7 Things: Push to let the people vote on the lottery, medical marijuana bill moving in the Alabama Legislature, police officer charged with manslaughter in Daunte Wright’s death and more …

7. Monumentally stupid things going on in the legislature

• The state vegetable for Alabama is now the sweet potato, after recent debates in the Alabama House of Representatives ended in a 94-4 decision passing the legislation. Now, the bill is expected to be signed by Gov. Kay Ivey. Sweet potato crops generate about $9 million in the state every year, and Alabama is the sixth top producer of sweet potatoes.
• The legislature also debated strengthing penalties for removing Confederate monuments, for some reason, with both sides embarrassing themselves thoroughly. State Rep. Mike Holmes (R-Wetumpka) sponsored a bill increasing the penalties for everyone involved in removing a statue and said that he doesn’t think the civil war was over slavery and reportedly said that maybe people “don’t want to go to Martin Luther King [Jr.]school.” While Democrats claim this is a debate over “white supremacy,” State Rep. Rolanda Harris (D-Birmingham) doesn’t even know the civil war happened. She stated, “People that look like me, they were kidnapped. They were raped. They were beaten and nothing was done about it.”

6. Mo Brooks endorsed by conservative PAC

• U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) has been endorsed by the “Senate Conservatives Fund” (SCF), which is based in Washington, D.C. Executive director Mary Vought said Brooks is “someone Americans can count on to stand up to the establishment in both parties.”
• SCF has also endorsed candidates such as U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Mike Lee (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ben Sasse (R-NE) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ). Brooks described this endorsement as “HUGE” in a statement, adding, “The impact of the SCF endorsement cannot be overstated, not only for what the SCF does but also because of what an SCF endorsement encourages others to do.”

5. Kamala Harris to visit the border — nope, not that one

• Vice President Kamala Harris is supposed to be overseeing issues at the southern border, and now she’s making her first trip south. Harris will be traveling to Guatemala and Mexico to look at the “root causes” of the border crisis.
• Harris, who is yet to even visit the border, said that “these are issues that aren’t going to be addressed overnight,” but she has already faced criticism for her lack of action or even public interest in the issues at the border since being tapped to lead the issue about 20 days ago.

4. Democrats want to pack the courts

• After spending four years fretting about how President Donald Trump was upending norms in the United States by sending mean tweets to journalists, Democrats in Congress have decided that they want to add four additional judges on the United States Supreme Court in an effort to destroy the current conservative majority. 
• President Joe Biden himself and liberal icons like U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spoke out in the past against this practice. Last week, left-leaning Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer warned that doing this would erode “confidence in the courts, and in the rule of law itself.” He added it would lead to “diminishing the court’s power, including its power to act as a ‘check’ on the other branches.”

3. Officer arrested in shooting of Daunte Wright

• Former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter has been arrested for second-degree manslaughter after the shooting of Daunte Wright. It’s already been claimed that Potter intended to use her taser and the use of her handgun was an accident.
• Washington County assistant criminal division chief Imran Ali said, “Certain occupations carry an immense responsibility and none more so than a sworn police officer.” Ali added that the former officer’s “Action caused the unlawful killing of Mr. Wright and she must be held accountable.”

2. Legislature preparing to vote on medical marijuana

• State Sen. Tim Melson (R-Florence) is sponsoring the medical marijuana bill being considered by the Alabama Legislature, and he’s said that none of the amendments proposed for the bill after a public hearing jeopardize the bill.
• The Alabama House Health Committee plans to vote on the bill today, and Melson has expressed confidence about the upcoming vote. If medical marijuana is legalized, Alabama would be the 37^th state to do so.

1. People in Alabama could get to vote on the lottery

• U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) expressed support for the people of Alabama getting the final say on legalizing the lottery, saying he doesn’t “think it should really be a government decision.”
• The Poarch Band of Creek Indians’ Stephanie A. Bryan, tribal chairwoman and CEO, supports a vote of the people as well. She advised, “This historic vote is the first step to empower Alabamians who deserve to have their voice heard on this issue.”