been used, this bill simply says they cannot be used unless they get their U.S. citizenship,' he said. The bill passed 76-5, with 21 abstentions. It goes to the Senate. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Legislation calls for system to restore competency to criminal offenders
Jan. 29—Leaders in the judicial branch and mental health community endorsed creating a system for restoring competency to criminal offenders who had been found incompetent to stand trial. House Children and Family Law Committee Chairman Mark Pearson, R-Hampstead, predicted if his legislation becomes law, it will lead to a much higher percentage of accused offenders who a judge concludes are competent. New Hampshire's current law merely states that one year after someone is judged to be incompetent, if the offender is not restored then the criminal charges against him or her are dropped. Last year, the national average was 81% of those once found incompetent were later restored. In 2019 — the most recent date for which date was available — only 44% had their competency restored in New Hampshire. "This gives closure to the alleged victims by having a court issue a decision one way or the other," Pearson told the House Judiciary Committee. "It also gives closure to the alleged perpetrator since some of those individuals will be found not guilty. Sometimes, the (criminal) sentence given out is less than the time that person is bouncing around in the mental health system." Bill would create two-year pilot program Pearson offered an amendment to his study bill (HB 480) that would create a two-year pilot program in the court system in Merrimack County or Strafford County. The state would hire a forensic liaison who would be in charge of ensuring that the accused offender attends meetings and hearings in his or her case. The same individual would also report to the state on the status of the cases. The program would operate not out of the court system but within the state Department of Health and Human Services. "We don't want this to be seen as a criminal matter; we want it to be considered a behavioral health issue," Pearson said. Holly Stevens, policy director with the National Alliance of Mental Illness of New Hampshire, said many of the offenders can be restored to competency with treatment. "Many individuals who raise competency have psychotic conditions and once they get medication they are restored," Stevens said. Erin Creegan, general counsel for the judicial branch, said for many years this has been an "intractable issue." Rep. Robert Lynn, R-Windham, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, credited Pearson with bringing all stakeholders to the table to come up with this compromise language. klandrigan@
