Ted Cruz drops out after Donald Trump delivers knockout blow in Indiana
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz ended his presidential campaign Tuesday, eliminating the biggest impediment to Donald Trump‘s march to the Republican nomination. The conservative tea party firebrand who tried to cast himself as the only viable alternative to Trump ended his campaign after a stinging defeat in Indiana’s Republican primary. “It appears that path has been foreclosed,” Cruz told supporters in Indianapolis. “Together, we left it all on the field of Indiana. We gave it everything we’ve got, but the voters chose another path, and so with a heavy heart but with boundless optimism for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign.” Had he succeeded in his quest, Cruz would have been the first U.S. president of Hispanic descent, although he often downplayed his heritage on the campaign trail, instead, touting the need for tougher immigration laws, for a border wall along the border with Mexico, protecting gun rights, repealing President Barack Obama‘s health care law and instituting a flat tax. Cruz argued he was the only true conservative in the race, building on his reputation in the Senate where he clashed both with Democrats and members of his own party over his ideological stubbornness. Cruz railed against what he called the “Washington cartel,” trying to appeal to an electorate that is craving political outsiders. But he ultimately couldn’t compete with Trump’s appeal among white, working-class voters who were drawn to the billionaire’s outlandish approach to politics. Cruz’s campaign placed its hopes on a data-driven effort to turn out conservative evangelical Christians who had opted out of recent presidential elections. Increasingly, he would modify his travel schedule to go where data showed there might be pockets of untapped supporters. With the scale tipping increasingly in Trump’s favor, he announced an extraordinary pact in April with his other rival, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, in which the two would divide their time and resources based on states where they were each poised to do better. Days later, he prematurely named former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina as his running mate, hoping it would woo some of the female voters turned off by Trump’s brash rhetoric. Trump’s appeal to evangelicals, though, and the New York billionaire’s popularity with the broader Republican electorate, proved too much. Cruz was joined on stage by his parents, as well as by Fiorina and his wife, Heidi. He made no mention of the Republican front-runner, vowing instead to continue his fight for liberty and for the Constitution. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
UTC Aerospace Systems expands in southwest Alabama, adding 260 jobs
UTC Aerospace Systems announced Tuesday that it is expanding its existing footprint in Foley, Alabama by adding a new manufacturing facility. Slated to open in second-quarter of 2017, the $30 million facility is estimated to bring 260 new jobs to southwest Alabama’s Baldwin County. The new 80,000 square-foot building will house the assembly of nacelle components and propulsion system integration. “This expansion is a great opportunity to expand our ability to apply our innovative nacelle technology to one of the world’s most popular airplanes,” Marc Duvall, president of UTC Aerospace Systems’ Aerostructures business, said in a statement. “We chose Foley to expand because of its proven track record of performance, our desire to be near a key customer, and the tremendous cooperation we’ve had from the state, county and the city.” The Foley facility is a leader in UTC Aerospace Systems’ drive to operate the most efficient factories in the industry through its relentless application of continuous improvement principles. UTC Aerospace Systems’ Aerostructures business currently operates two collocated facilities in Foley: a 220,000-square foot original equipment plant employing approximately 600 people and an adjacent 210,000-square foot maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility employing about 200 people. Gov. Robert Bentley praised the news in a statement “The UTC Aerospace Systems facility in Foley is one of the company’s most innovative and productive operations, and I welcome this significant expansion, which will add new capabilities and expand its Alabama workforce,” Bentley said. “Creating new jobs remains my top priority, especially in the aerospace industry which we identified as strategic in our Accelerate Alabama growth plan. I commend the leaders at UTC Aerospace Systems for their investment in our state and confidence in the Alabama workforce.” Other Alabama politicians were quick to echo their support. “Today’s announcement that UTC Aerospace Systems plans an expansion of its facilities in Foley reaffirms UTC’s commitment to Southwest Alabama and serves to further demonstrate the excellence of the region as a home for high-tech manufacturers,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions. “UTC’s expansion will add 260 Alabamians to its employment rolls to produce aerospace components for nearby Airbus and other aerospace manufacturers. The workforce and environment for manufacturing in Alabama are second to none, and our partnerships with UTC, Airbus, and other global manufacturing leaders will continue to reap benefits to our communities and provide good jobs for Alabamians.” “I want to commend UTC Aerospace for reaffirming and expanding their commitment to Baldwin County and their operations in Foley,” Congressman Bradley Byrne weighed in. “Today’s news is an important reminder that the economic impact of the Airbus manufacturing facility is not just limited to Mobile. I truly believe Southwest Alabama is on the path to becoming one of the major aviation hubs in the United States, and it is a testament to the great people who make up our workforce.” With an increased workforce of more than 1,000 employees at the Foley site, the expansion will help the company support multiple airplane platforms including the Airbus A320, the Bombardier CSeries, the Embraer E2 and Mitsubishi Regional Jet, though its primary mission will be to service the Airbus final assembly line in Mobile. “UTC’s expansion project is more evidence that Alabama is primed for aerospace growth as Airbus ramps up production in Mobile,” said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce. “By adding new capabilities at its Baldwin County facility, UTC is solidifying its position as a pillar in an expanding aerospace corridor.” The current UTC facility in Foley employs around 800 people, making it one of the largest aerospace companies operating in the state.
