Justin Bogie: Alabama lawmakers must choose the people over bigger government
Despite the pandemic, the business of state government is booming in Alabama. It is past time for the state to give some of its newfound wealth back to citizens. A recent court ruling should pave the way for Alabama’s elected officials to do so if they choose to. But lawmakers already missed one opportunity. To recap, in March, Congress passed a second massive COVID-19 stimulus bill, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Alabama’s state government has already received half of its $2.1 billion allotment from the bill and will receive the second half early next year. So far, the state has committed $480 million of its ARPA funds, with the bulk of that going towards prison construction projects. In total, state government alone has been handed $4 billion in federal stimulus funds since the start of the pandemic. In addition to the stimulus money, the state saw $1.2 billion in new revenue flow into the state in 2021. Most of that money has been reinvested in the public sector. A controversial provision of ARPA blocked states from being able to cut taxes and then use stimulus funds to replace lost revenue. In response, 13 states, including Alabama, sued the Treasury Department, arguing that the federal government had no Constitutional authority to dictate state tax policy. On November 15th, U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler issued a permanent injunction against the provision, writing that the restriction is “a federal invasion of State sovereignty.” Coogler further wrote that the mandate pressures states into adopting federally preferred tax policy and disincentivizes states “from considering any tax reductions for fear of forfeiting ARPA funds.” The bottom line is that the federal court ruling clears the way for Alabama to use its ARPA funds for tax relief. It also proves that elected officials missed an opportunity to provide relief much sooner. Alabama received $1.8 billion from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) in 2020. In June of last year, the Alabama Policy Institute (API) presented a proposal to Governor Kay Ivey that would have set aside a portion of the state’s CARES funding to implement an extended statewide sales tax holiday. If the proposal had been adopted, it would have saved citizens money and provided a much-needed boost to Alabama’s brick and mortar businesses during the heart of the pandemic. Before presenting the proposal, API commissioned an outside legal opinion that determined a sales tax holiday was a permissible use of CARES Act funds. Ultimately the governor’s office refused to implement the sales tax holiday, hiding behind U.S. Treasury guidance that said the money couldn’t be used to replace lost revenue. However, other states, like Idaho, went full speed ahead with measures to reduce citizens’ tax burden. The federal government never intervened. If state government wanted to use CARES Act funds to provide a sales tax holiday, it likely would have been allowed. But the desire to use the money to grow government outweighed the need to help struggling citizens and businesses. While we as citizens cannot change past government actions, we can demand better for the future. There are a number of ways that Alabama’s government could use ARPA funds to help the citizens and business owners of this state. API believes that an extended sales tax holiday would still provide benefits to both, but there are other ways. Alabama is one of just three states that fully taxes grocery and food items, something that every person living here relies on. The stimulus funds would go a long way towards permanently eliminating that tax burden. Because of a rise in unemployment claims over the last two years, employers are now paying more in unemployment compensation tax than they were before the pandemic. In 2021 the employer tax rate increased by 92 percent, adding additional strain to businesses already hit hard by COVID-related shutdowns. The state could use ARPA funds to reduce unemployment taxes in 2022. The state has more than $1.5 billion in remaining ARPA funds at its disposal. To put that in perspective, it is enough money to eliminate unemployment taxes for up to six years. It could wipe out the grocery tax for three years. That’s not including this year’s $1.2 billion revenue windfall. Regardless of the method, Alabama citizens deserve tax relief. A federal court has already ruled that Washington cannot tell Alabama and other states how to use that money. If lawmakers fail to provide tax relief to the citizens of Alabama, it is because they chose government over the people they are elected to serve, not because they can’t. Justin Bogie is the Senior Director of Fiscal Policy for the Alabama Policy Institute.
