Latest news with #SB59
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ala. Lt. Governor announces 12-bill package aimed at supporting veterans, troops was approved during 2025 regular session
ALABAMA (WHNT) — Alabama Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth announced Tuesday that a package of bills was approved by the Legislature during the 2025 regular session. The Office of the Lieutenant Governor sent out a news release announcing that a package of 12 bills was approved during the 2025 regular session. The Office said Ainsworth, who chairs the Alabama Military Stability Commission, said the bills 'will help ensure that our state remains the nation's friendliest and most welcoming for active service members, veterans, and their dependents.' In the release, Ainsworth said Alabama was among the first states to pass legislature ensuring 'occupational licensing reciprocity for military dependents, which allows a military spouse who is licensed to practice in a specific job area in another state to also practice locally while stationed in Alabama.' The bills approved created a one-stop Alabama Veterans Resource Center, expanded the use of Veterans Treatment Courts, protected veterans from predatory scams and more. Below is a list of the bills approved and what it would mean for veterans in Alabama: SB70-engrossedDownload SB70 aims to 'establish the Alabama Veterans Resource Center to assist military members entering the private sector with employment services, benefits navigation, education opportunities and mental health services,' the Lt. Governors office said. The bill was signed into law on Feb. 27. It is set to take effect on June 1. You can read the engrossed bill provided to the left. Alabama-2025-SB200-EnrolledDownload SB200 aims to 'expand the use of Veterans Treatment Courts across the state and incorporates Veterans Treatment Courts into a newly established statewide Accountability Court system,' the Lt. Governors office said. This bill was signed into law on April 17. It is set to take effect on October 1 You can read the full text of the bill to the left. Alabama-2025-SB59-Enrolled-enactedDownload SB59 aims to 'allow children/dependents of active duty military personnel to substitute military medical records as evidence of age-appropriate immunization and testing in place of the Blue Card for presentation to a public or private school authority. It also renames the 'drug courts' to the 'accountability courts,'' the Lt. Governors office said. This bill was enacted on March 19. It is set to take effect on July 1. You can read the full text of the bill to the left. Alabama-2025-SB91-EnrolledDownload SB91 aims to 'update the Military Planning Act to further prevent the construction of tall structures near military installations and provides clarification for the approval of construction of tall structures by local governing authorities,' the Lt. Governors office said. It was signed into law on April 16 and is set to take effect on October 1. You can read the full text of the bill to the left. Alabama-2025-SB206-EnrolledDownload SB206 aims to 'adopt federal standards to prevent predatory practices by private entities assisting veterans to obtain their benefits and applies Alabama consumer protection penalties to those who violate federal protections,' the Lt. Governors office said. It was signed into law on May 22 and is set to take effect on October 1. You can read the full text of the bill to the left. HJR22-enrDownload HJR22 aims to 'update the military friendly designation program, the Purple Star Schools Program, to allow private schools to participate in the program,' the Lt. Governors office said. It was signed into law on May 2. You can read the full text of the bill to the left. SB181-enrDownload SB181 aims to 'enroll the state of Alabama in the Respiratory Care Interstate Compact to assist with military spouse occupational license reciprocity,' the Lt. Governors office said. It was signed into law on April 17 and is said to go into effect on October 1. You can read the full text of the bill to the left. Alabama-2025-SB61-EnrolledDownload SB61 aims to 'enroll Alabama in the School Psychology Interstate Compact to assist with military spouse occupational license reciprocity,' the Lt. Governors office said. It was signed into law on April 22 and is said to go into effect on October 1. You can read the full text of the bill to the left. Alabama-2025-SB104-EnrolledDownload SB104 aims to 'updates the membership of the Alabama Military Stability Commission,' the Lt. Governors office said. It was signed into law on April 10 and will take effect on October 1. You can read the full text of the bill to the left. Alabama-2025-HJR66-EnrolledDownload HJR66 aims to 'express the support of the Alabama Legislature for the basing of the KC-46A aircraft at the 117th Air Refueling Wing in Birmingham, AL,' the Lt. Governors office said. It was signed into law on March 3. You can read the full text of the bill to the left. Alabama-2025-SB179-EnrolledDownload SB179 aims to 'make updates to the Alabama Code of Military Justice at the request of the Alabama National Guard,' the Lt. Governors office said. It was signed into law on April 16 and is set to take effect on October 1. You can read the full text of the bill to the left. Alabama-2025-SB198-EnrolledDownload SB198 aims to 'clarify the ability of Judge Advocate Generals to provide legal services to a range of National Guard, civilian, and prior service personnel at the Request of the Alabama National Guard,' the Lt. Governors office said. It was signed into law on April 8 and is set to take effect on October 1. You can read the full text of the bill to the left. 'Since taking office as lieutenant governor seven years ago, we have worked hard to anticipate and meet the needs of the men and women who currently wear a uniform, those who have previously defended the U.S.A., and the family members who love and support them. Passing these bills creates jobs, grows our economy, and protects Alabama's military bases, but, more importantly, it fulfills what I believe is a moral obligation to support soldiers and service members of the past, present, and future.' Alabama Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
San Francisco Chronicle
08-05-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
