Latest news with #HouseWaysandMeansEducationCommittee
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House committee approves $10 billion education budget; floor vote expected Thursday
Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, speaking to the House Ways and Means Education Committee on April 22, 2025, in the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Alabama. The committee approved the 2026 Education Trust Fund budget and other supplemental appropriations on Tuesday. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama House committee Tuesday approved a 2026 Education Trust Fund budget with a few changes, bringing it closer to a vote in the chamber. SB 112, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, increases the current budget by $543.3 million (5.81%), but a substitute from the Alabama House Ways and Means Education Committee added an additional $17.6 million. That brings the total growth of the ETF to 6%. 'That's the maximum we were allowed to increase the budget because of our secondary cap. Next year, that number will be 5.75% under this current budget,' Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, the chair of the committee, said Tuesday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The Senate approved the nearly $10 billion budget on April 10. Garrett said one of his priorities in the budget is continuing to invest in public education in the state. SB 305, also sponsored by Orr, allows the Legislature to appropriate additional funds to schools based on student needs. The House added an additional $58 million to begin the transition to the new model. SB 111, also sponsored by Orr, would appropriate $375 million over three years for that transition, which aims to get more money to students with particular needs, including children in poverty and English Language Learners. The budget also includes $135 million for the CHOOSE Act, a voucher-like program that will award students with funds to be used for education-related expenses, including private school tuition. The program was initially slated to get $100 million, but Orr said that demand for the program led the chairs to increase the allocation. The program is currently limited to special needs students and those making under 300% of the poverty line, about $79,950 for a family of three. The program will be open to all applicants starting in 2027, without any income limits. About two-thirds of the 37,000 applicants for the program this year are already in private school or homeschooled. 'I realize that there's different opinions about school choice,' Garrett said. 'We have the CHOOSE Act, and we're committed to that. But we are committing more than that funding into the public schools. And I think that what we're doing, especially looking at student needs, is very, very important.' There are also additional line items for workmen's compensation for educators, SB 1, sponsored by Sen. Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville; and paid parental leave, SB 199, sponsored by Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile. Teachers will receive $1,000 for classroom supplies, and the state will allocate $100 per student for textbooks. Teachers will not get a raise this year, but Garrett said the education community wanted an increase in the Public Education Employees' Health Insurance Plan. There is a $99.2 million increase in PEEHIP. 'What we were hearing from the education community was that they really wanted that PEEHIP increase covered, and that's almost $100 million out of the budget,' he said. The Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative will see a 31% ($32.2 million) funding increase while the Alabama Reading Initiative's (ARI) funding would grow by 6.4% ($9 million). The two programs' funds remain unchanged from what the Senate passed earlier this month. State Superintendent Eric Mackey supported the budget and hopes they pass smoothly. 'I think they've done their homework,' he said. ' They've found the right balance.' House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said the House would vote on the ETF on Thursday. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A giveaway to the rich, disguised as school choice
House Ways and Means Education Committee Chair Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, asks a question as Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee Chair Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, listens during a budget presentation to lawmakers on Feb. 5, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Garrett sponsored last year's CHOOSE Act, which gives families tax credits of $7,000 for each eligible child to be spent on nonpublic education. Orr recently increased funding for the program in the 2026 budget. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Our leaders call Alabama's effective voucher program the CHOOSE Act. There's some grim irony in that. Of course, you can choose to pay for private school tuition, whatever your reasons may be. But it's not my choice. Or what the families of 730,000 Alabama students want. We pay taxes to support the teachers educating our children in public schools. And we want teachers and staff to have the resources they need to help students thrive. Yet our leaders plan to divert that money from classrooms into the pockets of wealthy families, in the form of $7,000 tax breaks. More if they have more than one kid enrolled in a private school. Yes, yes. Under this law, the credit could cover something besides a non-public academy. But considering that two-thirds of the initial applicants to the program are already in private school or homeschooled, it's not hard to predict how the program will operate. You might also note current eligibility is limited to those making 300% of the poverty level. That sounds a lot more restrictive than it is. The cap is almost $80,000 a year for a family of three and around $96,000 for a family of four. Alabama's median household income is $62,212 a year. So we're already letting those making more than half the households in the state into the program. That mild regulation goes away in 2027. Which means the 1% will get in. And that you will be paying private school tuition for people who don't need the help. That's not how one sells a voucher program. Instead, you preach 'choice' to families and educators locked in a public education system built on discrimination. 