Kamala Harris announces $1.5B investment in health care workforce
Vice President Kamala Harris announced Monday that the Biden administration is investing $1.5 billion from the coronavirus aid package to address the health care worker shortage in underserved communities. The funding will go to the National Health Service Corps, Nurse Corps and Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery programs, all federal programs that offer scholarship and loan repayments for health care students and workers if they pledge to work in underserved and high-risk communities. “Our nation must invest in a health care workforce that looks like America, and provide access to equitable health care for all Americans,” Harris said. The money, which includes funds from the American Rescue Plan and other sources, will support more than 22,700 providers, marking the largest number of providers enrolled in these programs in history, according to the White House. It comes in response to recommendations laid out earlier this month by the White House’s COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, which issued a report outlining how the administration could address systemic inequality in the health care system. The COVID-19 pandemic has both highlighted and exacerbated health care disparities for minority and underserved communities. According to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, over the course of the pandemic, minority Americans have seen higher numbers of cases and higher rates of death than their white counterparts. “COVID-19 did not invent health disparities. Just ask any healthcare professional and she will tell you: Health disparities existed long before this virus reached our shores. Health disparities stem from broader systemic inequities,” she said. It’s just the latest investment from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, passed in March of this year, aimed at addressing health disparities among minority and underserved communities. Earlier this month, the White House announced an additional $785 million in funding for federal programs aimed at improving diversity in the public health workforce and supporting people with disabilities. During the Monday event, Harris pushed for passage of President Joe Biden’s nearly $2 trillion social safety net and climate change package, which would provide funding to temporarily close the Medicaid coverage gap and expand access to health insurance marketplace subsidies through 2025. Harris said the package would also make a historic investment in maternal health “to address the tragedy of black maternal mortality in America.” Black women in the U.S. are about three times as likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause as others, partly because of racial bias they may experience in getting care and doctors not recognizing risk factors such as high blood pressure. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Judge blocks tax cut rule in American Rescue Plan
A federal judge has blocked the U.S. Treasury from enforcing a provision of the American Rescue Plan Act that prohibited states from using the pandemic relief funds to offset new tax cuts. U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler ruled Monday in Alabama that Congress exceeded its power in putting the so-called tax mandate on states. He entered a final judgment in favor of 13 states that had filed a lawsuit and instructed the Treasury Department not to enforce the provision. The judge left the rest of the law in place. The American Rescue Plan steered $195 billion in flexible relief funds to states but specified that states could not use it as a means to cut taxes by using the federal relief dollars to offset the revenue reduction. The judge described the tax-cut restrictions as “a federal invasion of State sovereignty” that was “unconstitutionally ambiguous” — leaving states guessing as to whether their tax cuts would trigger a repayment of federal funds. “The Tax Mandate’s restriction on direct or indirect state tax cuts pressures States into adopting a particular — and federally preferred — tax policy,” Coogler wrote. That “may disincentive” states “from considering any tax reductions for fear of forfeiting ARPA funds,” The lawsuit was filed by Alabama, Arkansas, Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall called those tax-cut restrictions “an unprecedented and unconstitutional assault on state sovereignty by the federal government.” Officials from other states on Tuesday also praised the ruling. West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said the decision “ensures our citizens aren’t stuck with an unforeseen bill from the feds years from now.” Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said it “clears the way” for the state to pursue a sales tax cut on groceries “without fear of federal reprisal.” Justice Department lawyers representing the Treasury Department argued the money should be used for its intended purpose — pandemic recovery. “Congress did not provide Rescue Plan funds for States to replace purposeful decreases in net tax revenue; it provided the money to help States economically recover from the pandemic in ways they otherwise could not,” federal lawyers wrote in an August court filing. Federal government lawyers added, “states are free to cut all the taxes they want, as long as they do not use the federal aid to ‘offset’ any decreased revenue.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama bypasses bid process to move fast on prison builds