BP settlement could be dead in Alabama Senate … Here’s what happened
Hidden among the customary grapples over state budgets this Legislative Session has been another battle between two groups that used to work together on most priorities. It isn’t Republican versus Democrat, or liberal versus conservative. It isn’t even, like we see so often in DC, a tussle between the executive and legislative branches. No, this year a fight has broken out between the coast and the interior, and it might send $640 million in BP Settlement funds into purgatory until the stalemate ends. With approximately 24 hours before this year’s Regular Session concludes, the fate of a $640 million compromise between the Gulf Coast delegation from Mobile and Baldwin counties, and other lawmakers who want a piece of the pie, hangs precariously. The Senate Ways and Means General Fund Committee was scheduled to take a vote Tuesday on the House’s version of how to spend a bond issue taken out against future BP settlement funds. Members representing central and north Alabama, led most vocally by Decatur Republican Sen. Arthur Orr, argue the decline in revenue due to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill negatively affected the entire state. The substitute bill Orr backed would have appropriated $191 million for road projects spread around the state, with a double portion going to coastal counties, and $450 million for repaying a “rainy day fund” raided in the wake of the oil spill, freeing up other funds to be used to shore up Medicaid for the fiscal year. This move rankled coastal representatives, one of whom, Republican Sen. Tripp Pittman, who makes his home in Baldwin County, also happens to be chair of the committee hearing the bill. Pittman unceremoniously ended the committee meeting Tuesday before the bill received a vote. Fellow coastal delegate Sen. Bill Hightower said the region isn’t close to being where it needs to be. “We’re not made whole,” Hightower said. “We won’t know the full implications of the oil spill for 25 years.” But if the committee doesn’t approve some grand compromise before midnight Tuesday, the state will only get BP settlement funds as scheduled by a federal judge — a relatively paltry $50 million per year, instead of the fiscal shot in the arm legislators say they so desperately need.
New study spotlights ‘best value colleges’ in Alabama
College degrees are quickly becoming the new high school diploma, as in the minimum credential required to get even the most basic, entry-level job. But with rising college costs, where you choose to get that degree from can make a big difference. Which begs the question: where can you stretch your dollars the furthest to get the most bang for your buck at Alabama colleges? New York City financial technology company SmartAsset determined a Huntsville college that’s the greatest value in Alabama in 2016. According to SmartAsset’s 2016 Best Value Colleges list, the University of Alabama in Huntsville offers the best value in Alabama, out-ranking the 2015 leader Auburn University. SmartAsset looked at five factors to determine the best value colleges and universities: tuition, student living costs, scholarship and grant offerings, retention rate, and starting salary. To capture the true cost of attending a school, the rankings included tuition (using in-state tuition for public schools where applicable), student living costs (including room and board, books, supplies, transportation and other personal expenses), and the average scholarships and grants offered to students of the school. UAH ranked no.1 in 2016 because graduates land the highest average starting salary in the state ($53,000) for a tuition of $9,192, which is offset by an average of $6,800 in scholarships and grants. Graduates of Auburn, which fell to second this year, earn average starting salaries of $48,300 for in-state tuition of $9,852. Here’s a look at the top 10 best-value colleges in Alabama in 2016:
Jac VerSteeg: Put Donald Trump on a counterfeit bill
