7 Things: U.S. Capitol riot commission won’t happen, Literacy Act delay is vetoed, Republican compromise on infrastructure announced and more …

7. Huntsville sky bridge is never happening

• Huntsville city is looking to gain some federal funding to build a sky bridge for pedestrians that would stretch over Memorial Parkway. This is a proposal that has come up in the past, but there hasn’t been funding granted for the project before.
• The bridge would be 6,000 linear feet, but would be in an S-shape from Clinton Avenue to the Lowe Mill area. Including the improvements to Pinhook Creek and railroad bridge in this project, the price tag comes to about $50 million. The hope is the federal government will grant about $25 million to the project.

6. Montgomery is starting another push to get people vaccinated

• A new church-backed campaign called “Get out the Vaccine” has started in Montgomery. The Metropolitan United Methodist Church will be working with Mayor Steven Reed and Partners in Health; the focus will mostly be in the north and west areas of the city.
• Reed stated, “The launch of the ‘Get Out the Vaccine’ initiative is yet another fruit of their labor and will help us empower residents with information on the vaccine.”

5. ISIS bride claims she was brainwashed

• Hoover woman Hoda Muthana has said in a new documentary, “The Return: Life After ISIS,” that she was “brainwashed” and that leaving her family in 2014 led to “this horrible way of life that I really regret for the rest of my life and that I wish I could just erase.”
• Hoda’s sister, Arwa, was arrested with her husband this year in April for attempting to board a cargo ship to join ISIS. In 2019, a judge ruled that Hoda wasn’t recognized as a U.S. citizen, harming her attempts to return to the country with her four-year-old son.

4. We’re going to invest in Central America to slow illegal immigration

• In one of her first public announcements on how the federal government will work to control illegal immigration, Vice President Kamala Harris has announced that the government will invest in businesses in Central America to assist economic development.
• Harris advised that she wanted to determine the “root causes” of illegal immigration and the surge of migrants at the southern border, which she has said is somewhat due to climate change. This plan would cost about $4 billion to address climate change, poverty and violence in the area.

3. Republicans have released their compromise on infrastructure

• In response to President Joe Biden’s multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure plan, Republican senators have released their compromise – a $928 billion infrastructure package that would focus more on roads and bridges and utilize unspent coronavirus aid.
• There would be an increase of $91 billion on roads and bridges, $25 billion for airports, $48 billion for water resources, $22 million would be invested in rail transportation, and there would be $65 billion put toward broadband. U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) described this package as “a serious effort to try to reach a bipartisan agreement.”

2. Alabama Literacy Act delay vetoed

• In a rare decision, Governor Kay Ivey vetoed the bill passed by the state legislature that would delay the Alabama Literacy Act, which requires third graders to read at grade level to advance to the fourth grade. The requirement will apply to the 2021-2022 school year.
• Ivey said that she believes “early literacy is a gateway to all learning,” adding that “to establish any delay in the Alabama Literacy Act prior to analyzing the 2020-2021 summative assessment data for reading would be hasty and premature.” Ivey made it clear that data from this school year will be available to the legislature, but “we need the support and focus the Alabama Literacy Act provides” to identify and address students’ academic needs.

1. Commission to look at U.S. Capitol riot will not happen as constituted

• The attempt to establish a commission to study the riot at the U.S. Capitol is certain to fail to reach the necessary votes and currently have no way to get the necessary votes to become reality. Democrats have chosen a “take it or leave it” position and refuse to compromise. The media is declaring their position as the only position.
• The framing of this commission and this vote as a choice between former President Donald Trump and reality is absurdly silly. Republicans have made it crystal clear that if you are going to investigate political violence, you should investigate all political violence. Democrats do not want the violence committed in their name discussed, which is why this failed.