Alabama intends to move quickly on building new prisons under a plan that taps pandemic relief funds and could skip the normal bidding process for the construction of two supersize facilities. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey Friday signed into law the $1.3 billion construction plan to build two 4,000-bed prisons and a new prison for women and renovate other facilities. The plan taps $400 million from the American Rescue Plan — money the state has already received — and could steer the construction contracts toward companies that previously qualified for the work. The construction bill signed into law bypasses the normal bidding process for the two 4,000-bed facilities. It specifies that the state instead can negotiate directly with entities that were part of development teams that qualified for the projects under a lease plan that Ivey’s administration had pursued but abandoned. Those entities include Birmingham-based construction giant BL Harbert International and Montgomery-based Caddell Construction. Caddell and BL are each expected to be the main contractors for one of the two prisons, Republican Sen. Greg Albritton said. Lawmakers said working with those companies will allow the state to incorporate the prior work, saving both time and money. “The main thing is time, and time is of the essence. This is going to enable us to start these projects 12 months in advance, and time is money,” said the bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Steve Clouse. House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, defending the selection language, said the companies previously went through a selection process under the lease plan. The law specifies that if the state doesn’t reach an agreement with one of those companies, officials will start over with a fresh selection process seeking bids on the work. Alabama officials will have the money to start construction after lawmakers approved $400 million in virus funds and another $150 million from the state’s general fund, in addition to agreeing to borrow $785 million through a bond issue. “We can start this construction now with the money we have on hand now … without having to wait to float bonds,” Albritton said. “I believe we’re going to see dirt flying in January.” The U.S. Department of Justice has sued Alabama over a prison system “riddled with prisoner-on-prisoner and guard-on-prisoner violence.” The Justice Department noted in an earlier report that dilapidated facilities were a contributing factor to the unconstitutional conditions but wrote “new facilities alone will not resolve” the matter because of problems in culture, management deficiencies, corruption, violence, and other problems. Dozens of advocacy groups objected to the prison construction plan. “We do not believe the issues facing Alabama’s prisons are about the buildings,” said Bryan Stevenson, executive director and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. “We think it’s entirely about leadership, culture, and the practices,” Stevenson said. “I just think engaging in a costly effort around new prisons is not going to solve the problem and worse is distracting us from dealing with the prisons.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
States and cities slow to spend federal pandemic money
As Congress considered a massive COVID-19 relief package earlier this year, hundreds of mayors from across the U.S. pleaded for “immediate action” on billions of dollars targeted to shore up their finances and revive their communities. Now that they’ve received it, local officials are taking their time before actually spending the windfall. As of this summer, a majority of large cities and states hadn’t spent a penny from the American Rescue Plan championed by Democrats and President Joe Biden, according to an Associated Press review of the first financial reports due under the law. States had spent just 2.5% of their initial allotment while large cities spent 8.5%, according to the AP analysis. Many state and local governments reported they were still working on plans for their share of the $350 billion, which can be spent on a wide array of programs. Though Biden signed the law in March, the Treasury Department didn’t release the money and spending guidelines until May. By then, some state legislatures already had wrapped up their budget work for the next year, leaving governors with no authority to spend the new money. Some states waited several more months to ask the federal government for their share. Cities sometimes delayed decisions while soliciting suggestions from the public. And some government officials — still trying to figure out how to spend previous rounds of federal pandemic aid — simply didn’t see an urgent need for the additional cash. “It’s a lot of money that’s been put out there. I think it’s a good sign that it hasn’t been frivolously spent,” Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said. He was president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors when more than 400 mayors signed a letter urging Congress to quickly pass Biden’s plan. The law gives states until the end of 2024 to make spending commitments and the end of 2026 to spend the money. Any money not obligated or spent by those dates must be returned to the federal government. The Biden administration said it isn’t concerned about the early pace of the initiative. The aid to governments is intended both “to address any crisis needs” and to provide “longer-term firepower to ensure a durable and equitable recovery,” said Gene Sperling, White House American Rescue Plan coordinator. “The fact that you can spread your spending out is a feature, not a bug, of the program. It is by design,” Sperling told the AP. The Treasury Department set an aggressive reporting schedule to try to prod local planning. It required states, counties, and cities with estimated populations of at least 250,000 to file reports by Aug. 31 detailing their spending as of the previous month as well as future plans. More than half the states and nearly two-thirds of the roughly 90 largest cities reported no initial spending. The governments reported future plans for about 40% of their total funds. The AP did not gather reports from counties because of the large number of them. To promote transparency, the Treasury Department also required governments to post the reports on a “prominent public-facing website,” such as their home page or a