Latest news with #HouseBill388
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Local delegation reviews recent legislative session
Jun. 4—The Morgan County legislative delegation reviewed Tuesday morning the bills and the roughly $80 million in appropriations for local projects approved in the state Legislature's spring session that ended May 14. The Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce sponsored this annual Legislative update breakfast at the DoubleTree by Hilton Decatur Riverfront. As chairman of the Finance and Taxation Education committee, state Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, said that after the difficult financial years of 2011 and 2012, the pendulum has swung back so that the state has "ample revenues." Orr said that allowed the state Legislature to make tax cuts and rebates in 2023 and then reduce the grocery tax by another penny this session to 2%. "If there is money we can send back to the people, I think this delegation and the Legislature are united on that front," Orr said. He said they still had record $3.7 bill General Fund and $10 billion Education budgets for fiscal 2026. Orr talked about the roughly $80 million local appropriation, which he said started his office but passed because the four House representatives in the Morgan County delegation. "If it weren't for these representatives defending and fighting for these projects, they would have been left on the cutting room floor," Orr said. Orr cited $9.5 million for the STEAM Imagination Center at the Cook Museum of Natural Science, $7.5 million for turning the Harris-Caddell Law Firm Building into a library for the Alabama Center for the Arts, $1.7 million for the Horton Legal Learning Center and more. Among the other projects to receive funding are $1 million for a Wheeler Wildlife Refuge trail along Alabama 67; $3.2 million for a culinary arts center as part of the Alabama Center for the Arts; $1 million to expand the Carnegie Visual Arts Center; $100,000 for repairs to the Old State Bank; and $1.4 million for the Somerville Courthouse. "I'm excited about the good things happening in this county because for far too long I don't think we saw a whole lot of help from Montgomery," Orr said. Orr added that he's working on getting a third bridge over the Tennessee River "and other things." House Majority Leader Scott Stadthagen, R-Hartselle, credited Orr and his leadership as budget chairman for bringing the money to Morgan County. "All the things he's talking about wouldn't on this list if he wasn't in the position where he's at," Stadthagen said. The delegation then talked about bills that passed and didn't pass. The legislature didn't extend the exempted hourly overtime earnings originally approved in 2023. Rep. Parker Moore, R-Hartselle, said they found other ways to replace this exemption "that was a lot more expensive and inclusive." They passed House Bill 388, which doubles the state's income tax exemption from $6,000 to $12,000 for individuals 65 years old or older who withdraw funds from a defined contribution retirement plan such as a 401(k) or Individual Retirement Account. The change takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026, at an estimated cost of $45 million. House Bill 389 also passed with a focus on tax relief for lower-income Alabamians. It raises the standard deduction from $2,500 to $3,000 for individuals and expands dependency exemptions beginning with the 2026 tax year. "We opened up avenues for retirees and low-income workers. What we tapped has more potential to help a broader range of people," Moore said. Moore said they cut the sales tax on groceries in half, with the ultimate goal of cutting to zero. "That's about $237 at minimum that people are saving on grocery tax, so that's a major impact," Moore said. Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, sponsored a rural hospital investment program that she said doesn't impact this area but should help health care in other areas of the state. Collins said this program would save hospitals like Lawrence County Medical Center, which closed in February before it could be eligible for the funds. "We're trying to give them a lifeline of something that worked in Georgia very successfully," she said. Stadthagen talked about the legislation that passed to help independent pharmacies, which he said are struggling to stay open. He said nearly 20 pharmacies shut down in the past year. The bill requires minimum reimbursement rates to community pharmacists. Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, said a cousin who owns four pharmacies explained the situation. He said this evens the playing field for independent pharmacies. "Basically, from a 20,000-foot view, you have business model where you're required to sign contracts with certain prices you can't talk about and you're required to operate at a loss," Yarbrough said. "So, this requires independent pharmacies not to operate at a loss because it's not sustainable." "It's not the total answer because we need the federal government to do its part, but I believe we, at the end of the day, did our part," Stadthagen said. Collins, chairwoman of the Education Policy Committee, said they passed a bill that bans cellphones from K-12 students in schools. There are exceptions for some students with special needs, cellphone use under the supervision of school staff and in life-threatening emergencies. "I think it's the best thing we can do for school safety," she said. Collins said several school resource officers told her that eliminating cellphone from school helps mental health by reducing issues like suicide, self-harm rates and bullying. Stadthagen said he was against this bill initially because of his 12-year-old daughter but police officers convinced him to change his vote. "They were concerned that cellphone could clog the phone lines with mixed messages during emergency," he said. Collins said Montgomery County banned cellphones two years ago and found that it worked. "After the first month where everybody had to adjust, their achievement and their student scores started increasing at a great rate, and their discipline problems started