Latest news with #SB64
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
At adjournment, Alaska Legislature leaves elections overhaul, campaign finance bills undone
Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage, speaks to the Alaska House of Representatives on Friday, April 25, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) The Alaska Legislature adjourned its regular session on Tuesday without finishing work on a major elections bill or a bill reimposing limits on cash donations to election candidates. House Bill 16, the campaign finance bill, and Senate Bill 64, the elections reform legislation, are expected to return when the Legislature resumes work in January, and they could be part of a wave of major legislation that advances through the Capitol early next year. 'We got really close with the election bill, and I think the prospects for passing next year are good,' said Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham. 'I expect that we may have a legitimate shot at passing that bill early next session,' he said. Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, said that both bills could have gotten legislative approval, but they would have been vetoed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. 'We were told flat out, the governor would veto it, by someone in the governor's office,' Wielechowski said. The governor's communications office did not respond to an email asking whether Wielechowski's statement was accurate. If enacted, HB 16 would, among other things, limit Alaskans to $2,000 in donations per candidate in each two-year election cycle. Alaska currently has no limit on the amount of money a person can donate to a candidate. A ballot measure is slated for the 2026 election, but the restrictions could come into place earlier, if the Legislature approves. SB 64, as currently written, is a broad election reform bill that includes significant changes to the way the state deals with absentee voting. 'I think we are poised and in a position where there will be a number of pieces of significant legislation passed next year, probably early on in the session, and we will be dealing with a number of veto overrides during the session,' Wielechowski said. Wielechowski said the possibilities include an elections bill, a campaign finance bill, the long-awaited pension restoration bill and a bill taxing businesses whose owners are taxed separately from the businesses, known as C-corporations. To avoid a veto, Wielechowski and others said they intend to work with Republicans in the House and Senate minorities to try to garner support for a compromise that could win a veto-proof majority of votes in the Legislature. It takes 40 votes to override a policy veto; the coalition majorities in the House and Senate have a combined 35 members, meaning that additional Republican support would be needed. House Minority Leader Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, said she thinks changes to Senate Bill 64 are needed for any compromise. 'I was really proud of our finance team for helping stop that version of the bill, because it really had some things in there that were not productive and were not representative of our values and what we think should be in an elections bill,' she said. 'I do think there is room to make it better. I just think we weren't a part of that discussion (on advancing the bill), but I think they realized that we have to be, moving forward.' On the campaign finance bill, getting a veto-proof majority is 'possible,' said Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage and the bill's sponsor. 'I've personally spoken to a number of minority members who recognize the need for limits. They were disappointed as well that the bill wasn't taken up. We do have a very high veto threshold, so it'll be a challenge,' Schrage said. 'But as I remind legislators all the time around here, this is going to happen one way or another when this goes to the ballot, so I think we have an opportunity to save the time and expense and put this in place ourselves. If we don't, Alaskans will take action.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Utah medical cannabis patient count reaches 100,000 ahead of prescription pop-up ban
Utah has more than 100,000 medical cannabis card holders, a new peak since the program got underway in 2020. (Getty Images) Five years after medical cannabis became available in Utah after being legalized by voters, the program, while still controversial, keeps on growing. This year, the state counted over 100,000 medical cannabis card holders, a new peak in the program's five-year existence. Members of the Utah Patients Coalition, a plant medicine advocacy group which lobbied hard to help pass the 2018 referendum that allowed the medical cannabis program in deeply conservative Utah, see the milestone as a demonstration that the system to obtain a card is getting easier to navigate. Even now that a major 2025 cannabis bill has gone into effect and eliminated a system that allowed for a cheaper, more accessible way to obtain a card, the group remains hopeful for the future of medical cannabis in the state. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'The growth in 2025 has been encouraging, just because we have seen a lot of patients struggling in the past. And every year we go back to the legislative session, we go back to our platforms with education, and just try to remove some of those barriers,' Desiree Hennessy, executive director at the Utah Patients Coalition, said on Monday. One of the 2025 general session's routine bipartisan medical cannabis bills, sponsored by Minority Whip Jennifer Dailey-Provost, D-Salt Lake City, and Sen. Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City, went through several iterations and proposed allowing more medical cannabis pharmacies in the state. But, it didn't make it to a vote on the Senate floor, ultimately failing. However, SB64, another bill sponsored by Vickers, passed, containing a provision that Utah Patients Coalition considered 'a heartbreaking loss.' Up until this month, pharmacies were allowed to partner with clinics that have medical providers qualified to prescribe medicinal cannabis to host 'card drives,' a sort of pop-up clinic in pharmacies' parking lots in which doctors could see patients and issue cards, often at a discount. Those partnerships allowed cards, which are good for up to a year, to go from a regular $200 to about $75, Hennessy said. 'This year, we lost the ability to allow pharmacies to do that. So now no longer can somebody write a card within 500 feet of a pharmacy unless they're in their own business,' she said. 'And so it's really not going to hurt anybody that's middle class or higher, but these patients struggling with finances that used these card drives.' That was one of the last additions to Vickers' bill. He explained on the Senate floor that the bill's authors didn't feel like the pop-ups were appropriate, and patients should be going to a doctor's office for medical advice. 'If someone is a qualified medical professional, they can't go to a pop-up tent in front of the marijuana pharmacy to give cards. We want to make sure that we are not producing a recreational environment,' SB64's House floor sponsor, Rep. Walt Brooks, R-St George, told House members about the change. But, with that loss, also came some flexibility on who gets to recommend medical cannabis to a patient. Now, medical providers who are licensed to prescribe controlled substances can recommend the treatment, which according to a Department of Health and Human Services April report is mostly used to treat pain. According to Hennessy, that change would improve patient accessibility. 'Patients can go to their regular care physician, hopefully not get charged any more than a co-pay, and have this medical cannabis conversation with their doctor,' she said. While advocates celebrate the numbers, the program remains a contentious point among Utahns, with some still protesting the annual technical bills, arguing that the state shouldn't allow cannabis at all. But, ultimately, Hennessy hopes that medical cannabis patients get to be treated like those receiving any other treatment. Especially, she said, since the program has been demonstrated to lower rates of opioid use and opioid-related deaths, according to a study by Management Science Associates in partnership with Dragonfly Wellness, a medical cannabis pharmacy. 'We do believe that there's a lot of good that can come out of using medical cannabis as a first-line drug, and not as a second or third or fourth when everything else fails,' Hennessy said, 'but we could use this first and treat a lot of conditions with a lot less risk than other medications that patients are now using.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alaska Senate passes elections overhaul to update voter rolls, introduce ballot tracking, curing
A sign posted on Aug. 18, 2024, outside of the Alaska Division of Elections office in Midtown Anchorage directs voters to the polling place inside. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon) The Alaska Senate voted to enact new rules to streamline the voting process in Alaska and expand voter access. If signed into law, the legislation would update the state's voter rolls, mandate that the state pay for postage for mailed ballots, introduce a new ballot tracking system, and repeal a requirement that a witness sign absentee ballots, among other changes. The Senate passed Senate Bill 64 along caucus lines, voting 14 to 6 on Monday. The bill now moves to the House for consideration in the last week of the legislative session. Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage and a bill supporter, called it a 'compromise bill' years in the making at a news conference on Tuesday. 'It includes 12 different bills that have been introduced over the years from members of all political parties — Republicans, Democrats, independents, minority and majority members,' he said. 'Roughly 50% of the bill is at the request of the minority in the House and the Senate. So it is truly a compromise bill.' Wielechowski said the first goal of the bill is to update the state's voter rolls. 'We have 106% more registered voters in the state than we have citizens, and so it takes some steps to fix that,' he said. Under SB 64, the Division of Elections would send a notice to confirm address if the voter has: Registered to vote in a another state Received a driver's license in another state Registered a vehicle in another state Served on a jury in another state Obtained a resident hunting or fishing license in another state Pays resident tuition at at university in another state Receives a residential property tax exemption in another state Receives public assistance in another state If passed, the bill clarifies residency as 'as a place where a voter has a reasonable and articulable plan to return to whenever they are absent.' The bill would shorten the timeframe in which Alaskans are marked as inactive voters and can ultimately be removed from the voter rolls if they don't vote. It also would expand the list of things that trigger notices to start that removal process. Once those notices are sent, the voter will have a chance to respond within 45 days, or be moved to an inactive status for a period of 28 months, or two elections. In that time, a voter can confirm residency and their voter registration by contacting the division, or by voting. Wielechowski said the bill addresses the causes of ballots being disqualified, by eliminating the witness signature requirement for absentee ballots and allowing mistakes to be corrected ahead of Election Day. 