general coronavirus response site. But the AP found that many governments ignored that directive, instead tucking the documents behind numerous navigational steps. Idaho and Nebraska had not posted their reports online when contacted by the AP. Neither had some cities. Officials in Jersey City, New Jersey, required the AP to file a formal open-records request to get its report, though that shouldn’t have been necessary. City employees in Laredo, Texas, and Sacramento, California, also initially directed the AP to file open-records requests. Laredo later told the AP it had spent nothing. Sacramento relented and eventually provided a short report stating it had spent nothing but might put its entire $112 million allocation toward replacing lost revenue and providing government services. Among states, the largest share of initial spending went toward shoring up unemployment insurance trust funds that were depleted during the pandemic. Arizona reported pouring nearly $759 million into its unemployment account, New Mexico nearly $657 million, and Kentucky almost $506 million. For large cities, the most common use of the money was to replenish their diminished revenue and fund government services. San Francisco reported using its entire initial allotment of $312 million for that purpose. Those reporting no initial spending included Pittsburgh, whose mayor joined with several other Pennsylvania mayors in February on a column urging Congress to pass “crucial” aid for state and local governments. “Congress must act, and they must act soon. Our communities cannot wait another day,” the Pennsylvania mayors wrote. Pittsburgh ultimately ended up waiting to spend the money until the Treasury guidelines were released, community members had a chance to comment and the City Council could sign off on the spending plans. In the future, the city plans to use part of its federal windfall to buy 78 electric vehicles, build technology labs at recreation centers and launch a pilot project paying 100 low-income Black women $500 a month for two years to test the merits of a guaranteed income program. The federal money also will help pay the salaries of more than 600 city employees “Even though the money hadn’t technically been expended” by the Treasury Department’s reporting timeline, “the receipt of the money was enough for us to hold off on major layoffs,” said Dan Gilman, chief of staff to Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto. Some officials are intentionally taking their time. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, opted not to call a special session to appropriate money from the latest federal pandemic relief act. So far, he’s publicly outlined just one proposal — $400 million for broadband. Parson’s budget director said the administration will present more ideas to lawmakers when they convene for their regular session in January. Until then, the state should have enough money left from a previous federal relief law to cover the costs of fighting the virus, budget director Dan Haug said. “We want to try to find
Alabama lawmakers OK plan to build prisons with virus cash
Amid a national debate over the use of pandemic relief funds, Alabama lawmakers swiftly approved a plan Friday to tap $400 million from the American Rescue Plan to help build two super-size prisons, brushing off criticism from congressional Democrats that the money was not intended for such projects. The Alabama Legislature gave final approval to the $1.3 billion prison construction plan, and to a separate bill to steer $400 million of the state’s $2.1 billion from the rescue funds to pay for it. With legislative leaders standing behind her, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed the bills into law soon afterward. The Republican called the construction plan “a major step forward” for the prison system, which faces various federal court orders and a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice. “This is a pivotal moment for the trajectory of our state’s criminal justice system,” Ivey said. President Joe Biden’s sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue package was signed in March, providing a stream of funds to states and cities to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Alabama’s plan to use almost 20% of its American Rescue funds for prison construction drew criticism from some congressional Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell of Alabama, who argued that was not the intent of the relief program. But state Republicans argued that the expenditure addresses a public safety need and is allowed under a provision to replace lost revenue and shore up state services. Republican Sen. Greg Albritton said the funds will “go a long way” to addressing the state’s longstanding problems in prisons. “This was the right thing for Alabama to do. We’ve got crumbling infrastructure. We’ve got people housed in places that are filthy. We’ve got individuals working in conditions that are unsafe,” Albritton said. The plan drew opposition from many Democrats in the House of Representatives but had minimal dissenting votes in the state Senate, where senators approved the use of the pandemic money in a 30-1 vote and the overall construction plan in a 29-2 vote. Democratic Rep. Juandalynn Givan of Birmingham, who voted against the bills in the House, said she hopes the federal government steps in and tells the state the expenditure is not allowed. “There are many needs here in the state of Alabama and there are many people who need these funds,” she said. “But they (Republicans) saw an opportunity to take the Biden money, that $400 million, because it was just like liquid water flowing through their hands and say, ‘OK, let’s jump on it,’” Givan said. U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York this week sent a letter to Treasury Department Secretary Janet Yellen asking her to “prevent the misuse of ARP funding by any state, including Alabama” to build prisons. Asked Wednesday about