The Alabama House of Representatives is slated to tackle several pieces of legislation on Tuesday after returning to Montgomery from a week-long Spring Break.
The legislation, ranging from Medicaid coverage to prison funding, appears on the House's special order calendar for Tuesday. There are 20 bills scheduled in total. However, the following are the most impactful ones featured on the special order calendar:
Senate Bill 40 (SB40).
SB40, sponsored by State Sen. Keith Kelley (R-Anniston) and carried in the House by State Rep. Russell Bedsole (R-Alabaster), would allow individuals to voluntarily surrender their firearms to a federal firearms licensee for an agreed-upon period.
The bill would permit a private transaction between a federal firearm licensee and an individual firearm owner. In this transaction, the licensee agrees to take possession of the owner's firearm at the owner's request, hold the firearm for an agreed-upon period, and return the firearm to the owner.
It would also free the federal licensee from any legal action after returning the firearm to the owner. In committee, Bedsole touted the bill as a way to provide help for those experiencing suicidal ideation without permanently removing their Second Amendment rights.
House Bill 177 (HB177).
HB177, by State Rep. Ben Robbins (R-Sylacauga), will require the custodial parent of a child covered by Medicaid to enroll the child in health care insurance offered by an employer when coverage for the child is also available.
If a noncustodial parent is under an order to pay child support, the court may also order that the child be included on the parent's employer-provided health care insurance or order the parent to purchase the child's coverage.
The bill also authorizes the Medicaid agency to recover any health care payments made for the child by a civil suit against the parent If a parent fails to include a child approved for Medicaid on available health care coverage provided by an employer.
House Bill 1 (HB1)
HB1, by State Rep. Chip Brown (R-Hollinger's Island), would impose a fee on licensed seafood sellers who dispense imported seafood. The fee would be $200, deposited into the Imported Seafood Safety Fund.
The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) shall exclusively use the fund for sampling, analyzing, testing, and monitoring raw seafood products of foreign origin that are imported into this state and stored on the premises of any person required to purchase a license. ADPH will use the funds to detect the presence of substances harmful to human health in imported seafood products.
Senate Bill 60 (SB60).
SB60 by State Sen. Greg Albritton (R-Atmore) would increase the maximum amount of bonds that may be issued by the Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority from the current amount of $785 million up to the amount of $1.285 billion to facilitate the funding of the phased plan for the construction and renovation of prison facilities to replace existing bed space. This would increase the annual debt service obligations of the state by an estimated $30.5 million for 30 years.
The bill comes amidst drama and debate surrounding the state's construction of two prisons that blew past their initial pricing estimates.
The Alabama Legislature approved $1.2 billion in funding for two 4,000-bed facilities in 2021 in Elmore and Escambia Counties in response to a 2020 lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice concerning poor prison sanitation, violence between inmates, excessive force from staff and sexual assault.
Lawmakers have been examining ways to fund a second prison in Escambia County since the Elmore County project was over budget. The new 4,000-bed prison in Elmore County is projected to cost $1.08 billion.
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