'It fixes a number of issues that have resulted in voters' ballots being thrown out, particularly military voters, and particularly those in rural Alaska: There's a witness signature problem,' he said. Wielechowski pointed to House District 18, which includes Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, as having the highest rate of reject ballots in the last election. In the 2024 general election, the state rejected 1,303 absentee ballots, or 1.7% of ballots cast. Nearly 40%, or 512 ballots were rejected due to 'improper or insufficient witnessing.' That was fewer than the special election in 2022 following the death of U.S. Rep. Don Young, when over 7,500 ballots were rejected, with a third of those due to a lack of witness signature. If passed, the bill would allow for voters to fix minor errors, with the division notifying and allowing the voter an opportunity to correct a mistake before Election Day, a process called 'ballot curing.' The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, which advocates for civil and voter rights, has been calling for both items, and supports the bill, according to Michael Garvey, its policy director. 'We've seen it lead to completely unnecessary rejections,' he said. He noted that rejection rates have been higher in rural districts, as well as districts with higher proportions of Alaska Native voters. 'And so someone who's taken the time to fill out their ballot, put it in the mail, put a stamp on it, and a lot of cases to have that rejected, and then just to be notified that it didn't end up counting, that's pretty dispiriting,' Garvey said. 'And so the state really should have a way to allow voters to fix that small amount of mistakes.' The ACLU filed a lawsuit in 2022 asserting the state violated due process rights when rejecting ballots without notice or opportunity to correct errors. The Alaska Superior Court denied the motion in a January ruling, but said that the Legislature could enact a 'notice-and-cure system.' Under the legislation, voters would be notified of technical mistakes before an election and be able to correct them. Voters would not be able to open the envelope and change their vote, but be able to fix external mistakes, such as missing a signature. The division would notify the voter within 24 hours, by email or phone number, and the voter would be able to provide identification and correct the mistake by filling out and submitting a form. The bill also establishes a new ballot tracking system, so voters can be notified when their ballot is received and counted. It also provides for paid postage for all absentee ballots. Other new provisions in the bill include: Adding tribal identification cards to the list of acceptable voter identification in person and by mail; Removing hunting and fishing licenses from the list of voter identification; Establishing a new rural community liaison position within the Division of Elections to support rural districts, including recruitment and training of poll workers; Requiring that secure ballot drop boxes be available at every division office, and allowing municipalities to provide drop boxes in accordance with division regulations; Requiring the state to develop a cybersecurity program, and notify the public if there is a data breach; Requiring that absentee ballot counting start 12 days before the election; and Requiring the division to publish results for all rankings in the precinct results. The Division of Elections has estimated that if passed, the bill's new provisions, staff salaries and cost of paid postage would cost $765,000 in one-time costs and $190,000 annually. However, Republican members of the Senate objected to what they say is not enough security protocols to prevent opportunities for voter fraud. 'We have a moniker: You want to make it easy to vote, but hard to cheat,' said Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla in an interview Thursday. 'I want to be clear that I've never said fraud swung an election. I said I want to make sure we don't have the potential for fraud, which I think the Division of Elections director agrees with.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Shower said he opposed removing the witness signature, without another kind of verification check. 'We suggested several things, like doing what the Permanent Fund Division, use their data, have two attesters… (who) under the penalty of perjury, would have to attest that yes, you are, in fact, her (the voter),' he said, and it was rejected by the bills sponsors. Shower also opposed several items, including ballot drop boxes, and has concerns about the language around residency and whether voter rolls are accurate or updated. He said he also has concerns that mail-in absentee ballots present a scenario where they're fraudulently filled out, and the division cannot verify the true identity of the voter. 'Who knows where they went? Who knows how many of them came back? We have no idea,' he said. Opponents of these proposals have pointed out that there isn't much evidence of Alaskans committing the crime of voter fraud. The state has investigated a few cases – the current system catches when two ballots are submitted for the same voter, which has been extremely rare, and can result when a voter forgets that they had already cast a mailed ballot. Shower said he's concerned about personal data breaches like in 2020, where an estimated 113,000 voters' personal data was exposed, and he wants to see the state take more serious security protocols. The bill is now being heard in the House Finance Committee and is expected to move to a full House vote in the final days of the session, which ends May 21. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alaska Legislature considers comprehensive election bill in final days of session