Alabama’s plan, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “I would be surprised if that was the intention of the funding.” Republican legislative leaders said they are comfortable they can legally use the funds because the American Rescue Plan, in addition to authorizing the dollars for economic and health care programs, says states can use the money to replace revenue lost during the pandemic to strengthen support for vital public services and help retain jobs. The U.S. Department of Justice has sued Alabama over a prison system “riddled with prisoner-on-prisoner and guard-on-prisoner violence.” The Justice Department noted in an earlier report that dilapidated facilities were a contributing factor to the unconstitutional conditions but wrote “new facilities alone will not resolve” the matter because of problems in culture, management deficiencies, corruption, violence, and other problems. The Alabama prison construction proposal calls for three new prisons — a prison in Elmore County with at least 4,000 beds and enhanced space for medical and mental health care needs; another prison with at least 4,000 beds in Escambia County and a women’s prison — as well as renovations to existing facilities. Six current facilities would close. The package of approved bills includes modest reform measures: The state will purchase a vacant private prison and use it to house parole violators — instead of sending them back to prison — and provide rehabilitation programs there to try to combat recidivism. Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn said the construction plan was both the “right thing to do” and would help the state “with respect to DOJ, with the other litigation.” Advocacy groups argued the state needed to take on broader reforms. “The Alabama Legislature has proved its determination to spend $400 million of American Rescue Plan funds to build two mega-prisons when we have one of the highest COVID death rates in the world,” said Katie Glenn, policy associate at the SPLC Action Fund, an arm of the Southern Poverty Law Center. “It won’t solve the problems plaguing the prison system, only decarceration can do that.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama prison plan heads to final vote in Legislature
Alabama lawmakers on Thursday continued to advance a $1.3 billion prison construction plan that would be partly funded with pandemic economic relief dollars, saying they are comfortable that the expenditure is allowed. The Senate Finance and Taxation Committee approved the construction plan and related financial bills, including using $400 million of the state’s $2.1 billion from the American Rescue Plan to pay for part of the construction. The approval put the bills in line for a final vote Friday in the Alabama Senate. Republican Sen. Greg Albritton said the $400 million for prisons is a necessary expenditure and represents a fraction of the billions in pandemic relief dollars that have come into the state, payments ranging from stimulus and unemployment for individuals to grants for government. “Alabama’s need on the prison matter is acute, and it’s necessary,” Albritton said. Democratic Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison said she believed some of the money should go to the “self-contained petri dish” that prisons are but questioned whether the state had done enough for health care services. “I’m concerned right now about hospitals closing, especially in rural areas. When hospitals close in rural areas, that’s a long distance for people to travel and a loss of lives, possibly,” Coleman-Madison said. The $400 million comes from a segment of the American Rescue Plan funds that provides money to replace revenue lost during the pandemic. The Treasury Department said the money can be used for infrastructure and to strengthen support for vital public services. “Now without saying, ‘Yes, Alabama, you can build a prison,’ I think that pretty clearly says, ‘Yes, Alabama, you can build a prison,’” Kirk Fulford, deputy director of the Legislative Services Agency, told lawmakers during a presentation. The proposal calls for at least three new prisons — one with at least 4,000 beds in Elmore County that would have enhanced space for medical and mental health care needs, another with at least 4,000 beds in Escambia County, and a women’s prison — as well as renovations to existing facilities. Six existing prisons would eventually close, a prospect that has brought objections from some lawmakers. Sen. Democratic Sen. Billy Beasley of Clayton said his district has three prisons, all recruited to provide jobs in the isolated rural area. “If I lose my facilities, then it’s going to be a devastating blow to the economy of Clayton and Clio and Barbour County, for that matter — and Bullock County,” Beasley said. Beasley also unsuccessfully tried to decrease the maximum number of inmates the prisons would house, questioning the feasibility of safely running and staffing two 4,000-bed prisons. The committee tabled the proposed amendment. “I think it’s in the best interest of the correctional officers. I think it’s in the best interest of the inmates,” Beasley said of having smaller prisons. To pay for construction, the state would also borrow $785 million through a bond issue and tap $150 million in general fund dollars. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama House approves prison plan using virus funds