California tried to make trans people's lives easier. It unwittingly opened a backdoor to harassment
The first plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking to bar transgender athletes from college sports is someone known only as 'Swimmer A.' Keeping that person's identity anonymous was critical, lawyers argued in the suit, 'because she is currently enrolled at and attending an NCAA institution and reasonably fears retribution' for challenging the rules. Pages later, the lawsuit treats another athlete much differently. It doesn't just identify San Jose State University volleyball player Blaire Fleming by name — who at that point was not publicly out as transgender — it goes into detail about her life, from her injuries to the number of sets she recorded on the volleyball team the previous season (61). Some details, like her bruising 80 mph spikes, appear to be made up out of thin air. This dichotomy between Swimmer A and Fleming got me thinking about who is and who isn't entitled to the protection of anonymity in California. How can mudslingers stay hidden while those with the most to lose have their lives ripped apart in public? It turns out state lawmakers recently stumbled into this question as well, ironically, because of their desire to help transgender people live more authentically. The state in recent years has made it easier for transgender and nonbinary people to change their gender and sex identifier on their official documents. Unfortunately, those efforts appear to have opened a backdoor to harassment. The process for updating identification documents enables virtually anyone to access a trove of information about the person requesting the change. Under the current rules, anyone seeking to update their driver's license and other IDs must obtain a court order. That court record, which contains their home address, former name and gender and new name and gender, is public. While it's possible to seal those records, it's up to individual judges whether to OK such a request. This has given bad actors a state-sponsored tool to identify and out transgender residents. Now, two bills making their way through the California Legislature would make it harder to exploit loopholes like these. SB59 by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, would make records regarding a person's change of gender or sex identifier confidential. SB497, also by Wiener, would lock down access to sensitive health data to prevent other states from punishing patients who obtain gender-affirming care or abortion care in California. 'These are just human beings who are just living their lives and trying to be who they are, and there's this slanderous narrative that trans people are all trying to scam their way into women's spaces, and they're faking it and they're predators,' Wiener told me. A description of one of the bills posted by Real Impact, an anti-trans Christian advocacy group, gives away the game: 'The bill also makes sure that records from past petitions are kept private. If someone violates these privacy rules, the person who was harmed can take legal (action).' The group inadvertently acknowledges that forced outing harms its targets, and that Wiener's efforts would provide a mechanism to address those harms. Fleming, the SJSU volleyball player, told the New York Times last month that the ordeal was 'the darkest time' in her life and that she 'felt suicidal' as it was happening. Meanwhile, her teammate, Brooke Slusser, has insisted she was entitled to deeply personal information about Fleming simply by virtue of being on the same team. 'At no point during Brooke's recruitment from the University of Alabama or during the 2023 volleyball season did SJSU or Fleming advise Brooke that Fleming is a male,' Slusser complains in the lawsuit. Yet every day, we operate out in the world among other people whose politics, biases, health conditions and bodies don't match our own. Many people go to college precisely for that exposure. But in our current moment those differences can spell danger for some. President Donald Trump's recent executive orders targeting trans people don't simply deny the existence of transgender and nonbinary people. They insist transgender people have a 'corrosive impact' on society and pose a threat to women; doctors who provide gender-affirming care are guilty of 'chemical and surgical mutilation' and being a military service member who identifies as transgender ' conflicts with a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle.' These disturbing characterizations have given Trump's supporters implicit permission to demand to know whether someone around them is transgender. Nonprofits that serve transgender communities, including several based in the Bay Area, are suing the Trump administration over some of those executive orders. Michael Munson, executive director of Forge, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit that serves transgender and nonbinary survivors of violence, said in a recent court declaration 'transgender people reached out in a panicked state asking for support on how they can update their identity documents and asking what harm could be done if they apply for name or gender changes.' During a recent training the group held, Forge leaders noticed something unusual: The vast majority of participants would provide only their first name. Meanwhile, a lawyer testifying in support of Wiener's SB59 drove home how justified those fears can be. After her client, known in court records as M.T., went through the legal process to change her gender and name, the documents appeared publicly online, including her private medical records and contact information. A court initially denied her request to seal the records, but the state Court of Appeal reversed that decision and found that 'whether a transgender person's gender identity conforms with their assigned sex at birth is intimate personal information entitled to protection under the right to privacy.' But for M.T., the damage was already done. She was outed on social media as transgender and subjected to harassing messages. Someone called her employer and revealed her identity there, too. She was fired soon after. Whether those disclosures were made by one person or multiple people, it's impossible to know: They remain anonymous.