They did it to Andrew Jackson. They did it to John Wayne. They did it to John U. Lloyd. Who? John U. Lloyd is not usually mentioned in the same breath as great presidents and iconic movie stars. Lloyd is merely a public servant whose name graces a state park in Broward County, Florida. Make that “graced,” past tense. Gov. Rick Scott recently signed a bill removing John U. Lloyd’s name from the beach park and renaming it in honor of Von D. Mizell and Eula Johnson. Mizell and Johnson led the “wade-ins” that led to the desegregation of whites-only beaches in Broward County. Lloyd, who died in 1975, was the longtime county attorney who helped amass the oceanfront land that became the park that until recently bore his name. That same land at one time was called “the colored beach.” But that’s not all Lloyd did. As the county attorney, he participated in the county’s failed effort to keep the beaches segregated. As the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported, the renaming was slightly botched by the failure to tell Lloyd’s widow that the honor was being revoked in favor of the two civil rights activists. Terry Lloyd Kettering found out when she read an account of the renaming in the newspaper. She was shocked and saddened. She will have to take solace in the fact that her deceased husband now is in such august company as Jackson and Wayne. Because the renamings and revisions are only just getting started. I applaud the changes for two main reasons. The debates are instructive. And the changes are marks of progress. As marks of progress, they give me hope in these days of regressionists like Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, (aka Lucifer in the Flesh.) President Jackson, who held horrible views on blacks and Native Americans, is being kicked off the front of the $20 bill in favor of Harriet Tubman, the courageous abolitionist. The California state Assembly just defeated a resolution that would have declared May 26 as John Wayne Day. The Duke’s open disparagement of blacks and Native Americans as well as his support for the Cold-War era witch hunts by the House Un-American Activities Committee were too much for California lawmakers to swallow. More renamings, revisions and replacements are coming – perhaps they’ll even get around to renaming the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif. Charlottesville, Va., is appointing a community board to grapple with the prospect of moving its famous equestrian statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson from the city’s downtown parks. My alma mater, UNC-Chapel Hill, recently renamed Saunders Hall to Carolina Hall, removing the name of William Saunders, reputedly a Ku Klux Klan founder. Princeton University refused to remove Woodrow Wilson’s name from its School of Public Policy and International Affairs – Wilson was president of the university before he was president of the United States – but Princeton pledged efforts to admit more minorities to the program and to put Wilson’s racist views in support of segregation “into context.” “Context” is good. It’s the mitigating approach of choice among historians maintaining the legacies and reputations of figures such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, both slaveholders. People who held the prevailing views of their time should not be judged solely by evolved modern views. They could be good people in other parts of their lives; debates about figures now in disgrace should illuminate that fact and the complexity of historical bigotry. But neither can now-offensive views be excused away by simply referring to them as “our heritage.” The Confederate Flag might be “heritage,” but proudly displaying it today makes it a disgraceful heritage. The tide of support for Donald Trump contains a strong and odious element of resistance to inclusive views on race, ethnicity and gender. It is the opposite of the movement toward progressive views on race. Trump’s pledge is to “Make America Great Again.” But there are great Americans who were great because they recognized that America was not so great for some classes of people. Trump’s reactionary pledge is to Make America Great Again for angry white males. I’ve never understood why members of this group – poorly educated and slipping economically – put their trust in a silver-spoon billionaire spewing empty promises. Perhaps it is because there is a deeply racist and misogynistic element in Trump’s pitch. He’ll make Mexico build a wall to keep its rapists out. He cheers on supporters roughing up black protesters. He is crass and demeaning toward women. Trump’s counterfeit vision is of an America that is “great again” for the beneficiaries of bigotry. Progress demands that we instead turn to those striving to make America great for everyone. ••• Jac Wilder VerSteeg is a columnist for The South Florida Sun Sentinel, former deputy editorial page editor for The Palm Beach Post and former editor of Context Florida.
