7. Alabama AG wants Biden to reverse the Keystone XL Pipeline decision
- Fourteen state attorney generals, including Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall (R-AL), have sent a letter to President Joe Biden to notify him that states are reviewing legal options to protect the interests of their citizens and urges him to reverse his decision with the Keystone XL Pipeline.
- The letter says that Biden’s “decision will result in devastating damage to many of our states and local communities. Even those states outside the path of the Keystone XL Pipeline … will suffer serious, detrimental consequences.”
6. Banning hormone therapy for minors
- A bill by State Representative Wes Allen (R-Troy) would ban doctors from providing hormone blockers, hormonal therapy or surgery that would help them transition from male to female or female to male when they’re underage.
- If the bill were to become law and any doctors violated the law, they could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. The legislation says that such treatments are a “public health risk,” and the main argument is that gender reassignment should be decided in adulthood.
5. Alabama receives an ‘A’ in election integrity
- The Concerned Women for America have graded all of the states on election integrity, and Alabama was the only state to receive an “A.” The criteria is absentee ballot verification, absentee ballots, voter identification and ballot harvesting.
- Most states received less than 50%, earning themselves an “F” grade. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said he will “continue working with our Legislature to advocate for an even more secure and efficient elections process.”
4. Controversy over the national anthem
- As the NBA smacked down Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban for declaring he won’t play the national anthem before games, the Alabama State Senate Committee on Education Policy met to discuss the bill that would require schools across the state to play the national anthem at least once a week. The bill sponsored by State Senator Gerald Allen (R-Tuscaloosa) has been proposed as a constitutional amendment.
- Allen said that this “is about patriotism,” but State Senators Vivian Figures (D-Mobile) and Roger Smitherman (D-Birmingham) want to channel Colin Kaepernick and pretend the national anthem offends them. The senators’ objection is about the third verse of the song, which is never sung, because it references slaves.
3. Protection for businesses advances
- The bill that would protect businesses from frivolous lawsuits related to the coronavirus pandemic has been advanced to the Alabama House floor. It passed the Alabama Senate last week, and yesterday it was passed through the House Judiciary Committee.
- Businesses that engage in misconduct wouldn’t be protected under this legislation, which seems to baffle some legislators and the media, but State Representative David Faulkner (R-Mountain Brook) spoke in favor of the bill and pointed out that it’s specifically stated that a lawsuit can still be brought if the company “caused damages, injury, or death by acting with wanton, reckless, willful, or intentional misconduct.”
2. Gambling bill is about to get a big vote on the Senate floor
- State Senator Del Marsh’s (R-Anniston) gaming and lottery bill has passed the Alabama Senate Tourism Committee. The bill would legalize sports betting, casinos and the lottery. The bill is expected to be debated on the Senate floor today.
- It’s estimated that if the bill becomes law, it could generate $475-$698 million per year. Revenue from the lottery would be used for education scholarships. Marsh does anticipate “changes” to the bill before it’s put up for a vote on the Senate floor, specifically some of the plans that state where five casinos would be built.
1. Not even Joe Biden is watching this impeachment nonsense
- The media is obsessed with its own impeachment coverage, but President Joe Biden is not. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, after seven questions about impeachment, “He’s not going to opine on the back-and-forth arguments, nor is he watching them, that are taking place in the Senate.”
- But, the impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump is underway and impeachment managers keep telling us how horrible that day was and showing us videos of it. They are right, but they also seem to think that Trump incited the crowd on January 6 by telling them to “fight like hell.” The impeachment managers also said the riot was “foreseeable,” “premeditated” and “well-orchestrated” but on that, they are clearly wrong.
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