Alabama legislature gavels in for 2020 regular session on Tuesday — Here’s what to watch for

MONTGOMERY — The 2020 regular session of the Alabama legislature will gavel in at noon on Tuesday. While there is not an immediate item that will be resolved in the initial days of this session like the Rebuild Alabama Act was handled last year, many important issues will come up in the weeks ahead.

Some of these issues are more obvious than others. However, many of the most important agenda topics have largely been flying under the public radar.

Here is a quick rundown of what to watch for when your legislators come to town:

• Criminal justice/corrections reform
  • Expect this to be a major focus of Governor Kay Ivey’s 2020 State of the State Address Tuesday evening (you can watch the address live on YellowhammerNews.com starting at 6:00 p.m. CST).
  • The governor’s Study Group on Criminal Justice Policy last week released its recommendations, which generally covered “(1) proposals related to operations of the Department of Corrections; (2) proposals related to sentencing laws; and (3) proposals related to reducing recidivism.”
  • There is admittedly the least amount of consensus on sentencing reforms, but there should broadly be significant bipartisan support for many of the recommendations made across the board.
  • ICYMI: The study group’s chair, former Associate Justice Champ Lyons, has hailed the batch of recommendations in an op-ed.
  • Bottom line: this is an urgent issue. The can has been kicked to the end of the road, and the ball is in the legislature’s court. They can either choose to fix an Alabama problem with Alabama solutions or let the federal government take over the state’s corrections system.
  • Remember: while the governor/ADOC are moving forward with their plan to lease three new privately built prisons, there are influential Democrats in the legislature who have expressed strong objections to this prison construction plan. This is not a part of the study group’s recommendations and would not come before the legislature in its current form, however construction will be a part of the debate — and potentially negotiations — in the legislature nonetheless.
• Healthcare
  • Another one of Ivey’s stated points of emphasis during her State of the State will be healthcare, including mental healthcare.
  • One thing to note: the Birmingham Business Alliance has listed Medicaid expansion as one of its top 2020 legislative priorities. While this is politically dead on arrival when handcuffed to the Affordable Care Act, be on the lookout to see if expansion is proposed in different nomenclature.
  • The legislature will be undertaking several top issues that are, at the end of the day, heavily intertwined. Mental healthcare and criminal justice reform are obvious examples. But general healthcare and continued economic growth can go hand-in-hand, too. As Alabama struggles to meet its goal of 500,000 skilled workers by 2025, one argument to watch for is that quality of life issues like healthcare need to be addressed in order for the state to recruit the labor force needed to compete in the 21st century economy.
  • Ivey has not been shy on taking on tough issues; could healthcare be the next example?
• Education reform
  • The 2019 regular session saw two historic pieces of education legislation pass in State Rep. Terri Collins’ (R-Decatur) Alabama Literacy Act and SB 397, which is up for referendum on March 3.
  • This is broadly a bipartisan area of focus, and you can expect several important pieces of legislation related to workforce development and continuing to overhaul Alabama’s broken k-12 public education system.
  • However, one point of possible conflict, as always, boils when school choice comes up. AEA has worked hard in the last two election cycles to win influence in the Republican legislative caucuses, with some positive results. School choice expansion — otherwise known as education accessibility expansion — legislation is coming this session, and it could be the first test of how conservative many members really are when it comes to education issues.
• Economic development
  • There is a slew of legislative proposals that will be made to keep Alabama’s record-breaking economy growing.
  • Just to name a few…
  • The Alabama Jobs Act is set to sunset on December 31, so action is needed this session to extend the job-creating incentives authorized by the act. This is considered a must among the state’s business community.
  • Same deal for the Growing Alabama Tax Credit, except the looming sunset date is September 30.
  • Similarly, the Historic Preservation Tax Credits will sunset come 2022. Rather than an extension request here, there will likely be a strong push to make these incentivizes permanent rather than on a sunset-basis.
  • Child Care Tax Credits… this is one of those “quality of life” issues foreshadowed earlier in this piece. Expect power players in the state’s business community to push for legislation to be passed this session establishing these credits in the state tax structure. The Trump Administration has made supporting these credits a major priority on the federal level, so this should be a bipartisan issue if/when it comes before the Alabama Legislature.
• Lottery/gambling
  • These two items are, as always, connected. This is even truer this time around considering the Poarch Band of Creek Indians’ landmark plan that would put over one billion dollars in the State’s coffers.
  • Yellowhammer News recently sat down with tribal vice chair Robbie McGhee about the historic proposal. Be on the lookout in the coming days for more on that comprehensive interview.
  • State Rep. Steve Clouse (R-Ozark) has proposed an enticing lottery bill. Read about that here.
• Fight on the horizon
  • Last year, it was broadband legislation.
  • This time, it could very well be small cell legislation that becomes the hot-button, insider battle on Goat Hill.

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News & covers the Ala. Legislature. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn