Bills on Prisons, the Budget, and Driver’s License Offices Move Ahead
It was a busy week in Montgomery. The Senate passed a bill on driver’s license offices, and a prisons bill. The House debated church daycare licensing. And House representatives passed a general fund budget that level funded most agencies except one: Medicaid. It got a small increase, though there’s still concern among lawmakers, and some of it stems from the federal American Health Care Act.
In fact, the House plan sets aside $97 million to protect against uncertainty in Congress around the new federal health care bill. Medicaid would get $700 million, plus $105 million in BP oil settlement money.
Lawmakers also moved a very different prisons construction bill along, as well as a bill that would require driver’s license offices to open at least one day a week.
WBHM’s Gigi Douban spoke with Don Dailey, host of Alabama Public Television’s Capitol Journal.
A massive winter storm will hit large parts of the U.S. through the weekend
A large storm system is expected to hit this weekend, with snow and ice from Texas to the Carolinas and up the Eastern seaboard. The winter system could bring more than a foot of snow.
House Oversight panel votes to hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress
Republicans on the committee have been seeking to question the Clintons as part of a probe into the government's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. The vote sends the matter to the full House.
Lindsey Halligan, Trump’s former personal attorney, exits Virginia prosecutor’s office
The move comes after a federal judge wrote in court document that the "charade of Ms. Halligan masquerading as the United States Attorney … must come to an end."
Global buzzwords that will be buzzing in your ear in 2026
Will it be a year of "fractured resilience"? Or "pragmatic empathy"? Will "MOUs" be the next global health strategy? Are we in a new age of "decolonization" — or of "localization"?
Supreme Court appears wary of allowing Trump to fire Fed’s Cook in closely watched case
The administration wants the authority to fire Lisa Cook, a Fed governor. Experts say that would undermine the independence of the central bank.
Sundance prepares for its final Park City festival before moving to Boulder, Colo.
As the festival prepares to move to Colorado, filmmakers and cinephiles gather to celebrate its founder and the future of indie film.
