Alabama legislators believe a second special session is inevitable.
Lawamkers are deadlocked on how to fill a more than $200 million budget shortfall.
Lawmakers are at the halfway point of the session and have yet to pass a major revenue bill in either chamber.
Gov. Robert Bentley says funding cuts passed by the House of Representatives are unworkable. He says lawmakers must keep working to a find a solution.
Senators could debate the general fund budget on the floor as soon as Saturday. The session must end Tuesday by law.
Proposals such a cigarette tax, soda tax and tightening corporate tax rules haven't received enough support to pass.
Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Voting Rights Act. Alabama Congresswoman Terri Sewell is trying to gather support for a measure to restore protections removed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013.
The Justices took out the part of the law which provides federal oversight in certain communities. The fate of the Voting Rights Act was a hot topic during the fiftieth anniversary observance of “bloody Sunday” in Selma back in March.
Bernice King, the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior, was among those speaking out…
“There are so many things that have threatened the right of people today, with the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, and even here with the voter ID laws that have been put in place. It seems like we’re taking a step back.”
The U.S. Supreme Court decision was based on a court case from Shelby County.
A committee of 26 individuals from all across Baldwin County is set to meet again tonight.
They are tasked with finding ways to come up with way to fund the school system. The group met last month to get ideas from the committee and the public.
Kevin Corcoran is the Chairman of the Baldwin County Community Advisory Task Force. He says the task force’s five subcommittees will take ideas from last month’s meeting to move forward…
“They’re going to start delving in to the data they’ve been supplied and fine-tuning their direction so that henceforth, we can start heading towards our recommendation scenario. We’re going to have subject-matter experts again in, but it’s going to be almost entirely breakout.”
The group was created after a tax referendum was shot down a few months ago. This left the Baldwin County school system to brainstorm ideas for more funding. The task force will meet several more times in the coming months.