decreasing," Collins said. Orr said they put in place a new "student-based funding formula" for schools with a fund put in place several years ago that's now up to $1 billion. Previously, school funding was based on the number of students at a school. Now there's a "special pot" that funds the additional cost for educating a special needs child, an English language learner, a child in poverty and a gifted child, Orr said. "You'll see a lot more money going to Decatur City and Morgan County schools," Orr said. "You won't see as much on a percentage basis in Hartselle schools, but it will be more." Orr said there is an accountability factor in the approved bill that requires schools to show academic improvement or possibly lose this additional money in seven to 10 years. Another new law Orr sponsored requires that beginning in the 2026-27 school year, all students receive instruction in the success sequence: graduate from high school, get a job and get married before getting pregnant. The law required instruction on this sequence at least twice before students graduate from high school. Orr said 96% of people who follow this sequence in the first 10 years after high school are successful. He said schools will start with middle school students when they're young enough that they will listen to these lessons. "That's a 4% failure rate," Orr said. "And I worry about our state and our young people." Orr said he also sponsored an approved bill that allows a junior or senior in high school to start their credit production in college if admitted. "If they're ready to leave high school, let them go on," Orr said. "Obviously, they will get into the workforce sooner and not just hang out in high school waiting on the clock, waiting on their senior year." — or 256-340-2432
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘Personhood' for embryos fails, other abortion bills head to governor's desk
Photo illustration by Getty Images. Voters in Montana won't see a proposed constitutional amendment to confer 'personhood' rights on embryos, but a couple of other bills related to abortion are headed to the desk of Gov. Greg Gianforte. Last week, House Bill 316 sponsored by Rep. Lee Deming, R-Laurel, failed to earn the minimum 100 votes out of 150 in the Montana Legislature needed to present a constitutional amendment to voters. The bill came following the passage in November 2024 of Constitutional Initiative 128 to protect abortion. It passed with 58% of the vote. In a statement Friday, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana CEO and President Martha Fuller said Montanans will rest easier knowing the attempt to ignore their wishes and 'undermine the right to an abortion' has failed. 'The government is not now and never will be the expert on the lives, families or pregnancies of Montanans — it's high time for politicians to respect the personal and medical privacy of their constituents,' Fuller said in a statement about HB 316. The bill earned 58 'yes' votes in the House and 33 'yes' votes in the Senate on third readings. The 2025 Montana Legislature has taken up other bills related to abortion, although legislators tabled a number of them. However, House Bill 388 and Senate Bill 154 both are headed to the desk of Gianforte. HB 388, sponsored by Rep. Amy Regier, R-Kalispell, would allow pregnancy centers to operate without regulation. Proponents including the Montana Family Foundation said those centers should not be punished for refusing to facilitate abortions, according to reporting from the Montana State News Bureau. Opponents said those facilities are not required to provide legitimate medical information or protect privacy, and they misinform clients. SB 154, sponsored by Sen. Daniel Emrich, R-Great Falls, prohibits the sale of whole human bodies and human fetal tissue, which is already illegal under federal law. On the Senate floor earlier this session, Emrich said it was 'a great bill' and makes sure bodies and fetal tissue are 'being donated and not sold as a commodity inside the state of Montana.' In the final debate on HB 316, which took place in the Senate on Thursday, Sen. Vince Ricci, R-Billings, said he couldn't imagine a greater violation of human dignity or of privacy than abortion. 'The state has a compelling interest (in) protecting the lives of the most vulnerable human beings, and the human being … in the womb has … a life interest equal to that of his or her mother,' said Ricci, who carried the bill. Sen. Jeremy Trebas, R-Great Falls, said those who supported the protection of abortion approved a measure that is 'immoral and wrong.' 'I think abortion is murder, and I'll catch heck for that I'm sure, but it's the killing of a person, a formed, live person. Making it a right to privacy is baloney,' Trebas said. He said the Montana Supreme Court made an inappropriate link to privacy when it extended it to abortion because 'this is the child's body that we're talking about. And they have a right to life.' Minority Leader Pat Flowers said Montanans don't support the attacks against the right to privacy, and it was time to focus on other issues, such as tax bills. 'Call it baloney or not, it's in the Constitution, and it's an important right,' said Flowers, D-Belgrade. Sen. Cora Neumann, D-Bozeman, said the bill would outlaw in vitro fertilization, and Montanans all love mothers and babies and want more of them in the state. Neumann also asked if the state should control men's bodies. 'If we're going to try to have this type of control over women's bodies, because the fetus is part of the woman's body, are we also going to try to have this type of control over men's bodies?' Neumann said.'Are we going to regulate ejaculation? This is what we're talking about. We are talking about regulating the internal parts of bodies.' Sen. Laura Smith, D-Helena, said the bill could create a 'legal quagmire' for any doctor who needed to provide medical care to a pregnant woman who was experiencing a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy. 'This legislation would effectively tie doctors' hands rather than allowing them to treat their patients without fear or prosecution,' said Smith, a lawyer.