May 13—JUNEAU — The Alaska Legislature is considering a comprehensive election reform measure with a suite of policies intended to make voting more accessible and secure, and to speed up when election results are reported. The Senate advanced Senate Bill 64 on Monday to the House, where the bill is expected to be fast-tracked through the committee process in the final days of the legislative session. The measure was written to appeal to lawmakers across the political spectrum. Anchorage Democratic Sen. Bill Wielechowski said before Monday's final vote that SB 64 is "truly, a compromise bill" with substantial input from Republican minority members and the Dunleavy administration. He said the bill is not partisan, but it makes common-sense election reforms. "It fixes a lot of things that have long been needed to be fixed," he added. Members of the bipartisan House and Senate majorities have said election reform is a top priority this year after several near misses. Provisions include: —Plans to allow Alaskans to correct mistakes on absentee ballots, a process used in two-thirds of states called "ballot curing." Voters in rural Alaska and military voters have disproportionately had their ballots rejected due to errors such as forgetting to include a witness signature on ballot envelopes. SB 64 would eliminate that requirement after lawmakers noted those signatures are not verified by the Division of Elections. Additionally, postage would be paid by the state for absentee ballots. —Alaska has the slowest ballot counting process in America. SB 64 intends to make that faster by implementing a 10-day deadline for by-mail ballots, which would allow earlier certification of results. —The bill intends to improve election security by establishing cybersecurity protections for voter registration records and by ensuring all campaigns can observe polling places and ballot review processes. Residency requirements would also be made stricter for Alaskans who move Outside and seek to return. —Alaska has long had more people on its voter rolls than residents in the state. SB 64 intends to shorten and streamline the process to remove ineligible voters from the rolls. State agencies would also share data to find out-of-state voters and duplicate registrations. The bill would also add tribal identification cards, and remove hunting and fishing licenses, as valid forms of ID to vote — among a long list of other changes. [Alaska House passes public pension bill, sending it to Senate] Despite the bipartisan approach, the Senate approved SB 64 along caucus lines on a 14-6 vote. All members of the bipartisan Senate majority voted for the bill; all six members of the Republican Senate minority voted no. Wasilla Republican Sen. Mike Shower applauded the collaborative process to craft SB 64. But he said the measure "fell short of the mark." In a Tuesday interview, Shower said there were some non-controversial provisions in the bill. He cited a ban on AI-created "deepfakes" in political advertising. Elections experts nationally have raised concerns that images created by AI could confuse voters and potentially sway elections. However, Shower said he had sought certain stricter safeguards in the measure. He pointed to a provision that would allow voters to get absentee ballots indefinitely, so long as they vote at least once every four years. Shower said he would oppose a "permanent absentee ballot application process" due to election integrity concerns. SB 64 has been supported by groups such as the Alaska Federation of Natives, the League of Women Voters of Alaska, and the Alaska AFL-CIO. Lawmakers say the bill is being advanced quickly with the intention of passing it this year. That way, the policy changes could be in place for the 2026 election. Election measures are set to advance quickly through the House committee process this year, lawmakers said. Anchorage independent Rep. Calvin Schrage said that elections reform is top priority for the House majority. "I've seen too many voters disenfranchised, and I think this is another one of those issues Alaskans are really wanting us to take action on," he said. The measure contains several provisions proposed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy's administration. Several lawmakers said they were unsure whether Dunleavy would support it. Jeff Turner, a spokesperson for the governor's office, declined to comment on Dunleavy's opinions on the bill. Turner noted that the measure could change in the House. Some conservative House lawmakers have expressed concerns. Homer Republican Rep. Sarah Vance opposed eliminating the witness signature requirement and other provisions in the bill. She said that would weaken Alaska's election system. Vance, a minority member, urged further compromise. "If there is any will by the governing majority to do that, you're running out of time," she said at a Tuesday committee hearing. In the past three years, the Legislature has twice failed to pass an elections bill on the final day of the legislative session. In 2022, a last-minute deal collapsed to reestablish stricter campaign contribution limits in Alaska. Last year, the House failed to pass another election reform bill. Former Republican House Speaker Cathy Tilton suggested last year that the measure was blocked because it would have benefited then-U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat. Shower and Wielechowski have been part of prior efforts to pass election reform bills. Both senators said they would work to reach a compromise before the legislative session ends.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What passed in the Alabama Legislature: March 4-6, 2025
