7. The Alabama Department of Corrections is increasing the pay for an entry-level correctional officer trainee from $33,381 to a minimum of $50,712. This type of money is life-changing money for a lot of people and a great opportunity to receive good benefits and pay for a very dangerous job.
6. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has joined forces with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and other governors, to fight environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing requirements for retirement funds. A statement from the group reads, “(T)he proliferation of ESG throughout America is a direct threat to the American economy, individual economic freedom and our way of life, putting investment decisions in the hands of the woke mob to bypass the ballot box and inject political ideology into investment decisions, corporate governance, and the everyday economy.”
5. ALGOP Chairman John Wahl wants the Legislature to represent the conservative bent of the people in the state. This is a regular complaint by voters and sometimes you can not blame them as you watch issues like taxation and school choice flounder.
4. An absolutely absurd new shelter to protect students from school shooters and severe weather was unveiled at a Cullman elementary school, it doubles as a whiteboard too. For once, aldotcom’s unserious Kyle Whitmire is not totally wrong when he says, “this is the dumbest thing I’ve seen come from Alabama in some time.”
3. U.S. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) says Americans have been “betrayed” by the Biden administration as it is spending $47 million a year to store border wall panels as illegals, trafficking victims, drugs, and poisons cross our border, seemingly with ease. U.S. Rep. Dale Strong (R-Monrovia) called out Democrats who failed to appear at a hearing at the border, saying, he was “appalled.”
2. The special session of the Alabama Legislature is now over after the $1.06 billion spending plan for American Rescue Plan Act monies has passed, it has been signed by Gov. Kay Ivey.
1. The cost of building a prison in Elmore County has increased more than 50% from when they agreed to the prison last year. The new $975 million cost (up from $623 million) will force new spending to be approved by the Legislature for a second prison in Escambia County. Are these prisons being built out of the school shooting shelters from No. 4?
LISTEN HERE:
Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on WVNN and on Talk 99.5 from 10 a.m. to noon.
