Alabama Senate

Republicans in the Alabama Senate on Tuesday picked Sen. Garlan Gudger of Cullman to be the next Senate president pro tempore. Republicans named Gudger as their nominee after a closed-door meeting. The powerful position is vacant because Senate Pro Tempore Greg Reed is stepping down to join Gov. Kay Ivey’s administration.

Alabama Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Reed is stepping down and joining Gov. Kay Ivey’s administration. The governor’s office announced Tuesday that Reed will serve as a senior adviser and lead an overhaul of the Department of Labor.

The Alabama Senate this week approved, and then killed, a bill that would give public school teachers eight weeks of paid parental leave. State Senator Vivian Davis Figures said it’s an example of the mostly male Legislature ignoring the concerns of women in the state.

An Alabama Senate committee voted to set aside money so that the state can reverse course and participate in a federal program that gives summer food assistance to low-income families with school-age children. APR news reported on efforts by the nonprofit group Alabama Arise to urge the public to call lawmakers on the issue.

Employees at a Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, overwhelmingly voted to join the United Auto Workers union Friday in a historic first test of the UAW's renewed effort to organize nonunion factories. All eyes now turn to Alabama’s North American Mercedes Benz plant, which is set for a union vote next month.

The Alabama Senate advanced legislation aimed at strengthening the state's weak open records law by setting deadlines to respond to requests to view public documents.

An Alabama Senate committee voted down a bill that would have required the public release of police body-worn camera video and dash camera footage.

The Alabama Senate on Thursday began debating scaled-back gambling legislation. The proposal would authorize a state lottery and allow a type of electronic gambling machine at dog tracks and a few other sites around the state.

After only a year in the Senate, Katie Britt of Alabama is wielding her influence and experience as a former congressional staffer and mother to carve out a unique role in the Republican party.

Alabama lawmakers have advanced legislation aimed at prohibiting universities, schools and public entities from maintaining diversity and inclusion offices or funding initiatives that teach what Republicans labeled as "divisive concepts."