MONTGOMERY — The Alabama House of Representatives held its first meeting of the 2021 legislative session on Tuesday, kicking off what is expected to be a frenzied two weeks in the Capitol.

House Speaker Mac McCutcheon (R-Monrovia) welcomed the members and thanked them, many of whom are older, for taking the health risk of continuing their public service to the state amid the pandemic.

He announced that one of the 92 representatives who traveled to the statehouse on Tuesday tested positive for COVID-19 and subsequently returned home.

The House is set to meet for the next two weeks before taking a week off to assess the degree to which COVID-19 has impacted the ability to do business.

Out of respect for the lawmaker’s privacy, the speaker’s office did not make the individual’s name available to the public.

Top priorities for the 2021 legislative session include several measures related to the coronavirus pandemic, the extension of key economic development incentives and a potential gambling/lottery package.

Newly-elected State Representative Russell Bedsole (R-Alabaster) was sworn into the legislative body by McCutcheon on Tuesday.

In brief remarks, Bedsole offered a remembrance of his father, who passed away in the last year.

In the legislature’s upper chamber, State Senator Greg Reed (R-Jasper) was sworn in as the new senate president pro tempore.

McCutcheon said on Tuesday that he has a “great working relationship with Senator Reed” and looks forward to working with him.

The speaker also expressed a fondness for outgoing Pro Tem Del Marsh (R-Anniston). “In many ways, he was a mentor for me because he was in that position when I came on as speaker here. He was very helpful in his leadership position with helping me in mine,” McCutcheon stated.

The House is set to reconvene on Wednesday, February 3 at 9:00 a.m. where the agenda will be focused on passing rule changes such as permitting remote voting by members. The House is undertaking that and other changes to how they conduct business in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

“This is a very unusual time we’re in right now,” said McCutcheon on Tuesday. “We’ve got budgets to address and the business of the state to take care of.”

Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95.