'The CHOOSE Act will provide an opportunity for students to learn and thrive in an environment that best meets their needs, which could be a public school,' said Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, the sponsor of the law, during House debate last year. Even U.S. Sen. Katie Britt gets into it, claiming that her own federal version of this is OK because 'your zip code shouldn't determine your opportunities.' Nor should dead racists, the main reason why some zip codes have a lot more opportunity than others. But even if we accept Garrett and Britt's premises, the CHOOSE Act isn't going to help poor kids. Seven thousand dollars won't get a student struggling with poverty to a private school. Not when the average private school tuition in Alabama is $8,298 a year. One gets an image of a person in an Armani suit walking into a cell block and proclaiming freedom to the inmates while holding a $7,000 check in one hand and a $8,298 key in the other. Freeing our schools from the prison of Jim Crow means trusting local communities with school funding; ending tax breaks to elite Alabamians that drain public services and spending money on students. The CHOOSE Act sort of acknowledges that. Implicit in the law is the premise that any private school in Alabama is superior to any public school. Why? Because many private schools invest far more money in their students than the $13,461 per pupil our state does, a number that would be even lower without the 18% the federal government kicks in. Altamont in Birmingham charges over $30,000 a year for high school. Montgomery Academy asks for $19,000 for students in grades 10-12. Just think what we could achieve if Alabama spent $30,000 a year on a public school student. Or $24,000, which gets Massachusetts nation-leading results on standardized tests. Or $17,277, the average per-pupil spending in the United States. The CHOOSE Act has to nod at the fact that school spending works. But it also operates within the worldview of a state government that promotes private privilege over public welfare. Money can only go to people who already have it. Not the undeserving poor. And a lot of that money is about to head out the door. The 2026 education budget originally included $100 million to fund the CHOOSE Act. Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, the chair of the Senate's education budget committee, increased that to $135 million due to 'overwhelming, large applicant numbers' for the program. Expect that number to grow even more as the caps come off the program. Public school funding will suffer. Arizona in 2022 expanded an existing voucher program along the lines of what Alabama has just implemented. It proved far more expensive than they anticipated, and it's contributed to budget problems in the state. That could happen here, and public school students will pay the price. The key to public school improvement is obvious: collecting more taxes from the wealthy — who pay less to the state government in percentage terms than the poorest 20% — and investing them in public education. Making the system better for everyone. But Alabama legislators have signaled they'd much rather assist children who don't need the help. The rest of us have no choice in that. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill giving workers' compensation to education employees stalled in Alabama House committee
Sen. Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville (right) speaks to Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence on the floor of the Alabama Senate on March 6, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Givhan's bill that would give public education employees workmen's compensation was stalled in the House Ways and Means Education Committee on March 19, 2025.(Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) A bill to extend workers' compensation benefits to public education employees stalled in an Alabama House committee last week. SB 1, sponsored by Sen. Sam Givhan, would allow full-time employees at public schools who are injured on the job to use accrued sick leave for recovery. According to the State Department of Education, public education employees earn one sick day per month. The benefit would go into effect as soon as it is passed and signed by Gov. Kay Ivey. Givhan said at a Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee meeting in February that the legislation is his top priority. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'So many people are surprised to learn that our state education employees do not have workers compensation coverage for on the job injuries,' he said on Feb. 12. 'I did want SB 1 status for this bill.' As originally filed, the legislation did not create a funding source for the benefit. The bill now creates the Public Education Employee Injury Compensation Trust Fund in the State Treasury with a startup cost of at least $15.6 million. The House committee unanimously adopted a Senate floor amendment from February that added community college employees and specified the processes for claiming the benefit. Republicans in the House Ways and Means Education Committee last week pushed for the bill to be carried over due to concerns about the differences between the proposed benefit for educators and the existing benefit for state employees. Rep. David Faulkner, R-Mountain Brook, said he is supportive of the bill, but still needed more time to understand the legislation. 'I would like this to have time to have those discussions in depth rather than trying to rush into something,' Faulkner said. Faulkner also mentioned he is working on an amendment to clarify sections of the legislation on the appeals process and how it relates to physicians. Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, also supported carrying the bill over because the committee did not have the full bill. 'We can't even look at how the amendment fits in here because we only have four pages of the bill and so that to me is another reason I also would like to second the amendment just to carry it over for one more meeting,' she said. Democrats on the committee pushed for a vote. Rep. Kelvin Lawrence, D-Hayneville, said educators have gone without the benefit for too long. 'I don't know of any other profession in the state of Alabama that doesn't offer workman comps to their employees,' Lawrence said. Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile agreed with Lawrence. She said the legislators could use this week to work out concerns with the legislation. The Legislature is out this week and will reconvene on April 1. 'We can get those answers and go ahead and get this bill moving,' she said. Givhan sponsored a similar bill last session that passed the Senate but did not come out of the House. House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, a member of the committee, advocated for a vote. 'We've been dealing with this issue for a couple years now. If we're getting down to the finish line and deciding that we want to delay this and stand in the way of progress and opportunity for our educators, then shame on us,' Daniels said. 'We talk about how important this is, but our actions are not showing that.' Chairman Danny Garrett, R-Decatur, carried the bill over without a vote. 'I just want to you know appreciate the comments of everybody, but I kind of reject the idea that this is something we have to do today with a gun to our head,' Garrett said. Garrett said the bill will be 'first up' when the Legislature returns. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alabama House approves tax exemption on baby formula, maternity clothing, hygiene products
Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham, speaks to the House Ways and Means Education Committee on March 19, 2025, at the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Alabama. The House of Representatives unanimously passed Rafferty's bill that would exempt baby products and menstrual hygiene products from state sales tax on March 20, 2025. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House of Representatives unanimously passed its fifth tax cut of the week Thursday with an exemption for baby products and menstrual hygiene products. HB 152, sponsored by Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham, exempts baby formula, maternity clothing and menstrual hygiene products from state sales tax. Although the legislation passed unanimously, Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham, said she was concerned about what clothes would be considered 'maternity.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'I'm not being critical. That's their choice,' Moore said of people who have 'restrictive' maternity clothes. 'What you consider to be maternity clothing may not be what they want to wear.' Rep. Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg, offered an amendment to the bill expanding the exemption to adult diapers. It was adopted unanimously. 'You know I'm all about women, children and seniors,' she said to Rafferty on the floor. 'I have an amendment to include seniors with diapers.' The legislation would take $10.5 million dollars from the Education Trust Fund (ETF) before Shaver's amendment, but Rafferty said the amendment adds an additional $2.5 million in tax cuts. The ETF is $9.2 billion this year. Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, sponsored the tax passage that passed Tuesday. He supported the fifth tax cut for a majority of Alabamians. The four-bill package that passed Tuesday will reduce the ETF by $192 million. 'An additional $13 million in tax breaks for a broadbase of Alabamians,' he said. House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, applauded the tax cut after the House adjourned Thursday. 'We had five tax cuts this week alone,' Ledbetter said. 'So the people of Alabama are going to start seeing relief that they hadn't had, and certainly we're proud to be able to do that.' The bill now goes to the Senate. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House committee approves 4% tax on sending cash overseas
Rep. Jennifer Fidler, R-Silverhill, speaks with Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 12, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. HB 297, sponsored by Fidler, passed the House Ways and Means Education Committee along party lines on March 19, 2025.(Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) A bill that would tax international cash wire transfers from Alabama out of the United States passed the House Ways and Means Education Committee along party lines on Wednesday morning. HB 297, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Fidler, R-Silverhill, would impose a 4% fee on international transfers, often used by immigrants to support family overseas. The bill does not affect banks that transfer money overseas, only individuals. 'The expected revenue is no less than $10 million, so think about how much wealth was actually leaving our state,' she said. 'Not that's just leaving, but if you are a citizen who pays taxes in the state, you'll be able to get credit on your taxes.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX According to the legislation's fiscal note, 38% of the fee will go to Sheriffs' Immigration Enforcement and Detainer Fund and 62% will go to the Immigration Assimilation Resources Fund. Those percentages are further divided to agencies in the county where the wire transfer originates. '1.5% goes to the Office of Prosecution Services to be distributed throughout the sheriffs to help with the illegal immigration issues and the burdens that migrant influxes create in communities,' Filder said. The law would expire in 2029, which Fidler said would allow officials to evaluate its effectiveness and how much money it will actually bring to the state. All four Democrats on the committee voted against the bill. Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, said she is concerned about the unintended consequences for small businesses. 'It's not so much where the money will go. I am looking at the unintended consequences to our small businesses and to others,' she said. Drummond also pointed out that people sending money out of the country could just leave the state, send the money, and come back without being taxed. 'Also our neighboring states are not doing this,' she said. 'So what is going to prevent those individuals from going to those states? Money will still be going out of the state.' Sen. April Weaver, R-Alabaster, filed a version of the legislation earlier this year that would have imposed a $7.50 fee on money sent overseas and a 1.5% fee on transfers over $500. The bill was held after senators noted that revenue bills must start in the Alabama House. The bill now goes to the full House. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
