Recap: First Week of the 2018 Legislative Session
Alabama state lawmakers went back into session this week. The session is expected to be a shorter one to allow those running in the 2018 elections time to get back to their districts and campaign. We’re recapping the week in Montgomery with Don Dailey, host of Alabama Public Television’s Capitol Journal. He began with Governor Kay Ivey’s proposal to give state employees and educators a 2 to 3 percent raise.
There’s more solid budget news: the General Fund budget, including Medicaid, and the Education Trust Fund budget are healthy this year. Hear how lawmakers feel about President Trump’s proposal to allow states to impose work requirements on able-bodied Medicaid recipients. And learn more about the tax cut proposed by Alabama Senate Republicans.
Once praised, settlement to help sickened BP oil spill workers leaves most with nearly nothing
Thousands of ordinary people who helped clean up after the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico say they got sick. A court settlement was supposed to help compensate them, but it hasn’t turned out as expected.
Q&A: How harm reduction can help mitigate the opioid crisis
Maia Szalavitz discusses harm reduction's effectiveness against drug addiction, how punitive policies can hurt people who need pain medication and more.
The Gulf States Newsroom is hiring a Community Engagement Producer
The Gulf States Newsroom is seeking a curious, creative and collaborative professional to work with our regional team to build up engaged journalism efforts.
Gambling bills face uncertain future in the Alabama legislature
This year looked to be different for lottery and gambling legislation, which has fallen short for years in the Alabama legislature. But this week, with only a handful of meeting days left, competing House and Senate proposals were sent to a conference committee to work out differences.
Alabama’s racial, ethnic health disparities are ‘more severe’ than other states, report says
Data from the Commonwealth Fund show that the quality of care people receive and their health outcomes worsened because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What’s your favorite thing about Alabama?
That's the question we put to those at our recent News and Brews community pop-ups at Hop City and Saturn in Birmingham.
