VESTAVIA HILLS — The Mid Alabama Republican Club (MARC) held a "2026 legislative preview" event Saturday morning. Club president and Vestavia Hills City Councilwoman Kimberly Cook welcomed candidates from around the state, and an estimated 75 people.
The event was moderated by former State Rep. Paul DeMarco and included State Sens. Jabo Waggoner (R-Vestavia Hills) and Dan Roberts (R-Mountain Brook), and State Reps. Mike Shaw (R-Hoover), Danny Garrett (R-Trussville), David Faulkner (R-Mountain Brook), and Jim Carns (R-Vestavia Hills). It covered a wide range of topics, from criminal justice reform to redistricting.
"This is the fourth year of the quadrant, and it's different than the other three. There'll probably be fewer bills introduced. There will be fewer controversial bills introduced, but we'll be in session until, you know, 30 legislative days; the calendar appears 105 days. So, we'll be there for 3.5 months. We could adjourn early," Waggoner said. "The budgets are always the most important thing we do; the education budget is over $10 million, which funds all levels of education, and the general fund, which is over $3 billion, that funds every other part of the state government except education."
Carns agreed with Waggoner, "Alabama spends 70-75% of our budget. One of the things I always hear is 'make education more important'. It's hard to get more than 70-75%. Now, can we improve? We're striving to improve every year."
"The fourth year is unique. In fact, everything in Montgomery is unique," he said to laughter.
The next question focused on the Alabama redistricting legal cases and how the case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Louisiana v. Callais, could impact Alabama, specifically the state senate and congressional maps.
"So, the current 25 district is now running in 26, the current 26 is running in 25," Roberts explained, referring to Sens. Will Barfoot (R-Pike Road) and Kirk Hatcher (D-Montgomery).
"So the Callais case should be all across the United States, where legislators have the responsibility and the constitutional duty to go in and redraw these districts. And then stop people coming in and filing suit after suit, after suit, because they don't like the results."
Roberts said legislators were hoping for results by June.
"So the question is, if the Callais case passes and it comes back, will we draw something? That will be determined, depending on how other states react. There were agreements that were put in place after we had to redo those CDs, congressional districts, between 3, and after that, it was challenged again, and I made an agreement that we would not touch that until 2030. I anticipate if the play case is found favorable from our perspective. It may be looked at."
DeMarco then confirmed with Roberts that ultimately the governor would have to call a special session if the legislature wished to address the pending issues following a decision.
In a later question, DeMarco asked Faulkner about criminal justice reform, citing the horrific miscarriage of justice that recently occurred when Jefferson County Circuit Judge Kandice Pickett sentenced Julian Delance Poole, who pled guilty to the first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy of a 77-year-old woman in 2010, to 20 years in prison with only five years to serve.
According to AL(dot)com, Poole will receive credit for 502 days already served in the county jail and will spend the rest of his life as a registered sex offender.
"While I'm generally in favor of discretion for judges, in these criminal situations, we're seeing far too many, as we see around the country, but it's happened here in Alabama, we see far too many times, where we don't see, people being let out. And I don't speak from the parole context, but I'm in their original sentence, where, you know, so we've got to make sure that the violent offenders stay in there."
The final state legislative session of the quadrenium begins January 13.
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