Issue: Criminal Justice

Alabama crossroads: We need new revenue

By Kimble Forrister

We all want to live in a healthy, secure and prosperous state. Alabama is taking important steps toward that goal now, but deep General Fund budget cuts could undo that progress.

Medicaid’s new regional care organizations will keep patients healthier while cutting costs. Prison system improvements will protect Alabamians while lowering costs and helping former inmates transition back into their communities. Investing in these changes now will save money later.

We’re at a crossroads in Alabama. Cutting vital services is the wrong path.

The devastating cuts in the no-new-revenue General Fund budget proposal would force us to abandon our Medicaid and corrections improvements. And without new revenue, Alabama faces deep service cuts that could make the state a worse place to live for years to come.

Cuts to Medicaid, which covers one in five Alabamians, would top $300 million. That would force the program to end coverage of vital services like adult eyeglasses, prosthetics, hospice care and outpatient dialysis. It also likely would lead to even fewer doctors serving Medicaid patients, most of whom are children, seniors, and people with disabilities.

The costs for Alabama’s children would be real. Cuts to the Department of Human Resources (DHR) would make Alabama the first state to end its Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. That would eliminate cash assistance for more than 30,000 children living in deep poverty, as well as uniforms, car repairs and other job readiness assistance for their parents.

DHR cuts also would end child care benefits for 15,000 children. That could hurt our state’s economy by forcing thousands of working parents to quit their jobs. More than $340 million in child support payments would be risk if DHR ends collection services, and hundreds of seniors would lose adult day care services that allow them to live independently.

Mental health funding cuts would harm more than 25,000 Alabamians by reducing or eliminating community-based mental illness and intellectual disability services. That would reduce independence for thousands of Alabamians. The cuts also could cost hundreds of people their jobs by forcing them to stay home to care for family members who lose crucial support services. In addition, severe mental health cuts could land Alabama back in federal court.

Deep General Fund cuts would have serious public safety implications as well. Nearly a fourth of Alabama’s state troopers would be laid off. The prison system, which already operates at nearly twice its designed capacity, would close two facilities. That would mean even more overcrowding and an even greater chance of a federal takeover of the state’s prison system.

More than 1,100 state workers would lose their jobs, including more than 600 court employees. That likely would force courts to close at least two days a week, meaning longer wait times for criminal trials or restitution cases.

This is no way to invest in our state’s future. Alabama needs new revenue to end the chronic budget shortfalls that are holding us back. The General Fund needs a sustainable revenue stream to support Medicaid, corrections, mental health care and other vital services. Raising the cigarette tax and raising the state sales tax on automobiles to 4 percent – the same as we pay on groceries – would be two good places to start.

If we want a better Alabama tomorrow, we need to start building it today.

By Kimble Forrister, executive director. Posted April 23, 2015.

Prison reform bill would end Alabama’s food assistance ban for former drug offenders

By Carol Gundlach

The sweeping prison reform bill that the Alabama Senate passed Thursday was amended to include one of Arise’s legislative priorities: ending the state’s SNAP and TANF eligibility bans for people with a past felony drug conviction.

Senators voted 31-2 for SB 67, sponsored by Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster. The measure now goes to the House, where leaders have declared it a priority. Check out these stories from the Montgomery Advertiser and AL.com for more on the prison reform bill.

Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham, amended SB 67 on Thursday to seek to allow people convicted of a felony drug offense to regain eligibility for food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or cash benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Coleman’s amendment would restore eligibility for offenders who have completed their sentences or who are complying with the terms of their probation or parole.

The Senate voted 26-2 for Coleman’s amendment. Senators last year passed a bill to end the state’s SNAP and TANF bans, but the measure died in the House after losing a procedural vote.

Alabama is one of only a handful of states to ban people convicted of a drug-related felony from ever receiving SNAP or TANF assistance. The state’s prohibition punishes only one class of criminal offense and makes it harder for people to rebuild their lives after serving prison time. The ban also is particularly harsh for offenders who are mothers and must support children upon release from prison.

By Carol Gundlach, policy analyst. Posted April 2, 2015.