Viewer’s guide: Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders hoping for Indiana boost
Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders are all in for Indiana as they try to stave off the growing aura of inevitability surrounding their opponents. But Donald Trump says his general election race against Hillary Clinton has “sort of already started.” Clinton may not say as much, but she largely agrees. On what could be a pivotal night for Cruz, Trump is strongly favored in the state’s GOP primary. Sanders and Hillary Clinton are in a tighter race on the Democratic side. What to watch in Indiana’s presidential primary on Tuesday: — THE TIMELINE Polls close at 6 p.m. EDT in 80 of Indiana’s 92 counties, and at 7 p.m. EDT in the rest of the state. So the vote count will have been under way for an hour in most of the state by 7 p.m., the earliest that a winner can be declared in either primary. In 2012, half the vote had been reported by 8 p.m., and 95 percent by 10 p.m. Four years earlier, half the votes were counted before 9 p.m. but the state didn’t get to 90 percent until nearly 1 a.m. — GOP MATH FACTS Cruz already has no chance of clinching the GOP nomination before the convention. His goal on Tuesday night is to deny Trump enough Indiana delegates to make it harder for the billionaire businessman to clinch the nomination ahead of the convention. Watch how many Indiana delegates Trump scoops up on Tuesday night: If he claims a big share of the 57 delegates at stake, he’ll only need 42 percent of remaining delegates to clinch the nomination and crush Cruz’ hopes for a contested convention. — DEM MATH FACTS The nomination isn’t mathematically out of Sanders’ reach — yet. But it looks like it’s just a matter of time. Including superdelegates, Clinton is just 218 delegates short of the 2,383 delegates she needs to clinch the nomination and it looks like she’ll get there in the next few weeks. Indiana, with 83 Democratic delegates at stake, can’t put her over the top or rule Sanders out. But it can make the math much more daunting for Sanders. — LET’S BE CLEAR The candidates can be counted on to overstate their gains and minimize their losses on Tuesday. Remember this: If Trump wins, he is not assured of nailing down the nomination ahead of the convention. But it will be much more doable. Likewise, if Trump loses Indiana, it does not mean he has been blocked from clinching the nomination prior to the convention; it will just be harder. — TRUMP’S TACTICS Trump already considers himself the presumptive nominee and he’s itching to be more aggressive in going after Clinton – to “get on to Hillary,” as he put it on Monday. Watch his Tuesday night appearance at Trump Tower to see what he has to say about Clinton. Does he reprise his recent claims that she’s playing up the “woman’s card,” or try out new lines of attack? As for his GOP rivals, Cruz and John Kasich, Trump said flatly in advance: “If we win Indiana, it’s over.” — CLINTON’S FOCUS Clinton, who put less effort into Indiana than did Sanders, had no public appearances planned Tuesday night. She’s increasingly focused on the expected fall matchup with Trump. — CRUZ’ CLIFF The Texas senator on Tuesday morning issued a long and impassioned denunciation of Trump as a cynical narcissist, pathological liar and serial philanderer who is “utterly amoral.” He pleaded with Indiana voters to keep the country from plunging “over the cliff” and “into the abyss” by advancing Trump’s candidacy. After raising the stakes sky-high in Indiana, Cruz will be hard-pressed to sketch out a viable path going forward if he loses. — SUPER SANDERS Watch for Sanders, campaigning in Louisville on Tuesday night, to continue his outreach to superdelegates who have endorsed Clinton. With the delegate math overwhelmingly favoring Clinton, Sanders has the difficult challenge of persuading the superdelegates, who are free to back any candidate, to “go into their hearts” and switch sides. — ALLIANCE ASSESSMENT Indiana will be the first test of an alliance between Cruz and Kasich, in which the Ohio governor agreed not to campaign in Indiana, and Cruz, in turn, agreed not to campaign in Oregon and New Mexico. Watch to see if a significant share of Kasich supporters migrate to Cruz or resist such redirection. — FAIRNESS FACTOR Amid plenty of grumbling from Trump about a rigged political system, exit polls will explore how Republicans feel about the process for selecting their nominee. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Report: Alabama ranked 2nd-worst state for working moms