Axios
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Arkansas picks up school breakfast tabs
The state will pay for breakfast for public school students who don't qualify for federally funded meals, including in districts that already cover such costs, education department spokesperson Kimberly Mundell tells Axios. Why it matters: Arkansas has the highest rate of food insecurity in the nation. Ensuring all children have access to school breakfast improves their nutrition, health, behavior and ability to learn, according to Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. Driving the news: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders recently signed SB59 into law guaranteeing breakfast to all students regardless of their families' income starting this fall. By the numbers: Tax revenue from medical marijuana sales will help pay for the meals, which the state expects to cost $14.7 million annually. State of play: About half, or 125, of school districts in Arkansas already guarantee free breakfast to all students, according to state education department data. That includes three of NWA's largest school districts — Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale. About 19% of students at Bentonville Public Schools are enrolled in federally funded free or reduced breakfast, spokesperson Leslee Wright told Axios. Lincoln, Greenland and Decatur school districts also offer free breakfast. What they're saying: Rogers began offering free breakfast to all elementary students in 2012 via a grant from the Arkansas Huger Relief Alliance. "Teachers reported that students were more engaged and alert in the mornings and there was a decrease in trips to the nurse during the morning related to hunger or lethargy," child nutrition director Margie Bowers told Axios in an email. Increased food and labor prices mean that Rogers will welcome the state assistance, Bowers said. Zoom out: Lincoln and Decatur are the only NWA districts to also guarantee free lunch, which is also offered by 101 other districts in the state.
Axios
11-02-2025
- Health
- Axios
Arkansas statehouse week 4 review: School cellphone ban, video mandate
Today closes the fourth week of the 95th General Assembly of the Arkansas Legislature. Why it matters: Lawmakers hash out proposed changes to state law during the regular session. We're keeping an eye out for the most impactful potential changes — particularly in issues like education, health care and how national politics will influence Arkansas' Republican-dominated legislature. Catch up quick: Key takeaways from this week include The Senate approved SB142 which would ban students from using cellphones and other devices during the school day at public schools. The House Education Committee also passed the bill Thursday. The Senate also approved SB59, which seeks to ensure all children at public schools receive free breakfast. HB1204, which would limit the recovery of damages for past necessary medical care, treatment or services to the costs actually paid by or on behalf of a plaintiff, cleared the Senate and will move to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' desk. The House approved SB3 on Thursday, which would end the state's affirmative action programs. It now advances to the governor's desk. Of note: On Thursday, the House passed HB1180, "The Baby Olivia Bill," which would require public and open-enrollment public charter schools to include a 3-minute video produced by an anti-abortion organization to health and safety courses beginning in the fifth grade. Speaking against the bill, Rep. Ashley Hudson (D-Little Rock), called the video "propaganda." It now moves to the Senate. A few bills from the past week: SB189 would authorize Ivermectin for human use to be sold without a prescription. SJR10 proposes a constitutional amendment to be voted on by the state's electorate to create the Department of Government Efficiency. HB1424 would require state-funded health insurance programs including Medicaid to cover obesity treatments.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Arkansas lawmakers give initial approval to legislation to provide students free breakfast
Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, listens to testimony during a public health committee meeting on Wednesday, January 22, 2025. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate) A legislative panel on Wednesday approved a bill to provide free breakfast to Arkansas students regardless of their eligibility for the federal free or reduced-price meal program beginning with the 2025-2026 academic year. Lead sponsor Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, told the Senate Education Committee Wednesday that Senate Bill 59 would first use federally available funds to support the initiative before tapping into state resources. State funding would come through the Food Insecurity Fund, which would be created by SB 59 and consist of money from general revenue, private grants and medical marijuana taxes. 