Four things to know about Alabama’s 2016 funding challenges

By Chris Sanders

It’s the latest verse of a decades-old song: Alabama faces yet another funding shortfall next year for vital services like Medicaid, mental health care and corrections. Here are four things to know about the budget challenges facing the Legislature during the 2015 regular session that began Tuesday.

(1) Alabama’s revenues for the budgets that fund education, health care and other services still haven’t returned to pre-recession levels.

Alabama has two major state budgets: the Education Trust Fund (ETF), which pays for K-12 and higher education, and the General Fund (GF), which provides a major chunk of the support for vital non-education services, including Medicaid, mental health care, corrections and public safety. The picture that revenue officials painted for each on Tuesday was bleak.

Economic struggles during and after the Great Recession hammered both budgets, and neither has seen revenues return to pre-recession levels. GF receipts last year were down 15.5 percent since 2008, according to the Legislative Fiscal Office (LFO), and ETF appropriations this year are down 12.2 percent from their 2008 level. Alabama’s K-12 cuts since 2008 are the nation’s second worst, while our higher education cuts are the nation’s fifth worst. Alabama’s unemployment rate is improving, but revenues still aren’t growing nearly enough to undo the damage wrought by the Great Recession.

(2) The General Fund shortfall is persistent, and it’s not going away on its own.

The picture is especially bleak for the GF. Alabama’s education budget draws most of its money from state sales taxes and individual income taxes, which grow as the economy improves. But the GF relies on a hodgepodge of other revenue sources, most of which are slow to grow even during boom times.

That leaves the GF with a structural deficit, meaning revenue growth is not strong enough to keep pace with ordinary cost growth for vital services like Medicaid, mental health care and corrections. Without new GF revenue, these services continually will remain at risk of massive cuts.

(3) Alabama needs new revenue to avoid devastating cuts to vital services like Medicaid, mental health care and corrections.

How bad could the cuts for Medicaid, mental health care and other GF services get without new revenue? Perhaps most dramatically, failure to address the GF shortfall could spell disaster for Medicaid, which provides health coverage for one in five Alabamians and already has been cut to the bone of federally required coverage provisions. Even small further cuts could endanger lives.

GF cuts could mean even shorter staffing for the state’s overcrowded prison system, which operates at nearly twice its designed capacity. It also could mean fewer state troopers on the highways, more trial delays, longer lines to renew a driver’s license, or long waiting periods for many families seeking ALL Kids health coverage for their children.

Next year’s GF shortfall will be $264 million, according to Executive Budget Office (EBO) estimates. That would be a 14 percent drop in a perennially underfunded budget that already struggles to fund barebones service levels.

But the funding challenges don’t end there. EBO’s Bill Newton said Tuesday that Alabama also needs an additional:

  • $155 million to maintain current service levels for Medicaid and corrections,
  • $63.5 million to cover public safety costs that now are being covered by a transfer from the state’s road and bridge money,
  • $26 million to pay for expanded community corrections and other recommendations of the state’s Prison Reform Task Force, and
  • $32.5 million to begin repaying the $161.6 million that the state borrowed from the GF’s rainy day account and must restore by 2020. (So far, Alabama hasn’t repaid a dime.)

Add it all up and it comes to $541 million in new GF revenue needs. That’s the amount that Gov. Robert Bentley proposes to raise with a mix of tax increases and loophole closures. “We must break the cycle of budget shortfalls year after year after year,” Bentley said Tuesday night during his State of the State address. “We must have adequate means.”

(4) Taxing low-income Alabama families deeper into poverty is not the way to cure our funding woes.

Alabama’s tax system is upside down. Low- and middle-income families pay twice as much of their income in state and local taxes as the top 1 percent of earners do. It’s an imbalanced structure that makes it harder for low-income families to escape poverty and leaves them with less money for the consumer spending that fuels economic growth. The main driver of this upside-down tax system? High sales taxes, especially on groceries and other necessities that account for a big share of low-income families’ household budgets.