Rep. Margie Wilcox, R-Mobile, sends a Mardi Gras throw aloft in the Alabama House of Representatives on March 4, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Mardi Gras is an official holiday in Mobile and Baldwin counties. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Here is a list of bills that passed the Alabama Legislature this week. House HB 274, sponsored by Rep. Chris Sells, R-Greenville, would reduce the terms of members of the Crenshaw County Board of Education from six years to four. The measure, a constitutional amendment, passed 67-0. The amendment goes to the Senate. HB 313, sponsored by Rep. Paul Lee, R-Dothan, sets the salary for the Houston County coroner to $22,000 and the sheriff's salary to $150,000 and allows both to receive cost-of-living adjustments extended to other county employees. The bill passed 23-0. It goes to the Senate. HB 314, sponsored by Rep. Paul Lee, R-Dothan, allows the Houston County sheriff to create guidelines for using the Sheriff's Office credit or debit card. The bill passed 17-0. It goes to the Senate. SB 139, sponsored by Sen. Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro, extends the terms of Scottboro's mayor, city council and board of education by one year in order to revise election dates for the general municipal election. The bill passed 11-0. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. HB 309, sponsored by Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, allows the Public Education Employees' Health Insurance board to renegotiate Medicare retiree health benefits plans every five years, instead of every three. The bill passed 96-0. It goes to the Senate. HB 226, sponsored by Rep. Danny Crawford, R-Athens, allows widows and widowers to apply for homestead exemptions as long as their name is on the deed and they remain unmarried and reside in the same house. The bill passed 103-0. It goes to the Senate. HB 212, sponsored by Rep. Mike Kirkland, R-Scottsboro, requires people that uproot aquatic plants to make sure the entire plant is removed from the water. The bill passed 103-0 after being swapped out for SB 64. The legislation goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. HB 96, sponsored by Rep. Chad Robertson, R-Heflin, requires high school students to be excused from class when participating in National Signing Day activities for acceptance of athletic scholarships, postsecondary school educational commitments, commitments to apprenticeship programs, and military enlistments. The bill passed 101-0. It goes to the Senate. HB 315, sponsored by Rep. Joe Lovvorn, R-Auburn, connects certain products covered under state sales tax holidays to the Consumer Price Index to accommodate for inflated costs. The bill passed 100-0. The bill goes to the Senate. HB 151, sponsored by Rep. Curtis Travis, D-Tuscaloosa, creates a designated license plate for fire chaplains. The bill passed 102-0. It goes to the Senate. SB 25, sponsored by Senate Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, directs sales taxes collected in community development districts to a grant fund supporting those districts, with grants distributed by state legislators representing those areas. The bill passed 98-1. The bill goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. HB 194, sponsored by Rep. Paul Lee, R-Dothan, requires the Joint Committee of the State Board of Medical Examiners and the Board of Nursing for Advanced Practice Nurses to have two members that are nurse practitioners and one member who is a certified midwife. The bill passed 97-0. It goes to the Senate. HB 209, sponsored by Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, expands jury duty exemptions to nursing mothers. The bill passed 103-0. It goes to the Senate. SB 80, sponsored by Sen. Tom Butler, R-Madison, changes the name of the Alabama Local Government Training Institute to the Buddy Sharpless Education Institute in memory of the former executive director of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama. The bill passed 102-0. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. HB 24, sponsored by Rep. Ed Oliver, R-Dadeville, expands a tuition reimbursement program for first responders to volunteer first responders. The bill passed 102-0. It goes to the Senate. HB 251, sponsored by Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, prohibits convicted sex offenders from accessing the Internet and allows the Board of Pardons and Paroles to conduct polygraph examinations as a term of release. The bill passed 90-0. It goes to the Senate. HB 295, sponsored by Cynthia Almond, R-Tuscaloosa, allows a battalion level commander of the Alabama National Guard to discipline any member that is level E-9 or below and adds a pay deduction as a punishment. The bill passed 96-0. It goes to the Senate. HB 146, sponsored by Rep. Phillip Pettus, R-Greenhill, eliminates youthful offender status for people charged with intentional murder. The bill passed 67-33. It goes to the Senate. HB 270, sponsored by Rep. Matthew Hammett, R-Dozier, creates unrestricted, restricted and business entity licenses for water well drilling, and sets a $1,000 fee for unrestricted licenses and $500 fees for restricted and business entity licenses. The bill passed 102-0. It goes to the Senate. Senate SB 46, sponsored by Sen. David Sessions, R-Grand Bay, allows Class 2 municipalities to establish an agreement with the Department of Environmental Management to enforce the Alabama Scrap Tire Environmental Quality Act. The bill passed 32-0. It goes to the House. SB 41, sponsored by Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, allows the Calhoun County Commission and municipalities in the county to regulate halfway houses and other similar facilities. The bill passed 32-0. It goes to the House. SB 127, sponsored by Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, allows the Calhoun County Commission to increase compensation for members of the local board of registrars. The bill passed 32-0. It goes to the House. SB 128, sponsored by Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, provides an additional yearly expense allowance of $13,966 to the Sheriff of Calhoun County starting in June 2025. It would also set the sheriff's salary to $114,290 per year starting in January 2027. The bill passed 32-0. It goes to the House. HB 135, sponsored by Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, allows the Dale County Commission to raise the county lodging tax from 2% to 4%. The bill passed 32-0. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. HB 100, sponsored by Rep. Phillip Pettus, R-Killen, allows the Lauderdale County sheriff to establish procedures for using a credit card or debit card to make purchases. The bill passed 32-0. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. HB 98, sponsored by Rep. Phillip Pettus, R-Killen, allows the Lauderdale County sheriff to organize fundraising events and use the profits to cover operation costs. The bill passed 32-0. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. HB 99, sponsored by Sen. Phillip Pettus, R-Killen, would allow the Lauderdale County revenue commissioner to establish procedures for filing business personal property tax returns electronically. The bill passed 32-0. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. SB 57, sponsored by Sen. Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville, would allow officers of a limited liability company holding less than 1% of the shares in the entity to sign property paperwork officially. The bill passed 30-0. It goes to the House. SB 88, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, allows a judge to set a hearing on a petition for a criminal expungement even if a prosecutor or a victim files no objection. The bill passed 30-0. It goes to the House. SB 45, sponsored by Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, would allow the Secretary of State to designate an individual to serve in their place on the Alabama Athlete Agents Commission. The bill passed 30-0. It goes to the House. SB 165, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, R-Birmingham, would establish a deadline for candidates to file a statement of economic interests within five days of a qualifying deadline or deadline to declare an official candidacy in an election, and setting the deadline for independent candidates at five days after the date of a primary election. The bill passed 30-0. It goes to the House. SB 96, sponsored by Sen. Josh Carnley, R-Enterprise, would allow Alabama vehicle owners to apply for a salvage certificate of title if their vehicle is damaged and declared a total loss outside of the state. The bill passed 31-0. It goes to the House. SB 130, sponsored by Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, would allow people to use gold and silver in monetary transactions. The bill passed 31-0. It goes to the House. SB 18, sponsored by Sen. Merika Coleman, R-Pleasant Grove, would allow child support payments to be retroactively applied to cover expenses incurred during pregnancy. It passed 31-0. It goes to the House. House HB 233, sponsored by Rep. Alan Baker, R-Brewton, removes a requirement that the threat must be credible and imminent from the legal definition of a terrorist threat in the second degree. The bill passed 90-0. It goes to the Senate. Senate SB 199, sponsored by Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, would establish parental leave for state and public education employees. The bill passed 28-3. It goes to the House. SB 137, sponsored by Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills, would allow owners of certain privately owned sewer and wastewater systems to choose to be under the regulatory jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission. The bill passed 29-0. It heads to the House. HB 230, sponsored by Rep. Randall Shedd, R-Fairview, would require real estate agents to give clients a disclosure form before showing a property to conform with a new national rule and clarify when written agreements are needed between agents and clients. The bill passed 30-0. