House passes bill to extend domestic violence protections to grandparents, grandchildren, and step grandparents
On February 22, 21-year-old Jared Smith-Bracy was charged with murdering his grandparents, 80-year-old Leonard Smith and 72-year-old Barbara Smith; his brother, 27-year-old Jeremy Smith; and 71-year-old family friend Shelia Glover in Daphne. Tragically, Smith-Bracy had been arrested earlier after an altercation at the home. He was released. On Thursday, State Representative Matt Simpson explained to the Alabama House of Representatives that if similar events had occurred with parents or a girlfriend, Smith-Bracy would likely have been charged with domestic violence rather than assault and would have been held overnight for a cooling-off period – rather than immediately getting out and returning to the home for his murderous rampage. House Bill 76 (HB76) was introduced by Simpson in response to this incident and the apparent oversight in Alabama law. “The bill originally just dealt with grandparents,” Simpson said. “After working in the committee, we included step-grandparents and grandchildren.” The committee changes were made in a committee amendment to HB76. The House voted 105 to 0 to adopt the committee amendment. Simpson explained that the legislation includes a “no contact provision to keep him from going to that home.” Rep. Arnold Mooney said, “We just had two sheriff’s deputies shot coming into his parents’ home. He was abusive to his parents. Thank you for bringing this bill Rep. Chris England said, “Over the years, in domestic violence situations, you can make warrantless arrests. They do not necessarily have to see the incident.” “The bill makes sense,” England continued. “This is one of those bills that could prevent a very tragic incident from happening. I applaud you for bringing it.” Simpson is a former prosecutor. According to the synopsis, “Under existing law, a person commits the crime of domestic violence if the victim is a current or former spouse, parent, step-parent, child, step-child, any person with whom the defendant has a child in common, a present household member, or a person who has or had a dating relationship with the defendant. This bill would provide that a grandparent may be a victim of domestic violence.” The committee amendment added step-grandparents and grandchildren. HB76 passed the House of Representatives in a 105 to 0 vote. It now goes to the Senate for their consideration. The bill has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Jared Smith-Bracy has been charged with five counts of capital murder and could potentially face the death penalty. Tuesday will be day 16 of the 2023 Alabama Regular Legislative Session. The regular session is limited by the Alabama Constitution of 1901 to no more than thirty legislative days during a regular session. The House will convene at 1:00 p.m. and the Senate at 2:30 p.m. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Senate Committee advances bill to issue nonviable birth certificates
Last Wednesday, the Alabama Senate Health Committee gave a favorable report to legislation allowing mothers who lost a child due to miscarriage can receive a state-issued birth certificate, called a “Certificate of Nonviable Birth.” House Bill 55 (HB55) is sponsored by State Representative Juandalynn Givan. “I had a mother come up to me at a town hall and ask me to carry this,” Givan said. “And then another mother, and another mother.” Senator Tim Melson – a medical doctor – chairs the Senate Health Committee. Melson asked when the cutoff date on this is. Givan said that in some states, it was five weeks. In others, seven weeks. This bill currently doesn’t have one. Melson said there would be tissue to verify that there was a pregnancy and that they could work on this before it came to the floor of the Senate. Sen. Larry Stutts said, “This is the most pro-life bill I have seen.” Givan had photos of what a fetus looks like at less than twenty weeks. Stutts said that those pictures show that this is a life that is worthy of protection. “I want to thank you for bringing this bill,” said Sen. Dan Roberts. Givan said that if this bill passes, she wanted it named the “Genesis Act.” After 20 weeks of gestation, a parent can request a nonviable birth certificate from the Health Department. This bill would extend that to pregnancies that were lost before that current deadline. “Florida was the first state to pass this,” Givan explained. According to the synopsis, “Under existing law, a nonviable birth that occurs before the twentieth week of gestation is not reported to the Office of Vital Statistics, and a parent of a nonviable birth that occurs before the twentieth week of gestation may not request a certificate of birth. Also, under existing law, a parent of a fetal death occurring after 20 weeks of gestation may request a Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth. This bill would create the Genesis Act to require the Alabama Department of Public Health to adopt rules allowing for the parents of a nonviable birth occurring before the twentieth week of gestation to request a Certificate of Nonviable Birth.” The Senate Health Committee voted unanimously to give HB55 a favorable report. HB55 could be considered by the full Alabama Senate as early as Tuesday. The legislation has already passed the House of Representatives. As of Friday, 680 bills have been filed thus far in the 2023 Alabama Regular Legislative Session. Tuesday will be Day 16 of the 2023 regular session. The Alabama Constitution limits the regular session to no more than thirty legislative days during a regular session. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