Significantly, Bentley’s plan would not increase taxes on food, clothing or over-the-counter drugs. Instead, the governor proposes to raise more than $400 million by increasing the state’s cigarette tax and sales tax on automobiles. Bentley’s proposal would boost the cigarette tax from 42.5 cents per pack to $1.25 per pack and would increase the state sales tax rate on automobiles (now 2 percent) to match the 4 percent rate that applies to other consumer goods.

The rest of the new revenue would come from a mix of business tax increases and loophole closures. (One proposal is for Alabama to adopt combined reporting, which would treat corporations and their subsidiaries as one corporation for tax purposes. You can learn more about combined reporting here.)

Strong investments in services like education, Medicaid and public safety promote economic growth and improve our state’s quality of life. By funding those investments without raising taxes on necessities like food and clothing, Alabama can give everyone a better opportunity to get ahead in life.

By Chris Sanders, communications director. Posted March 4, 2015.

Alabama Legislature OKs new requirements for TANF recipients, doesn’t end lifetime SNAP, TANF bans for people with felony drug conviction

By Chris Sanders

People convicted of a drug-related felony will remain ineligible for food assistance or cash welfare benefits in Alabama after the state House adjourned Thursday night without passing a bill to end the state’s lifetime eligibility bans for them. Lawmakers approved several other bills related to public benefits this week, including a requirement for some applicants to pass a drug test before receiving benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.

SB 303, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham, cleared the Senate 18-8 in February but lost a procedural vote in the House on Wednesday. Most House members voted to consider the bill, but the majority fell short of the three-fifths support needed under House rules to send the bill to a floor vote. The House did not consider the proposal again on Thursday, the final day of the 2014 regular session.

Coleman’s bill would have allowed otherwise eligible people to receive food assistance or cash welfare benefits even if they have a prior felony drug conviction, as long as they have completed their sentence or are complying with their probation terms, including court-ordered drug treatment.

Alabama is one of 10 states where people convicted of a drug felony face a lifetime eligibility ban under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Rep. Rod Scott, D-Fairfield, said Wednesday. Alabama also is one of 12 states to apply a similar ban to TANF benefits, Scott said. The bans apply even to people with a decades-old offense.

Lawmakers send other legislation affecting SNAP, TANF recipients to governor

TANF applicants who had a drug conviction in the last five years would have to pass a drug test to receive benefits under a bill that the House passed 73-27 Thursday. SB 63, sponsored by Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose, would require the Department of Human Resources (DHR) to pay for initial drug tests, as well as any later required tests that the applicant passes. The bill would allow someone else to receive benefits on behalf of other family members if an applicant fails two or more drug tests. SB 63’s provisions would expire in 2017 unless reauthorized.

Rep. Kerry Rich, R-Albertville, said the bill is more narrowly tailored than a Florida drug testing law that a federal judge struck down late last year and said the measure could save Alabama money. “I think it’s a bad idea for the taxpayers to fund someone’s drug habit,” Rich said. “We have got to get people in a position where they understand they have to be responsible for their own lives.”

Rep. Napoleon Bracy, D-Prichard, questioned whether SB 63 would save Alabama any money at all. Bracy noted that the Legislative Fiscal Office (LFO) did not attach a dollar amount to how much the state might save under the bill. The LFO’s fiscal note says the bill would increase DHR’s obligations “by an undetermined amount” that “could be offset in total or in part” by not paying TANF benefits to people who fail a drug test.

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, called it “embarrassing” to demand that some TANF applicants provide a urine sample to the state. “The majority of people who are on public assistance are hard-working folks who are doing the right thing,” England said. “Most of the people who go down there [to apply] have to swallow a great deal of pride in the first place.”

People would have to apply for at least three jobs before applying for TANF under legislation the House passed 70-33 Wednesday night. The Senate voted 28-1 Thursday to agree to the House version of SB 115 and send it to Gov. Robert Bentley. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, would require recipients to comply with DHR’s requirements for job search preparation, education and other employment activities.