Women today comprise nearly half of the American workforce, and slightly less than three-quarters of them are single moms with young children. There’s no doubt being a working mother comes with many challenges, but a new report from the personal finance website WalletHub shows life may be a little easier, or more difficult, depending on where you live. Released just days before Mother’s Day, 2016’s Best & Worst States for Working Moms report ranks Alabama as the 2nd worst state in the U.S. for working mothers. In the report, WalletHub compared the attractiveness of each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia to a working mother using 13 key metrics, including median women’s salary, female unemployment rate, and day-care quality. Alabama ranked dead last for professional opportunities and 39th for child care, which is one of three critical dimensions in the study and measures quality, costs, access to pediatric services and school system ratings. Here’s how the Yellowhammer State ranked in some of the study’s other categories (1=Best; 25=Avg; 51=Worst) 47th: Day-care quality 21st: Access to pediatric services 48th: Gender pay gap (women’s earnings as percent of men’s) 50th: Ratio of female executives to male executives 25th: Median women’s salary (adjusted for cost of living) 44th: Female unemployment rate 35th: Parental leave policy 32nd: Length of average woman’s workday 49th: percent of single-mom families in poverty According to the report, the top five states are Vermont, Minnesota, Connecticut, North Dakota and Massachusetts. The lowest ranked were Nevada, Alabama, South Carolina, Louisiana and Alaska. See how Alabama ranks compared to the rest of the country: Source: WalletHub
Donald Trump’s rise is driving immigrants to become citizens
On a recent Saturday morning in South Florida, 50-year-old Edgar Ospina stood in a long line of immigrants to take the first step to become an American. Ospina has spent almost half his life in the U.S. after emigrating from his native Colombia, becoming eligible for citizenship in 1990. But with Donald Trump becoming a more likely presidential nominee by the day, Ospina decided to wait no more, rushing the paperwork required to become a citizen. “Trump is dividing us as a country,” said Ospina, owner of a small flooring and kitchen remodeling company. “He’s so negative about immigrants. We’ve got to speak up.” Nationwide, immigrants like Ospina are among tens of thousands applying for naturalization in a year when immigration has taken center stage in the presidential campaign, especially in the race for the Republican nomination. Trump, the GOP front-runner, has pledged to deport the estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally. He’s also vowed to bar Muslims from entering the country and threatened to cut off remittances that Mexican immigrants in the U.S. send back home. And he’s called for building a border wall – among other proposals to deal with unlawful immigration, saying the federal government has failed to protect the border from people and drugs illegally entering the country. That rhetoric, immigrant advocates and lawmakers say, is driving many foreign-born residents to seek citizenship. “There is fear of a Trump presidency,” said Maria Ponce of iAmerica Action, a Washington-based immigrant rights group that is teaming up with other organizations to help those seeking citizenship – part of a national campaign called “Stand Up To Hate.” They’ve sponsored naturalization workshops from Washington state to Nebraska and Massachusetts. Nationwide, naturalization applications are up 14 percent in the last six months of 2015 compared with the same period in 2014, according to the government. And the pool of future U.S. citizens is large. Nearly 9 million legal permanent residents, or green-card holders, are eligible to become Americans. Of those, about 4 million are Hispanic. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez, D-Ill., was featured in a public service announcement encouraging immigrants to become citizens so they can vote in November. He mocked Trump’s slogan, suggesting it was really: “Make America Hate Again.” “We’ve seen it in the past and we are seeing it again many times over this year,” he said. “When immigrant communities feel they are under attack they react with a large number of eligible immigrants becoming citizens and a large number of eligible citizens becoming voters.” Erica Bernal of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials said the tenor of the presidential campaign is galvanizing Latino immigrants. She said today’s movement is reminiscent of the 1990s when Latinos in California rose up against Proposition 187, which sought to deny government services to those in the state illegally. The courts overturned it. Her group and several local ones in Los Angeles recently launched a regional campaign to encourage Latino immigrants to become citizens. About 775,000 legal immigrants in the L.A. area are eligible for citizenship. To qualify, immigrants must have been in the country five years, complete a 21-page application, get fingerprinted, pass a civics and English exam and pay almost $700 in fees. Ivan Parra, citizenship coordinator with the Florida Immigrant Coalition said immigrants laugh when he asks why they want to become Americans. “‘You know why,’ they say, ‘I want to vote against racism and hate,’” said Parra. He says immigrants this year are “desperate to be part of the political process.” Maria Cristina Giraldo, originally from Colombia and already a U.S. citizen, said she is so fearful of Trump becoming president that she brought five relatives to a naturalization workshop in South Florida. “Trump is anti-immigrant,” said