Alabama lawmakers on Wednesday headed toward swift approval of a prison construction package that would tap $400 million of the state’s pandemic relief funds to help pay for building three new lockups. The House of Representatives voted 74-26 for the $1.3 billion construction plan and 75-25 to use $400 million from the state’s share of American Rescue Plan dollars to help pay for the construction. The votes came after Republicans, who hold a lopsided majority in the Alabama Legislature, voted to cut off debate. The bills now move to the Alabama Senate. Republican Gov. Kay Ivey and GOP legislative leaders touted the construction plan as a partial solution to the state’s longstanding problems in corrections that led the U.S. Department of Justice to sue the state last year. The proposal brought sharp criticism from state Democrats, who argued it will not remedy the prison problems and said the state has needs in health care and education that could be helped by the $400 million. “I’m thinking about families, and how this money was supposed to be an additional injection of resources into the community. All of these folks that have been hurting, and we’re using this $400 million to build prisons,” said Democratic Rep. Merika Coleman of Pleasant Grove. Ivey and Republican legislative leaders have argued that the plan is appropriate because the American Rescue Plan says states can use some of the funds to replace revenue lost during the coronavirus pandemic to maintain services. “We are talking about human beings and their lives,” said House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, apparently referencing the people who live and work in dilapidated and dangerous state prisons. “This money is well-spent. It is something that needs to be fixed.” The lone Democrat in Alabama’s congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, wrote on Twitter that she is disturbed her state is using the pandemic money for prisons, “especially as the virus rages in our state.” “To be clear, the current state of the Alabama prison system is abhorrent, but the use of COVID-19 relief funds to pay for decades of neglect is simply unacceptable,” she said. The Department of Justice last year sued Alabama, saying male inmates in the state live in prisons “riddled with prisoner-on-prisoner and guard-on-prisoner violence.” In a 2019 report that preceded the lawsuit, the DOJ made it clear that new prisons alone will not solve the problems. Federal officials wrote that dilapidated conditions were a contributing factor to what it called unconstitutional conditions but emphasized that, “new facilities alone will not resolve the contributing factors to the overall unconstitutional condition of … prisons, such as understaffing, culture, management deficiencies, corruption, policies, training, non-existent investigations, violence, illicit drugs, and sexual abuse.” Alabama Democratic Party chair and state Rep. Chris England said the prison plan being proposed would not translate into a better system. “We will still be overcrowded. We will still be understaffed. We will still be under-resourced. And if our current commissioner is somehow still working, we will still be mismanaged,” England said. Republican Rep. Steve Clouse of Ozark said new modern prisons — in which prisoners would be housed in cell blocks instead of large dormitories with rows of bunks — would be a “foundation” for improving the system. “It’s a piece of the puzzle. It’s a big piece,” Clouse said. The Alabama prison construction proposal calls for at least three new prisons: one with at least 4,000 beds in Elmore County with enhanced space for medical and mental health care needs; a second of the same size in Escambia County; and a women’s prison — as well as renovations to existing facilities. Six prisons would close. The package of bills also includes a retroactive sentencing change that could allow up to 700 nonviolent inmates to seek shorter sentences, and a proposal to buy an empty private prison and use it for rehabilitation programs. Outside the Alabama Statehouse, about 40 people, including some parents of inmates, protested the plan and the use of pandemic funds. Carrying a banner that read, “Stop the Spending Spree,” the group said Alabama had other needs in medical care and education. “All they want is to build these prisons. They don’t care about reform,” said Sandy Ray, whose son died in a state prison in 2019 following a confrontation with officers. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama trying to use COVID relief funds for new prisons
Facing a Justice Department lawsuit over Alabama’s notoriously violent prisons, state lawmakers on Monday began a special session on a $1.3 billion construction plan that would use federal pandemic relief funds to pay part of the cost of building massive new lockups. Gov. Kay Ivey has touted the plan to build three new prisons and renovate others as a partial solution to the state’s longstanding troubles in its prison system. The proposal would tap up to $400 million from the state’s $2.2 billion share of American Rescue Plan funds to help pay for the construction. “I am pleased and extremely hopeful that we are finally positioned to address our state’s prison infrastructure challenges,” the Republican governor said in a statement last week. “While this issue was many years in the making, we stand united to provide an Alabama solution to this Alabama problem.” But critics of the plan say the state’s prison problems go beyond building conditions and that the state should not be using pandemic relief dollars to build prisons. “This week, the Alabama Legislature plans to spend $400 in American Rescue Plan funds — money intended to help your local schools, get your kids into affordable childcare, provide a lifeline to your small business, or assist your struggling rural hospital — to build two new mega-prisons. Not only is this a poor decision, it robs our communities of the money they desperately need to rebuild after 18 months of the pandemic,” said Katie Glenn, a policy associate with the SPLC Action Fund, an arm of the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Alabama prison construction proposal calls for at least three new prisons — a prison in Elmore County with at least 4,000 beds and enhanced space for medical and mental health care needs; another prison with at least 4,000 beds in Escambia County; and a women’s prison — as well as renovations to existing facilities. President Joe Biden’s sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue package known as