'We ask these kids to be in school, we actually mandate that they be in school,' Dismang said. 'We want them to be successful. Let's give them the basic tool to be successful and that is to start the day without an empty stomach.' A steady job doesn't guarantee food on the table for many Arkansans At a rate of nearly 19%, Arkansas had the highest prevalence of food insecurity in 2023, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released in September. One in four Arkansas children face hunger, according to Feeding America. Federal funding supported free meals for all students during the COVID-19 pandemic and a number of states have since considered legislation that would continue the practice. Some states like California and Minnesota have passed laws to provide universal free school meals. SB 59 builds on Dismang's work during the 2023 legislative session when Arkansas lawmakers approved a bill to cover the copayment for low-income students who qualify for reduced-price meals, and a bill that would allow money from the General Revenue Fund to be placed in a Restricted Reserve Fund to address food insecurity and health needs. Because medical marijuana funds would be used to support the free breakfast initiative, Sen. Joshua Bryant, R-Rogers, asked if there would be any concern about the funding source should a state legislator try to further restrict the expansion of medical marijuana. Dismang said he's not worried because the industry was created through a constitutional amendment. Arkansas voters first approved medical marijuana in 2016 and it has since grown into a billion-dollar industry. State tax revenue from medical marijuana surpassed $31 million in 2024, according to data released by state officials Wednesday. Providing students free breakfast under SB 59 could cost an estimated $14.7 million, according to a fiscal impact statement. That's likely 'on the high side' but Dismang said he wanted to use conservative estimates and noted that covering the cost of reduced-price meals following passage of his 2023 bill has not come close to its $6 million estimate. SB 59 also prioritizes the use of money from the Food Insecurity Fund, which must first cover copayments for reduced meals and the state's participation in the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer program before funds can be used for the breakfast program, Dismang said. Summer EBT set to continue in 2025, pending further Arkansas legislative approval Arkansas last year opted into the Summer EBT program, a new federal assistance program that provides $120 in food benefits to students during summer break. Dismang said it was 'wildly successful' and cost an estimated $2.9 million. Though no one spoke against the bill in committee Wednesday, policy organization Opportunity Arkansas in a social media post assigned SB 59 an 'F'-ranking, arguing the legislation would 'grow government and increase dependency.' 'This bill would provide for 'free' universal school breakfasts for all Arkansas students — even those from high-income families,' the post states. Addressing the criticism in committee, Dismang said this approach is similar to schools purchasing laptops and other tools for families who have the means to purchase these resources on their own. 'To me this is no different,' he said. 'Let's let them start out on the right foot. Let's let them have the option and let's do something about the food insecurity problems we have here in the state.' Those sentiments were echoed by two employees of the Conway School District who spoke in favor of the bill because it would help the district address unpaid student meal charges and free up money to be used on other things like safety. The district has $317,000 in unpaid meal charges as of Wednesday, Conway School District Food Service Director Maegan Brown said. A 2019 bill requires public schools to provide students a meal and prohibits them from stigmatizing children unable to pay. The law allows schools to request payment from parents, but there are no consequences for failure to pay so districts incur debt, Brown said. Regulations prohibit districts from using federal food-service funds to cover student meal debt, so the district must ultimately find a way to pay for it once a student graduates or drops out, she said. Bryant questioned what the incentive would be for parents to fill out forms to help the state qualify for federal funding if they know they'll receive meals regardless. Superintendent Jeff Collum agreed it's a risk, but said he's open to trying SB 59's breakfast program because the district will have to continue paying on bad debt no matter what. 'It may hurt us, it may hurt us before it gets better, but if we were to err, it would be let's feed the babies as much as we can and we'll figure it out, the way we're trying to figure it out now,' Collum said. The House Education Committee unanimously approved SB 59 on a voice vote, and it will next be heard by the full House. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
