MONTGOMERY – Alabama Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon (R-Monrovia) favors a “phased approach” to reopening Alabama’s economy, and indicated that May 1 is the day the process should begin.
McCutcheon held a press conference Thursday afternoon at the statehouse to update the public on where he and the state legislature stood amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
“I would hope that we would,” the speaker replied when asked to confirm that the economy should start resuming on May 1. However, the speaker said he would defer to advisors at the Alabama Department of Public Health before making a firm decision on a specific date.
“We’re in a real struggle here for our small businesses, to try to get them open again,” the speaker acknowledged, before adding, “But with that in mind I think its important that we phase in to the program and look at certain guidelines that must be adhered to.”
Earlier in the day, Yellowhammer News reported that both chambers of the state legislature will resume May 4, and only the budgets and local legislation will be considered.
In his remarks Thursday afternoon, McCutcheon said that a driving reason behind limiting the scope of bills considered was that, due to coronavirus precautions, any bill considered during this session would only have a limited public debate.
McCutcheon said that as of now the state is expecting $1 billion in lost revenue due to conditions brought on by the coronavirus over a two-year budgeting period.
The speaker further admitted that “we may not have the full picture” of the budget impacts until much later this year, but the legislature felt it must push ahead to give agencies some certainty of what they’d be dealing with.
The speaker said, as of now, he is not able to say whether cuts to state budgets will be necessary.
The Monrovia native said that the rolling reserve fund, and a few other measures, meant that the state’s budgets were not in as bad a situation as they might have been otherwise.
McCutcheon also said a number of precautions were being taken to protect the health of the legislators once the session resumes, including having them sit in the public gallery and overflow rooms to allow for continued social distancing.
All members will be required to wear masks while in the statehouse.
“We’re trying to keep Alabama moving, we’re trying to do the things we were elected to do,” McCutcheon said near the end of his comments.
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.