Giraldo, who works cleaning houses. “I don’t know if it’s because he’s such a brute in his speeches or that he isn’t careful in what he’s saying, but he’s very nasty toward Hispanics.” Her sister, Gladys Ceballos of Hollywood, Florida, agreed. She’s trying for the second time to become a citizen after failing to pass the English exam. She says she’s not fearful of Trump, but she doesn’t trust him. John Haughton, 66, a Jamaican immigrant, said: “Trump is a man who would say one thing today and may modify his views tomorrow.” “I want my voice heard,” said Haughton, a legal permanent resident since 2008. Seung Baik, 43, who was born in South Korea and brought to the U.S. as a teenager, said he too believes Trump is too divisive. “It took me a little longer to become a citizen because I didn’t want to apply and treat this as a membership to something, like joining a club,” said Baik, a church pastor. “The world and this nation are changing, and my vote matters.” Baik said he won’t be registering as a Democrat or Republican but remains independent. He’s undecided about whom he will vote for in his first presidential election as a U.S. citizen, but “it won’t be Donald Trump.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama legislative preview: May 3 — May 4, 2016
Two days. That’s all Alabama’s state lawmakers have to complete their legislative priorities for the year. Some bills will end up languishing in the annals of Alabama history, while others will get their day on the governor’s desk. The entire session has been covered in the grey cloud of scandal, between accusations of Gov. Robert Bentley‘s infidelity, and the impending ethics trial of Speaker Mike Hubbard, but legislators stayed on track … mostly. Some much-debated bills like the gas tax are dead for good this year, while others, like payday lending reform and industrial hemp legalization, are walking a blade-thin line to final passage. Here is what legislators have on their plate for the final two days of the 2016 Regular Session. Here is what legislators have on their plate for the final two days of the 2016 Regular Session. House — Convenes Tuesday at 1 p.m. SB372 creates a new provision in Alabama’s controversial “chemical endangerment of a child” law, allowing the consumption of controlled substances under the “good faith” supervision of a physician. The chemical endangerment law came under fire last fall after a searing investigation by AL.com and ProPublica. Sponsored by Sen. Clyde Chambliss (R-Montgomery) in the Senate and Rep. April Weaver (R-Alabaster) in the House. SB91 regulates Payday Lenders, restricting the interest rates and fees they may charge. The bill being considered in the House Tuesday is a watered-down version of one passed by the Senate in early April. Should it pass the House it would have to be reconsidered by the Senate in the waning hours of the Session on Wednesday. Sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) in the Senate and Rep. Danny Garrett (R-Trussville) in the House. SB268 Currently, an inmate’s eligibility for Medicaid is terminated once they are incarcerated. SB268, already passed by the Senate, would change that termination to a suspension. The bill’s sponsors argue this will help reformed convicts land back on their feet when their sentences are complete. Sponsored by Sen. Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) in the Senate and Rep. Chris England (D-Tuscaloosa) in the House. SB347 which would give the Department of Agriculture and Industries the authority to study, regulate, and tax industrial hemp, and reclassify the plant as separate from marijuana. Similar bills have been passed previously in both the House and Senate, but because they weren’t identical they must be considered again. Sponsored by Sen. Paul Bussman (R-Cullman) in the Senate, and Rep. Ken Johnson (R-Moulton) in the House. Senate — Convenes Tuesday at 1 p.m. HB204 reorders the names appearing on primary ballots in presidential election years to present elected official positions first, and delegates to the national convention last. Currently, the delegates come directly after the presidential candidates themselves, an arrangement found to be confusing for many primary voters, as they had to sift through a litany of names they didn’t recognize to find the candidates for federal and state offices. Sponsored by Rep. Randy Wood (R-Saks) HB393 is the House version of the industrial hemp bill described above. HB433 prohibits a sexually exploited child from being “adjudicated, delinquent or convicted of a crime of prostitution.” Essentially, the bill protects children who are victims of sexual crimes or trafficking from being convicted of prostitution. The bill’s sponsor is a longtime advocate for harsher penalties for sex traffickers, and has fought to protect the victims of the deplorable practice. Sponsored by Rep. Jack Williams (R-Vestavia Hills) HB98 allows qualifying retirees from the U.S. Military to obtain concealed weapons permits from their county’s sheriff at no cost to them. The Sheriff may revoke the permit if cause is found. Sponsored by Rep. David Standridge (R-Hayden)
