7. Carl: Reimburse coastal areas
- New legislation introduced by U.S. Representative Jerry Carl (R-Mobile) would require that coastal regions be reimbursed due to executive orders by President Joe Biden to stop new oil and natural gas leases on public lands and waters.
- Carl said that this decision “is particularly devastating to south Alabama and the Gulf Coast region.” Through the Gulf of Mexico Security Energy Act (GOMESA), Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama all receive funds through permits to drill from the federal government. Carl is proposing that while restrictions are in place, the states should be paid “any difference between what collected in normal GOMESA revenues that fiscal year and the average revenues collected between fiscal years 2018, 2019 and 2020.”
6. Democrats value diversity over everything else
- Two Democrat U.S. Senators have declared that they will not support any white nominees that are proposed by President Joe Biden over the fact that there have no been enough Asian nominees. U.S Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) said, “I am a no vote on the floor, on all non-diversity nominees.”
- Duckworth and Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) could block every Biden nominee moving forward if they wanted to, but they do appear to be ready to vote for some nominees. According to Duckworth, “You know, I will vote for racial minorities and I will vote for LGBTQ, but anybody else I’m not voting for.”
5. Census delay will affect Alabama elections and redistricting
- During a Senate Homeland Security & Government Affairs Committee hearing, Census Bureau director Ron Jarmin was told that the delay in releasing complete 2020 U.S. Census data until at least August or September 2021 only further delays redistricting plans.
- The data is supposed to be made available to states by March 31, but the Bureau has said it has to be delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. While many U.S. Senators voiced their concerns during the hearing, the State of Alabama has also joined a lawsuit to sue the Census Bureau and get data released sooner.
4. Frustration with border is boiling over
- The crisis at the border is getting worse, everyone knows this, including Mexico’s president. But the Biden administration and the media continue to suggest that it has the problem under control in spite of copious evidence to the contrary. Reports have shown that about one-third of people coming across the southern border are sexually assaulted, and many are forced into trafficking with traffickers making about $14 million weekly bringing people into the United States.
- U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), joined by cosponsors Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) proposed The Stopping Border Surges Act that would seek to close loopholes in the immigration system that have been seen to encourage dangerous behavior. Tuberville said, “President Biden has sent a ‘come one, come all’ signal to immigrants. Not only has this created a surge of illegal immigrants coming across the border, but it also created an environment that is ripe for abuse.”
3. More Pre-K for Alabama
- With COVID-19 causing an education crisis across the board, Alabama is expanding its opportunities. For the next school year, there will be 34 new classrooms funded through the Pre-K through 3rd Grade Integrated Approach to Early Learning (P-3) program, which will be a total of 208 classrooms across the state in the program.
- Governor Kay Ivey said that expanding this early education program is “an intentional effort to give Alabama’s children a strong start towards a successful educational career.” Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education Secretary Barbara Cooper also noted that students enrolled in this program “are more likely to be proficient in reading and math and less likely to have disciplinary issues or be retained in a grade.”
2. Lindsey Graham should sit this out — Trump won’t
- There will be U.S. Senate primaries in both Alabama and Missouri in 2022, and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has already said that President Donald Trump “should just let it play out” instead of making any endorsements.
- Graham didn’t say that Trump getting involved would hurt Republican chances of winning, but rather said “it’d be in his interest to see how, you know, who can give a punch, take a punch and that kind of stuff.” Graham added that he told Trump that he is “the leader of the party, whether we win or not, and 2022 matters to you. If we come back, you’ll get your fair share of credit.”
1. Gun control through executive order is coming
- President Joe Biden called for a ban on “assault weapons” in the wake of the shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado. Biden said that we should “increase the background checks like they’re supposed to occur, and eliminate assault weapons, and [restricting] size of magazines.”
- Despite Biden calling on the U.S. Senate to pass the ban, White House press secretary Jen Psaki later stated that Biden is “considering a range of levers, including working through legislation,” but added that using executive action “has been under discussion and will continue to be under discussion.”
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