MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Legislature on Tuesday will convene for the 28th day of its 2021 regular session.
The House and Senate will each convene at 2:00 p.m. and undertake respective special order calendars. The chambers could also act on conference committee reports regarding the General Fund budget bill and SB 215, related to broadband, among others.
The lower chamber’s special order calendar is expected to center on SB 46, the bill to legalize and regulate medical marijuana in the state.
Before that happens, there will be a few committee meetings to watch.
Chief among these is House Economic Development and Tourism at 11:00 a.m. having a public hearing on SB 319, the bill to propose a constitutional amendment that would legalize and tightly control a lottery, casino gaming and sports betting in Alabama. The committee is expected to consider a substituted version of SB 319 rather than the version that passed the Senate last month. Rep. Chris Blackshear (R-Phenix City) is carrying the legislation in the House.
Two of the three enabling bills in the gambling package are also set to receive committee consideration on Tuesday. SB 311 related to campaign contributions will be before House State Government, while SB 309 related to the lottery will be back before House Ways and Means Education after it received a public hearing in that committee on Monday.
Another meeting to watch will be House Education Policy at 10:30 a.m., when Sen. Rodger Smitherman’s (D-Birmingham) SB 94 on the Alabama Literacy Act is back on the agenda.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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