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. House HB 202, sponsored by Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville, expands civil immunity for law enforcement officers. The bill passed 75-26. It goes to the Senate. HB 265, sponsored by Rep. Joe Lovvorn, R-Auburn, raises the penalty for resisting arrest from a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $3,000 fine to a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $6,000 fine. The bill raises it to a Class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $7,500 fine, if a person brandishes a deadly weapon or injures a person, and a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, if the person uses a deadly weapon or causes serious injury to another person. The bill passed 78-14. It goes to the Senate. SB 116, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Montgomery, bans a modification for firearms that allows continuous firing, also known as a Glock switch. The bill passed 77-23 with a House committee substitute. It goes back to the Senate for concurrence or a conference committee. SB 115, sponsored by Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, makes impersonating a peace officer a Class C felony. The bill passed 94-0. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. SB 67, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, reforms the State Board of Veterans Affairs to change the membership and powers of the board. The bill passed 56-39. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. HB 302, sponsored by Rep. Ben Robbins, R-Sylacauga, requires companies that hire people without legal status to register their employees with the Department of Workforce and provides sanctions for employing people without legal status. The bill passed 81-0. It goes to the Senate. HB 304, sponsored by Rep. Jamie Kiel, R-Russellville, gives law enforcement officers the authority to impound a vehicle when the driver does not have a drivers license. The bill It passed 72-14. It goes to the Senate. HB 3, sponsored by Rep. Chip Brown, R-Hollingers Island, enhances penalties for people without legal status when they are charged with a felony where the victim is a minor. The bill passed 76-3. It goes to the Senate. Senate SB 178, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, would allow the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court to appoint a visiting judge at the request of the Attorney General or a district attorney. The bill passed 27-0. It goes to the House. SB 123, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, adds civil case numbers assigned in state court to data required to be published on civil asset seizures and forfeitures. The bill passed 27-0. It goes to the House. SB 91, sponsored by Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, requires a person seeking to build a structure 200 feet or higher within two miles of a military installation to get approval from the local government before beginning construction. The bill passed 27-0. It goes to the House. SB 134, sponsored by Sen. Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville, would allow the Board of Pardons and Paroles to share electronic monitoring GPS data with law enforcement agencies in an active investigation. The bill passed 27-0. It goes to the House. SB 222, sponsored by Sen. Kirk Hatcher, D-Montgomery, allows medical clinic boards that lease property to a health care provider that has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to readjust their own debt under federal bankruptcy law. The bill passed 26-0. It goes to the House. SB 97, sponsored by Sen. Wes Kitchens, R-Arab, drops a requirement for those applying for out-of-state surplus line broker licenses to provide a surety bond. The bill passed 27-0. It goes to the House. SB 151, sponsored by Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, updates internal citations in the insurable interest law and the life insurance policy loan law. The bill passed 27-0. It goes to the House. SB 179, sponsored by Sen. Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville, allows a battalion level commander of the Alabama National Guard to discipline any member that is level E-9 or below and adds a pay deduction as a punishment. The bill passed 28-0. It goes to the House. SB 183, sponsored by Sen. Josh Carnley, R-Enterprise, allows the Ma-Chis Lower Creek Indian Tribe to hire law enforcement officers to provide police protection to tribal grounds, property, employees, and residents. The bill passed 28-0. It goes to the House. SB 181, sponsored by Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, would allow licensed respiratory therapists to practice among compact states. The bill passed 28-0. It goes to the House. SB 198, sponsored by Sen. Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville, would create the Legal Services Office within the Alabama National Guard and establish the Legal Assistance Program to help National Guard members and their families with personal legal matters. The bill passed 28-0. It goes to the House. SB 194, sponsored by Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, would allow authorities to terminate or move easements on authority property via eminent domain. The bill passed 28-0. It goes to the House. SB 138, sponsored by Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, would prohibit some occupational licensing boards from denying licenses based solely on a criminal conviction unless the crime is directly related to the duties of the profession. The bill passed 29-0. It goes to the House. HB 102, sponsored by Rep. Jeana Ross, R-Guntersville, requires local education agencies to allow students to enroll in dual enrollment programs if a parent or guardian requests it, and establishes student eligibility requirements. The bill passed 30-0. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