the American Rescue Plan was signed in March, providing a stream of funds to states and cities to recover from the pandemic. The program gives broad discretion to states and cities on how to use the money. Republican legislative leaders said they are comfortable they can legally use the funds because the American Rescue Plan, in addition to authorizing the dollars for economic and health care programs, says states can use the money to replace revenue lost during the pandemic to strengthen support for vital public services and help retain jobs. Ivey and GOP legislative leaders have defended the use of the virus funds, saying it will enable the state to essentially “pay cash” for part of the construction and avoid using state dollars as well as paying interest on a loan. “We don’t have to borrow quite as much money and pay all that money back,” Ivey told reporters last week as she defended using virus funds for prison construction. The Department of Justice last year sued Alabama, saying the state prisons for men are “riddled with prisoner-on-prisoner and guard-on-prisoner violence.” The lawsuits came after the Justice Department issued reports describing a culture of violence and listed a litany of incidents including a prison guard beating a handcuffed prisoner in a medical unit while shouting, “I am the reaper of death, now say my name!” as the prisoner begged the officer to kill him. The department noted in a 2019 report that dilapidated conditions were a contributing factor to what it called unconstitutional conditions but emphasized that, “new facilities alone will not resolve the contributing factors to the overall unconstitutional condition of ADOC prisons, such as understaffing, culture, management deficiencies, corruption, policies, training, non-existent investigations, violence, illicit drugs, and sexual abuse.” The state has disputed the accusations from the Justice Department but has acknowledged problems with staffing and building conditions. Prison construction is the centerpiece of the special session call, but it also includes two policy changes: proposals to make retroactive both the 2013 sentencing standards and a 2015 law on mandatory supervision of released inmates. Bennet Wright, executive director of the Alabama Sentencing Commission, said they estimated that would allow up to 700 inmates to apply for reduced sentences. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Plan would use virus funds, bond issue to build new prisons
Alabama lawmakers on Wednesday began reviewing the latest prison construction proposal, a plan that would use a portion of the state’s virus relief funds to start building three new lockups. The proposal calls for three new prisons — at least a 4,000-bed prison in Elmore County with enhanced space for medical, mental, and other health care needs; another at least 4,000-bed prison in Escambia County; and a women’s prison — as well as renovations to existing facilities. The projects would be done in phases and partly funded with $400 million from the state’s $2.2 billion share of American Rescue Plan funds, a key lawmaker who drafted the proposal said. Proponents said the construction would be a partial solution to the state’s long-standing prison problems, which have drawn the scrutiny of federal regulators, but one lawmaker said it would put “old problems in new buildings” unless the state made additional reforms. The U.S. Department of Justice has sued Alabama over conditions in the state’s prisons, saying it is failing to protect male inmates from inmate-on-inmate violence and excessive force at the hands of prison staff. “It’s a part of the puzzle,” said Rep. Steve Clouse, the House budget chairman who worked on the proposal. “It will help us with overcrowding, to provide a safer environment,” said Clouse, a Republican from Ozark, who added that safer facilities should help the prison system recruit and retain employees. Lawmakers looked at the proposal in meetings this week ahead of a possible special session on prison construction. Clouse said the initial reaction was positive, but they will be taking a firmer vote count over the weekend to gauge support. However, Rep. Chris England, a Tuscaloosa Democrat, said new prisons will not “take care of the immediate humanitarian crisis in state prisons.” England said additional reforms are needed to address staffing, overcrowding, and violence. “In my opinion, until you deal with the lack of leadership in the department and the problems at Pardon and Paroles, you are just making new buildings and putting old problems in them,” England said. About a dozen friends and family members of inmates protested outside the Alabama Department of Corrections last week over conditions in state prisons that they argued will not be solved by new buildings. Angela Wells said her son died last October after being stabbed by another inmate at Easterling Correctional Facility. “When he first went there he told me, ‘Momma, I’m scared.’ I told him just keep on praying, that’s all you can do,” Wells said. The new plan comes after Gov. Kay Ivey’s plan to lease new prisons from private corrections companies fell apart when financers withdrew. Clouse said the state would own the facilities under the new plan instead of leasing them. He said using $400 million in Rescue Funds, as well as $150 million in general fund dollars, would allow the state to build the first facility without borrowing money and paying interest. The bill authorizes a bond issue of up to $785 million to pay for the rest of the construction. “This whole plan, I think, is a win-win-win for the taxpayers,” Clouse said. Ivey sent lawmakers a letter this week asking them to consider the proposal to address the state’s long-standing, yet urgent, prison infrastructure challenges.” “I do not use the word urgently lightly,” Ivey wrote, noting the state faces the possibility of federal court orders unless the problems are addressed. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
