A bill that would make another attempt at getting a $30 million loan to Birmingham-Southern College passed the Senate by a 22-5 margin on Tuesday night.
Friday, during an interview with Huntsville radio WVNN's Dale Jackson, Senate Education Trust Fund Committee chairman State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) said he expected a Senate vote on the education savings account bill, the CHOOSE Act, late next week.
Members of the Senate Education Budget committee will likely take a vote on legislation creating a new $100 million education savings account school choice program next week.
House and Senate education budget chairs Danny Garrett (R-Trussville) and Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) filed education savings account legislation called the Creating Hope and Opportunity for Our Students’ Education (CHOOSE) Act on Tuesday.
New York-based Bloomberg Philanthropies announced on Wednesday they were donating $26.4 million to the state of Alabama to assist in funding a potential new health sciences high school in Demopolis.
On Friday's broadcast of Huntsville radio WVNN's "The Dale Jackson Show," State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) reacted to the Alabama Department of Public Health's (ADPH) self-imposed "accountability measures," and if those would be sufficient for the power-wielding agency to avoid action from the Alabama Legislature.
Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth announced on Friday that almost $179 million has been officially awarded to 327 K-12 public schools across the state that submitted applications and demonstrated a need for capital improvements in their facilities.
Birmingham-Southern College (BSC) might’ve received a planned $30 million state loan if the city of Birmingham and Jefferson County governments had “stepped up” to guarantee or fund some of the loan, according to State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur).
The Alabama State Department of Education recently lowered the third-grade reading score required to pass students to the fourth grade.
During the 2023 regular legislative session, Gov. Kay Ivey and some members of the Alabama Legislature urged discretion on state finances when determining what would be appropriate for the budget surpluses from fiscal year 2022.
The University of Alabama has become the subject of controversy among state lawmakers after hearing several complaints about diversity, equity and inclusion practices at the school.
Although the two have had an adversarial relationship at times over the years, Retirement Systems of Alabama CEO David Bronner declared State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) his "hero" for the 2023 legislative session.
Orr said he anticipated "some sort of school choice legislation" making it through the Alabama Legislature in 2024.
Alabamians have a right to know the activities that state government is engaged in and how their tax dollars are being spent. Yet Senate Bill 196, which would have further streamlined the public records process, died on the last day of the 2023 regular session.
Amended legislation that excludes all overtime pay by hourly public and private workers in Alabama was passed the House and Senate on Thursday.
Legislation that originally excluded all overtime pay by hourly public and private workers in Alabama was amended in the Senate Education Budget Committee on Wednesday.
Members of the Senate Education Budget Committee passed legislation that would cut the state's sales tax on groceries by 2% on Wednesday.
Troy University specified what its “Center for Civics Education and Leadership” is on Wednesday morning after lawmakers included a $1 million appropriation for the center their Education Trust Fund budget, which was approved by the Alabama Legislature last week.
Late Friday night, the Alabama Legislature approved an $11.6 billion education budget which no longer includes an unexpected $1 million for Troy University’s Johnson Center for Political Economy but rather awards $1 million to a “Center for Civics Education and Leadership,” which potentially does not to exist.
With only three legislative days remaining, one of the bills remaining on the docket is sponsored by State Sen. Dan Roberts (R-Mountain Brook) that would prohibit state contracts with businesses that boycott certain sectors of the economy based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies.
The Alabama Senate approved a $1 million appropriation for Troy University’s Johnson Center for Political Economy last week in its Education Trust Fund budget, but Johnson Center executive director Allen Mendenhall said he only found out about this when a reporter showed him the bill.
The PRICE Act sponsored by State Sen. Larry Stutts (R-Tuscumbia) is on the agenda for the Finance and Taxation Education Committee on Wednesday.
Governor Kay Ivey's education budget proposal offered earlier this year included money for some high-profile non-education projects. But they will not be in the budget coming out of the Alabama Legislature, according to State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur).
The Senate unanimously approved legislation establishing a new K-12 Capital Grant Program administered by the Lieutenant Governor's Office that would "provide grants to eligible school systems to assist with capital projects, deferred maintenance, or technology needs" on Thursday.
The Senate passed an amended supplemental education budget on Thursday that included a $100 tax rebate for Alabama taxpayers.
State Sen. Andrew Jones (R-Centre) filed legislation Thursday that would cut the state’s sales tax on groceries in half over time.
Thursday, State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) offered a scathing critique of the Jobs Act during a speech on the floor of the Alabama State Senate. During an appearance on Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show," Orr's colleague State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine) was critical of Orr's tack.