State employees set to receive two percent raise
On Tuesday, the Alabama House of Representatives passed the state general fund budget (SGF). As part of that package, the House passed legislation giving state employees a two percent across-the-board pay increase. House Bill 154 (HB154) was sponsored by State Representative Napoleon Bracy Jr. The legislation provides for a two percent cost of living wage increase for Alabama state employees. Rep. Bracy said, “Given the increased cost of certain products and services due to the pandemic and inflation, I felt this was the right thing to do for our hard-working state employees and their families. In fact, after spending more than two decades below 3%, the consumer price index (CPI)—a key measure of U.S. inflation—nearly tripled from 2020 to 2021, rising from 1.4% to 7.0%. This will certainly help offset those increased costs for our dedicated state employees who serve the people of Alabama.” This is the largest SGF budget in state history. The House version was $3,024,167,948 – over $15,000,000 more than Governor Kay Ivey requested and over $169 million more than the 2023 budget. The cost of the COLA to the budget is estimated at $14 million. HB154 and all the budget bills had support from the whole body: Democrats and Republicans. Rep. Rex Reynolds is the Chairman of the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee that prepares the SGF budget in the House of Representatives. “I’ll tell you that the Speaker set up an environment for the budget to be successful, and that was a joint caucus briefing, and that really brought all the Democrats in to sit with the Republicans,” Reynolds said in a video statement. “I had a lot of dialogue about the budget, and it made a difference. You see that. And there was a lot, particularly with the new members, they had dialogue, starting all the way back in January.” Rep. Nathaniel Ledbetter is the Speaker of the House. “Chairman Reynolds did an excellent job, and the committee really worked hard to make sure that they put all the pieces together,” Ledbetter said. Reynolds, “Had a lot of conversations with a lot of members – and that is the way that it should be – and it is very transparent what he did. This is his first one – the first one he got out – and it was in record time with a unanimous vote.” “We’re strong right now,” Reynolds said. “We have got extra monies, and we’re putting that money back into services and in direct grants to our communities. I call that accomplishment spending, and I think that played out in what you heard on the floor yesterday.” The cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), if approved by the Senate and signed by Governor Kay Ivey, will go into effect at the start of FY2024 fiscal year on October 1. Alabama has an arcane budgeting system with most of the money earmarked and two budgets: the SGF and the education trust fund (ETF). The bill, along with the rest of the budget package, has now been sent to the Alabama Senate for its consideration. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Daniel Sutter: Taxation without taxation
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is imposing fees on mortgage applicants with high credit scores to assist applicants with low credit scores and small down payments. The 2007 housing crisis illustrated the potential costs of “helping” people buy homes they could not afford. The proposal offers insight into the politics of government favors. The FHFA new rule will charge the strongest applicants up to $60 per month. Over the term of a 30-year mortgage, this would be over $20,000. Subject homebuyers will qualify for smaller mortgages. The measure arguably addresses credit score racial disparities. According to Newsweek, average credit scores are 727, 667, and 627 in white, Hispanic, and Black communities. Yet such differences are not evidence of discrimination since credit scores are based on things like missed bill payments. And Blacks and Hispanics with high credit scores will face reduced home-buying opportunities. The mortgage fees are an example of cross-subsidization, where the government, through regulation, makes some consumers pay higher prices so others can pay less. A cross-subsidy is economically equivalent to a tax and direct government subsidy. The seminal paper by Richard Posner on this was titled “Taxation by Regulation.” To see the comparability, the Biden Administration could ask Congress to impose these fees as taxes. Congress could appropriate the revenue to subsidize home buyers with low credit scores. Why cross-subsidize instead of tax? Public choice economics offers an explanation. Politicians get credit or blame only for actions voters attribute to them. Politicians will publicize giving people things. But politicians try hiding the taking of money from people. Politicians calculate that voters are less likely to notice higher prices than taxes. And if they notice, they may forget the policy of hiking prices. Or politicians could blame higher prices on corporate greed or Vladimir Putin. Politicians can also honestly deny the existence of a government subsidy or a payment by