The COVID-19 outbreak hit the 2020 session of the Alabama Legislature like a meteorite. It forced the suspension of business for six weeks and all but wiped out an ambitious agenda.
Both the fallout and the outbreak remain as legislators prepare for the start of the 2021 session on Tuesday. Officials are restricting public access to the State House. Alabama House members will sit in the House chamber, the gallery and adjoining rooms and vote electronically. And after two weeks, the Legislature will take a week off to make sure the protocols are working.
“The changes that we have had to make to meetings, committee rooms, the public access because of all of those, it will not be business as normal,” said House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia.
Alabama lawmaker wants to raise penalty for removing historical monuments
Updated Feb 01, 2021;
An Alabama lawmaker wants to strengthen a law that now imposes $25,000 fines on city and county governments that remove historical monuments that have been in place 40 years or longer.
Rep. Mike Holmes, R-Wetumpka, wants to increase the fine to $10,000 a day until a monument is returned or restored.
“Today’s ‘cancel culture’ is dedicated toward erasing any mention of the history or historical figures that they find offensive, painful, or in conflict with their personal political beliefs,” Holmes said in a press release. “The only way we can determine where we are going as a state or nation is to remember where we have been, and preserving our history is fundamental to that process.”
Lottery, medical marijuana, Confederate monuments: Alabama lawmakers face decisions
Updated Feb 02, 2021;
Alabama lawmakers begin their annual session Tuesday with a plan to finish what they say is urgent business the first two weeks, leaving contentious bills like a lottery, medical marijuana, and changes to the Memorial Preservation Act for later in the session.
The COVID-19 pandemic will limit access to the State House and chances for the public to participate in hearings on controversial issues.
The House of Representatives and Senate convene at noon Tuesday and will adjourn in time for Gov. Kay Ivey’s State of the State address at 6:30 p.m.