Angi Stalnaker: A few good things happened on the way to Sine Die

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Photo Credit: Hope4Gabe

Pick up any newspaper or turn on any local television broadcast and you would think that the Alabama Legislature adjourned without doing anything productive. That is not exactly true. Several high-quality pieces of legislation became law this session courtesy of the  Legislature and Gov. Robert Bentley‘s signature:

The Right to Try Act

Anyone who spent any time at the Alabama State House this session was sure to notice a very energetic red-headed little boy seated in the gallery or skipping through the hallways. That little boy is Gabe Griffin and he suffers from Duchene Muscular Dystrophy, which will leave him wheelchair bound in a few years if a treatment is not found. Thanks to a bill sponsored by Rep. April Weaver, Gabe and other Alabamians that suffer from terminal illnesses, will now have the opportunity to receive drugs that have not completed the burdensome FDA approval processes but have shown signs of being able to help.

Closing loopholes in the Open Meetings Law   

Alabama’s open meetings law had gaps large enough to fly an Airbus through but Sen. Cam Ward helped pass a bill that restores one of the country’s oldest public meeting statutes to its original intent, and the taxpayer is better off because of his efforts. Shining a little more sunlight on government is always a good thing.

Fostering Hope

When foster children “age out” of the system after high school, they are often left with few resources and even fewer choices about their futures. Things will change for the state’s foster care graduates now as a result of Sen. Dick Brewbaker’s legislation. Foster kids will now be able to receive tuition, books and fees for their college education as long as they maintain the necessary academic requirements. Thie bill gives a future to hundreds of kids who deserve it.

Angi Stalnaker is Alabama native and political consultant who has worked on numerous statewide, legislative and constitutional amendment races for conservative causes and candidates. She is the founder of Virtus Solutions, a full service government relations and communications firm.

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