the government to an individual or business. Vehemently denying a subsidy might help voters miss the cross-subsidy. Cross-subsidies are one component of a public choice debate over the “efficiency of democracy.” The debate has implications for potentially ending government policies benefitting some Americans at the expense of others. One side sees the hiding or disguising of assistance as crucial to the programs’ continued existence. Consider the Federal government’s price support programs for agricultural crops. The Department of Agriculture sets target prices and buys surplus crops at this price. This drives up the market price since farmers will not sell on the market for less than the USDA pays. The price support is a costly way to help farmers. To get government money, farmers must plant crops using tractors, fuel, fertilizer, and labor. They might get $50,000 net of expenses from the USDA. Send the farmer a check for $50,000 could let these resources be used for other purposes. The price support helps disguise the transfer to farmers. The program can be billed as ensuring America has an adequate supply of food. If voters knew what was happening, they would put a halt to these programs. The other side of the debate holds that the government may still be helping the farmers or low credit score home buyers in the cheapest way possible. No less expensive, legal way to benefit farmers or borrowers exists. Congress cannot simply give designated individuals $50,000. The details get very complicated, but one implication is that politicians are not trying to hide these programs from voters. Enough political support exists to keep them going. As a public choice economist myself, I believe that the assistance must be disguised to persist. Elected officials know what voters will not accept and incur the cost of disguising the programs because they must. Our governments – local, state, and Federal – have many programs favoring some Americans at the expense of others. This might seem depressing. But it is also encouraging. Elected representatives must hide favors because the voters ultimately hold the power. We, the people, have the power to rein in favors and cross-subsidization. We just need to use it. Daniel Sutter is the Charles G. Koch Professor of Economics with the Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy at Troy University and host of Econversations on TrojanVision. The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of Troy University.
Alabama bill would put limits on drag shows
Alabama has joined states trying to limit drag shows after legislation was filed Thursday that would prohibit the performances in public places where children are present. The bill by Republican Rep. Arnold Mooney would add a provision to the state’s anti-obscenity laws to prohibit “male or female impersonators, commonly known as drag queens or drag kings” from performing in K-12 public schools, public libraries, and in other public places where minors are present. A federal judge last month temporarily blocked Tennessee’s first-in-the-nation law placing strict limits on drag shows, siding with a group that filed a lawsuit claiming the statute violates the First Amendment. Republican legislators in several states have been considering restrictions on drag show performances in what critics say is a wave of anti-LBGTQ legislation. The Alabama bill is pending before the House State Government Committee. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Golden Flake snacks no longer to be made in Birmingham
A Pennsylvania company will no longer make Alabama’s iconic Golden Flake snacks in Birmingham, although it will still sell them. Utz Brands said Wednesday that it will close the longtime factory in early July, laying off 175 workers. Utz said about 100 employees will continue working at a new warehouse in Birmingham to distribute the snack foods. “The decision reflects the company’s dedication to network optimization and cost containment,” Utz, based in Hanover, Pennsylvania, wrote in a filing to investors. Utz said it would spend $3 million to $5 million on the closure, including $1.5 million in employee severance payments, with the rest being spent to transfer production. The company said it “expects no distribution or availability issues” because of the factory closing. The company said it would also mark down the value of its assets by $8.5 million to $11 million. Utz bought Golden Enterprises, the former owner of Golden Flake, for $141 million in 2016. The brand was founded in 1923 in the basement of a north Birmingham grocery store. Golden Flake has a longtime association with college athletics in the state, with the brand sponsoring University of Alabama football coach Bear Bryant’s television show from 1960 through 1982. The factory was also a popular field trip destination, with schoolchildren sampling chips fresh from the fryer. “The Golden Flake brand remains an important part of Utz’s portfolio, and our product offerings and partnerships under this banner are not changing,” Utz Foods Vice President Kevin Brick said in a statement to AL.com. “We will continue to have a presence in Birmingham and will stay an active part of the community.” Besides Utz and Golden Flake, the company sells snack foods under other brands, including On The Border, Zapp’s, Good Health, Boulder Canyon, and Hawaiian Brand. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