Another proposal that won House approval Wednesday night would forbid TANF recipients to use EBT cards in bars, liquor stores, casinos, tattoo parlors and adult entertainment establishments. SB 116, sponsored by Orr, also would prohibit the use of TANF benefits to buy alcohol or tobacco. The House passed the bill 80-22.

By Chris Sanders, communications director. Policy analyst Carol Gundlach contributed to this report. Posted April 3, 2014.

Alabama Legislature passes ETF budget, goes home without approving bills on payday lending, execution drug secrecy

By Chris Sanders

Alabama lawmakers passed a $5.9 billion Education Trust Fund (ETF) budget without a pay raise for K-12 teachers just before the 2014 regular session ended Thursday night. The House voted 54-45 to agree to the compromise budget that the Senate approved Tuesday. That leaves Gov. Robert Bentley, who urged the Legislature to approve a 2 percent raise for teachers next year, to decide whether to sign the ETF budget or veto it and order lawmakers to return for a special session. Check out AL.com’s report to learn more.

Many other proposals cleared one chamber but did not win final legislative approval before the regular session ended Thursday. Among the subjects of bills that lawmakers did not send to Bentley were:

  • Payday lending. HB 145 would have created a statewide database of payday loans. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, would have made it easier to enforce a current state law that prohibits borrowers from taking out more than $500 in payday loans at any one time.
  • Death penalty drug secrecy. HB 379 would have kept the identities of people involved in carrying out state-sanctioned executions confidential. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Lynn Greer, R-Rogersville, also would have shielded the identities of companies that manufacture or supply death penalty drugs. Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, sought to amend the bill to allow disclosure of such information under certain circumstances.
  • HIV drug redistribution. HB 138 would have allowed pharmacists at or affiliated with HIV clinics to redistribute unused HIV medications originally prescribed for other patients. The bill, sponsored by Todd, would have set controls on handling and oversight of the drugs.
  • Accountability Act changes. HB 558 would have made it easier for wealthy Alabamians to contribute more money to groups that grant scholarships to help parents of children in “failing” schools pay for private school tuition under the Alabama Accountability Act. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Chad Fincher, R-Semmes, would have removed the act’s $7,500 annual cap on the tax credit that individuals or married couples can claim for contributions to such organizations. The bill would not have changed current law allowing Alabama to provide a total of no more than $25 million of scholarship credits annually.
  • Lifetime SNAP and TANF bans. SB 303 would have ended Alabama’s policy of forever barring people convicted of a felony drug offense from regaining eligibility for food assistance or cash welfare benefits. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham, would have allowed otherwise eligible people with a past felony drug conviction to receive benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program if they have completed their sentence or are complying with their probation terms.

Much discussion, no Senate passage of payday loan database, execution drug secrecy bills

The payday loan database bill reached the Senate floor twice Thursday afternoon. Senators initially delayed action on HB 145 after Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, expressed concern about the security of borrowers’ information in the database. About an hour later, the Senate returned to the measure and added three amendments to it.

One amendment, offered by Sen. Shadrack McGill, R-Woodville, would have doubled the bill’s payday loan cap from $500 to $1,000. Two other amendments came from Sens. Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, and Paul Sanford, R-Huntsville. Immediately after adopting the amendments, senators agreed to postpone action on HB 145, and the chamber did not take it up again before adjournment.

Senators debated the death penalty drug secrecy bill three separate times Thursday afternoon but ultimately did not vote on it. Ward tried to amend HB 379 to allow people injured while handling such drugs to sue, but the Senate did not accept that proposal. “No one in the state of Alabama should ever be granted absolute immunity for negligence or gross negligence they commit against somebody else,” Ward said while arguing for his amendment.

The failure to pass HB 379 could bring lethal injections to a halt in Alabama by making it impossible for the state to buy the drugs used in the process, Ward said. “By opposing this bill and killing this bill, what we’re doing is ensuring is this state will go back to the system of the electric chair,” he said. Alabama began using lethal injection in executions after the state retired “Yellow Mama,” the electric chair used from 1927 to 2002.

