Email Insights: Jim Zeigler says suit filed to block prison lease plan
A civil suit was filed Tuesday to enjoin a prison lease plan by the Alabama Department of Corrections and Gov. Kay Ivey. The suit alleges that the prison lease plan is illegal in that it did not receive approval by the Alabama legislature and other legal deficiencies. The Montgomery County Circuit Court filing was made by Montgomery attorney Kenny Mendelson on behalf of four plaintiffs. Mendelson had been the attorney in the first civil suit against then-governor Robert Bentley that paved the way to Bentley’s resignation. Four plaintiffs bringing the suit are State Auditor Jim Zeigler (R); State Rep. John Rogers of Birmingham (D); Leslie Ogburn, a homeowner near the proposed prison site outside Tallassee, Alabama; and prisoner rights activist Rev. Kenny Glasgow of Dothan. Zeigler said there was a strategic decision to file a bi-partisan suit. “This prison plan would be a 30-year mistake. It would force Alabama taxpayers to pay rents starting at $94 million a year and going up to $106 million. At the end of 30 years, the state would own equity in the prisons of zero. No equity. This is a bad business plan,” Zeigler said. “The plan does not address the problems in the prison system – safety of staff and other inmates; overcrowding; mental health; suicide; recidivism; and inadequate job training. The plan merely throws over $3.6 billion of taxpayer money at the problems,” Zeigler said. “We thought this plan had been killed off April 19 when the two largest underwriters pulled out of the project, but the Ivey administration is stubbornly pushing forward. There are two giant signed contracts already executed. This lawsuit is needed to make sure the plan is good and dead,” Zeigler said. Here is a copy of the civil suit.
Alabama, Mississippi mark Confederate Memorial Day
State offices were closed Monday in Alabama and Mississippi for Confederate Memorial Day, which a watchdog group used to call for the removal of additional monuments to the Confederacy. The Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center, in a statement, said Confederate symbols erected by Southern heritage groups were used by white supremacists “as tools of racial terror” and said 170 were removed across the nation last year. “We recognize that removing these symbols is only the first step. We must work for racial justice and an honest reckoning with our country’s past and present. That cannot be accomplished by removing a memorial or renaming a school, but it is a necessary step,” said the statement. Alabama and Mississippi have two more Confederate-related state holidays besides Confederate Memorial Day. Both states jointly observe Robert E. Lee Day with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January, and Alabama marks the birthday of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in February. Mississippi marks Davis’s birthday on federal Memorial Day in May. Confederate Memorial Day was made a state holiday in Alabama in 1901, the same year the state’s Constitution, which was intended to guarantee white supremacy, was approved. South Carolina will mark Confederate Memorial Day on May 10. Texas observes Confederate Heroes Day in January. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Rep. Terri Sewell joins other leaders to urge Joe Biden to fund semiconductor manufacturing
Alabama Rep. Terri Sewell signed a letter, along with 70 other Senators and Representatives, urging President Joe Biden to fund semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema, along with Representative Greg Stanton led the bipartisan group of 70 Senators and Representatives in requesting that President Joe Biden fully fund initiatives to expand semiconductor manufacturing on American soil. The Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act was enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. There has been a shortage in semiconductor production nationwide, a problem that hurts Alabama businesses as well. Al.com reported in January that semiconductor shortages were hurting manufacturing plants throughout the nation. In January the Mercedes Benz plant in Tuscaloosa released a statement saying, “The Mercedes-Benz Tuscaloosa plant started operations as planned after the end of the Christmas break on 4 January. Despite the ongoing shortage of semiconductors at certain suppliers, production at the Mercedes-Benz Tuscaloosa plant continues.” The letter to Joe Biden states, “The United States cannot wait to provide these resources over the years ahead. The halted production lines for consumer technology, auto manufacturers, truckers, and other critical industries due to a semiconductor shortage further highlights the pressing need to act quickly and fund the enacted bipartisan provisions.” Kelly stated, “Increasing the production of semiconductors on American soil is an economic and national security imperative. Arizona is a leader in the sector, proven by recent investments by Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Funding the CHIPS Act will create thousands of high-paying jobs, and be critical to our national security to ensure our competitiveness over China and on the global stage.”
Census shows Alabama will maintain 7 congressional seats
Alabama will maintain seven congressional seats under new Census numbers released Monday instead of losing a seat as state officials had feared. The outcome is a relief to officials worried that Alabama’s population growth would not be enough to maintain its seats in the U.S. House. A drop to six seats would have decreased Alabama’s influence in Washington and kicked off a particularly difficult redistricting process. The census figures show that Alabama’s population grew by about 5% since 2010 to a little over 5 million residents in 2020. Alabama’s population growth trailed the U.S. as a whole, which grew 7.4% “This data reveals what we’ve known all along – Alabama is a great state to call home, and many are choosing to do so. I am extremely pleased that we will keep all seven of our current seats in the U.S. House to provide valued and needed voices to advocate for our state and our people for the next 10 years,” Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement. Ivey and other Alabama officials had made a push for state residents to participate in the 2020 census, saying an accurate count was crucial to keeping the state’s representation in Congress and the billions of dollars in federal funding handed out on a per capita basis. Ivey said she offers a “heartfelt thanks to everyone who played a part” in urging census participation. “This was by far the most time and resources that Alabama state government has ever given toward a census count, and I am happy that our efforts and hard work have paid off,” Kenneth Boswell, the chairman of the Alabama Counts! Committee to boost census participation, said in a statement. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