The three other bills listed above did not reach the House or Senate floor Thursday. The HIV drug redistribution bill, HB 138, passed 99-0 in the House last month and was on the Senate’s final special-order calendar Thursday, but senators adjourned with several measures still lined up ahead of it. Arise and other consumer advocates last year urged Bentley to support this policy change as his Medicaid Pharmacy Study Commission met to consider ways to reduce costs in the state’s Medicaid drug assistance programs.

By Chris Sanders, communications director. Posted April 3, 2014.

Bill to end lifetime SNAP, TANF bans still alive but loses procedural vote in Alabama House

By Chris Sanders

A bill to allow people convicted of a drug-related felony to regain eligibility for food assistance or cash welfare benefits in Alabama suffered a setback Wednesday when it failed to clear a procedural hurdle in the state House. The House voted 55-43 Wednesday to consider SB 303, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham. That majority fell short of the three-fifths support needed under House rules to advance the bill to a floor vote.

The House still could reconsider the bill, which the Senate passed 18-8 in February, though that is not guaranteed. This year’s regular session will end Thursday, and many bills still await House consideration.

Rep. Rod Scott, D-Fairfield, said SB 303 would address the imbalance of a state policy that denies eligibility to those convicted of a felony drug offense but not other crimes. “This is a very simple bill that brings about fairness,” Scott said. “These people have served their time, and I think it’s only right that they be able to take advantage of these programs.”

Rep. Kerry Rich, R-Albertville, spoke against the bill, saying he would like to see public assistance bans extended to apply to people convicted of many other crimes as well. Rich urged his colleagues to join him in opposing SB 303.

Rep. Pebblin Warren, D-Tuskegee, said many people convicted of drug crimes struggle with addiction and deserve a second chance. “We’re making it so criminal to the point where we’re forgetting about the sickness,” Warren said. “The biggest thing about Christianity is forgiveness.”

SB 303 would allow thousands of Alabamians who were convicted of a drug-related felony but are otherwise eligible for assistance to regain eligibility for benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. To regain eligibility under the bill, people with a felony drug conviction must have completed their sentence or be complying successfully with their probation conditions. The bill’s provisions would expire in three years unless lawmakers renew them.

Alabama is one of 10 states where people convicted of a drug felony face a lifetime SNAP eligibility ban, Scott said, and one of only 12 states to apply a similar ban to TANF benefits. The bans apply even to people with a decades-old offense.

House approves certain limits on use of TANF benefits

A bill to prevent TANF recipients from using EBT cards in bars, liquor stores, casinos, tattoo parlors and adult entertainment establishments met a different fate Wednesday. The House voted 80-22 for SB 116, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, which also would prohibit using TANF benefits to buy alcohol or tobacco. The bill will go to Gov. Robert Bentley.

Rep. Mac Buttram, R-Cullman, said Alabama could lose 5 percent of its federal TANF funding if the state does not approve such benefit restrictions. But Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery, questioned whether the EBT card bill would place an unfair stigma on low-income Alabamians. “I don’t understand for the life of me why we’re spending time on this,” Knight said Tuesday night during debate over SB 116.

Lawmakers will return Thursday for the final day of the 2014 regular session.

By Chris Sanders, communications director. Policy analyst Carol Gundlach contributed to this report. Posted April 2, 2014.

Alabama Senate committee amends execution drug secrecy bill, approves HIV drug redistribution bill

By M.J. Ellington

An Alabama Senate committee Wednesday unanimously approved a bill that would keep the identities of people involved in carrying out state-sanctioned executions secret in most instances. But the Senate Health Committee amended the bill to divulge the names of companies that manufacture or supply lethal injection drugs if a judge orders their release. HB 379, sponsored by Rep. Lynn Greer, R-Rogersville, awaits consideration by the full Senate.

The original HB 379 would have kept secret, in all instances, the identity of people involved in carrying out executions, along with the identity of the maker and provider of drugs used in lethal injections. Greer said states that use lethal injection in executions have difficulty obtaining drugs for that purpose because many companies fear lawsuits.

Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, is an attorney who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and serves on the Health Committee. Ward said he understands the goals of Greer’s bill but has grave concerns about “creating an area of complete immunity” in state law that prohibits divulging the information in every instance. The committee approved two Ward amendments to allow the information to be released under a court order.

Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham, said the state should not enact a law that effectively could prevent prosecution in all cases. “Somebody could inject Drano and not be prosecuted” under the original bill, Coleman said.

Sen. Billy Beasley, D-Clayton, said decisions about immunity are not easy ones. He pointed to people in the audience from a victim’s advocacy organization. Beasley said the issues gave him an uneasy feeling of protecting “someone who committed the crime of death,” but he voted for Ward’s amendments and the bill.

Randy Hillman, executive director of the Alabama District Attorneys Association, said the law would apply to a very narrow set of circumstances involving a shrinking number of drug providers. Some defense attorneys seeking to stop executions file court challenges related to the drugs used in lethal injections.

Alabama began using lethal injection in executions after the state retired “Yellow Mama,” the electric chair used from 1927 to 2002. Sen. Gerald Dial, R-Lineville, questioned whether the state might have to return to using electrocution to carry out death sentences if HB 379 does not pass.

Bill to allow redistribution of some unopened HIV drugs advances

The Senate committee Wednesday also approved a bill that would enable pharmacists at or affiliated with HIV clinics to redistribute unused HIV medications originally prescribed for other patients. HB 138, sponsored by Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, awaits consideration by the full Senate. Committee members amended Todd’s bill to match a similar bill – SB 437, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham – that won committee approval last week.

HIV clinics now must destroy unopened medications if patients do not show up for treatment. HB 138 would allow pharmacies to dispense those drugs to other patients and would set controls on handling and oversight of the drugs. Arise and other consumer advocates last year urged Gov. Robert Bentley to support this policy change as his Medicaid Pharmacy Study Commission met to look at ways to reduce costs in the state’s Medicaid drug assistance programs.

Lawmakers will return Thursday for the 27th of 30 allowable meeting days during the 2014 regular session, which is expected to last until early April.

By M.J. Ellington, health policy analyst. Posted March 19, 2014.

Alabama House could vote next week on bill to end lifetime SNAP, TANF bans for people with felony drug conviction

By Carol Gundlach

The Alabama House could vote as soon as Tuesday on a bill that would allow people convicted of a drug-related felony to regain eligibility for food assistance or cash welfare benefits. A House committee Wednesday approved the bill, which the Senate passed last month. SB 303, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham, awaits consideration by the full House.

SB 303 would allow people convicted of a drug-related felony to regain eligibility for benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program if they successfully comply with their conditions of probation or parole and are otherwise eligible for assistance. The bill’s provisions would expire in three years unless lawmakers renew them.

Alabama is one of 10 states where people convicted of a drug felony face a lifetime SNAP eligibility ban. Alabama is also one of 12 states to apply a similar ban to TANF benefits. The bans apply even to people with a decades-old offense.

Other legislation affecting SNAP, TANF recipients also wins House committee approval

The House State Government Committee also approved a bill Wednesday to require drug testing for TANF applicants who had a drug conviction in the last five years. The Department of Human Resources (DHR) would pay for initial drug tests under SB 63, sponsored by Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose, as well as any later required tests that the applicant passes. The bill would allow someone else to receive benefits on behalf of other family members if an applicant fails two or more drug tests. As with SB 303, SB 63’s provisions would expire in three years unless reauthorized.

People would have to apply for at least three jobs before applying for TANF in Alabama under another bill that won committee approval Wednesday. SB 115, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, was amended in the Senate at Alabama Arise’s suggestion to ensure that a TANF’s applicant’s cohabiting partner must have a legal obligation to support the applicant’s children before that partner’s income would count in determining TANF eligibility. SB 115 also would order recipients to comply with DHR’s requirements for job search preparation, education and other employment activities.

TANF recipients could not use EBT cards in bars, liquor stores, casinos, tattoo parlors and adult entertainment establishments under SB 116, which the committee endorsed Wednesday. SB 116, sponsored by Orr, also prohibits using TANF benefits to buy alcohol or tobacco.

The House committee Wednesday also approved a new version of SB 87, sponsored by Sen. Bryan Taylor, R-Prattville. The substitute bill would prohibit DHR from seeking a statewide waiver to provide extended SNAP benefits to able-bodied, childless adults. However, the bill would allow DHR to continue to seek local waivers in counties with extremely high unemployment rates.

The new SB 87 would authorize DHR to seek a federal waiver to participate in a pilot program to develop and test employment and training programs for SNAP participants. It also would require the department to implement a work and training program for SNAP recipients.

SB 303 and the other proposals will be among the bills awaiting House consideration as the session winds to a close. Lawmakers will return Thursday for the 24th of 30 allowable meeting days during the 2014 regular session, which is expected to last until early April.

By Carol Gundlach, policy analyst. Posted March 12, 2014.

Senate passes bill to end Alabama’s lifetime SNAP, TANF bans for people with felony drug conviction

By Carol Gundlach

People convicted of a drug-related felony could regain their eligibility for food assistance or cash welfare benefits in Alabama under a bill that the state Senate passed 18-8 Thursday. SB 303, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham, moves to the House.

SB 303 would allow otherwise eligible people to receive food assistance or cash welfare benefits even if they have a prior felony drug conviction, as long as they have completed their sentence or are complying with their probation terms, including court-ordered drug treatment. The Senate amended the bill Thursday to say its provisions would expire in three years unless lawmakers renew them.

Alabama is one of 10 states where people convicted of a drug felony face a lifetime eligibility ban under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Alabama also is one of 12 states to apply a similar ban to benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The bans apply even to people with a decades-old offense.

Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose, said SB 303 could help people as they try to overcome a drug addiction and become productive workers. “It’s important to encourage people and try to give them support to be able to make good personal decisions,” Pittman said. “People who have paid their debt … will be able to get modest amounts of money that hopefully will get them on a better path.”

Other legislation affecting SNAP, TANF recipients also wins Senate approval

The Senate’s action Thursday came one day after the chamber voted 25-4 for a bill that would require drug testing for TANF applicants who had a drug conviction in the last five years. The Department of Human Resources (DHR) would pay for initial drug tests under SB 63, as well as any later required tests that the applicant passes. The bill would allow someone else to receive benefits on behalf of other family members if an applicant fails two or more drug tests. The provisions of SB 63, sponsored by Pittman, would expire in 2017 unless reauthorized.

People would have to apply for at least three jobs before applying for TANF under legislation the Senate passed 25-6 Wednesday. SB 115’s sponsor, Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, amended the bill at Alabama Arise’s suggestion. One change would ensure that a TANF’s applicant’s cohabiting partner must have a legal obligation to support the applicant’s children before that partner’s income would count in determining TANF eligibility. The other change deleted an obligation for TANF recipients to continue applying for three jobs every week to stay eligible. Instead, recipients would have to comply with DHR’s requirements for job search preparation, education and other employment activities.

TANF recipients could not use EBT cards in bars, liquor stores, casinos, tattoo parlors and adult entertainment establishments under SB 116, sponsored by Orr. The bill, which the Senate passed 25-0 Wednesday, also would prohibit using TANF benefits to buy alcohol or tobacco.

DHR could not continue to request waivers of federal SNAP work requirements for able-bodied, working-age adults with no dependents under a bill that senators passed 25-5 Wednesday. SB 87, sponsored by Sen. Bryan Taylor, R-Prattville, could limit Alabama’s ability to provide SNAP benefits to some single adults during economic downturns or after natural disasters. The bill that passed in the Senate is far narrower than the original version was.

SB 303 and the other proposals will be among the bills awaiting House consideration when lawmakers return Tuesday for the 20th of 30 allowable meeting days during the 2014 regular session, which is expected to last until early April.

By Carol Gundlach, policy analyst. Communications director Chris Sanders contributed to this report. Posted Feb. 27, 2014.

Legacies of recession, chronic shortfalls linger in Alabama’s budgets

By Chris Sanders

State support for education and other public services under the Education Trust Fund (ETF) and General Fund (GF) next year would not come close to its pre-recession level under the budgets that advanced in the Alabama Legislature on Wednesday. Both budgets are built on the assumption that the state will see no major revenue increases next year.

One-time teacher bonus, Alabama State funding cut in Senate committee’s ETF budget

Alabama would allocate $113.9 million, or 1.9 percent, less from the ETF next year under the $5.9 billion budget that won approval Wednesday in the Senate’s ETF budget committee. (By contrast, K-12 and higher education officials had requested $474 million more support next year.) If the budget becomes law, ETF funding in 2015 would be 18.5 percent less than it was in 2008, adjusted for inflation. The full Senate could consider the plan as soon as Thursday.

K-12 teachers would receive a one-time 1 percent bonus next year under the committee’s budget. Gov. Robert Bentley had recommended a 2 percent pay raise, but committee chairman Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose, said he isn’t sure revenues will grow enough to sustain that pay increase. “You can’t spend optimism,” Pittman said. The committee rejected an attempt by Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, to provide a 6 percent teacher raise.

K-12 schools and two-year colleges would receive slightly more ETF money next year under the committee’s budget, while universities would receive slightly less. The budget would include money to hire more middle school teachers and increase support for the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative (AMSTI). Funding for the Alabama Reading Initiative would be flat.

Alabama State University (ASU) would lose about one-fourth, or $10.8 million, of its ETF support next year under the budget, accounting for almost the entire overall funding cut to universities. The budget would include $10 million for ASU as a “first-priority conditional,” meaning Bentley could release the money to the university if ETF revenue collections exceed budgeted spending next year.

Flat funding abounds for General Fund services

The House voted 80-20 Wednesday night to approve a GF budget that would be about the same size it was last year and is little different than the one that cleared a House committee last week. The $1.8 billion budget now goes to the Senate.

Medicaid, prisons, mental health care and other public services could struggle to maintain current services at the funding levels in the House’s GF budget. Overall GF support for those and other non-education services would be 8.3 percent lower next year than it was in 2008, adjusted for inflation, despite higher costs and population growth since then.

The House budget would cut GF support for Alabama’s prison system, which operates at nearly twice its designed capacity. Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, who chairs the House’s GF budget committee, said last week that he wants to work with House and Senate leaders to find more money for corrections.

Medicaid would see an 11.4 percent GF increase, though that amount still would fall short of what State Health Officer Don Williamson said the agency needs from the GF. Williamson said Medicaid could survive next year at the House’s proposed funding level by looking for more ways to trim costs in the prescription drug program and other areas.

Mental health services would receive the same amount of GF money next year, despite the increased demand for community-based mental health services following the closure of several state mental health hospitals. State courts, which have cut hundreds of jobs in recent years, would receive far less GF funding than they requested.

ALL Kids, which insures Alabama children whose low- and middle-income families do not qualify for Medicaid, would receive 28.3 percent more from the GF to help cover higher enrollment. A $13.9 million ETF boost for the Department of Human Resources (DHR) would help the agency offset an $11.8 million GF reduction. DHR provides child welfare, child support collection and elder abuse services. The agency also administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program in Alabama.

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, said lawmakers have missed several opportunities to ease the burden on state budgets in recent years. Instead, England said, the Legislature has declined to increase the state cigarette tax, reform the state’s criminal sentencing system, or expand Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act.

The GF draws its revenues from a variety of sources that do not grow quickly enough to keep pace with cost increases. That leaves the budget with a structural deficit, meaning it often is strapped for cash even when the economy is doing well.

Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery, said lawmakers eventually must solve Alabama’s perennial GF shortfalls. “At some point, we’re going to have to figure out how to say, ‘We’re going to do better,’” Knight said. “We can’t take care of the basic things we’re supposed to do.”

Time is getting shorter for the Legislature to finalize the budgets. Lawmakers will return Thursday for the 19th of 30 allowable meeting days during the 2014 regular session, which is expected to last until early April.

By Chris Sanders, communications director. Posted Feb. 26, 2014.