Alabama top stories in brief

• Around 40 colleges in Alabama are participating in the Alabama College Application Campaign and will waive application fees from Feb. 19-23 for Alabama students. In addition to these colleges, there are also almost 20 universities from outside of the state participating in the program. The full list of participating colleges can be found here along with any waiver codes needed by students. 

• The Equal Justice Initiative unveiled a statue of civil rights icon Rosa Parks at Legacy Plaza, across the street from its Legacy Museum in Montgomery last week. The statue of Parks is part of a series of three statues that the EJI has said they are planning to erect at the plaza. They also plan to erect statues of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis. 

• Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, sponsored bills to make changes to both local library boards and the Alabama Department of Archives and History. SB77 would remove the current archives board and have the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house, the minority leaders for the senate and house and president pro tempore appoint the board pending senate approval, replacing the current model that has the board nominate its own boards for senate approval. SB10 would give municipalities the authority to remove library board members at any time. Both bills were passed by the senate and have gone to the house. 

• The Alabama House of Representatives passed two bills on Feb. 15 that are now moving to the Senate. HB 151 would make an amendment to the state constitution allowing a state lottery, limited casino-style gambling and sports betting while HB 152 would implement HB 151 and also set tax rates and enforcement policies for gambling in Alabama including establishing an Alabama Gaming Commission. Both bills are sponsored by Rep. Chris Blackshear, R-Phenix. Locally, there are already areas around the state that have electronic-bingo gambling, which are similar to slot machines. The legislation would authorize casinos in those areas that already allow electronic-bingo in Alabama under state law, and would also allow Gov. Kay Ivey to negotiate a compact with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians on regulations for their casinos. Revenue from gambling will be broadly allocated with lottery revenue going towards educational purposes and casino and sports betting towards non-educational. If the legislation passes the Senate, then it will move to a statewide vote on the ballot in November. 

• Medical cannabis in Alabama is still at a standstill in the courts due to ongoing lawsuits over the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission licensing. Originally passed in 2021, legislation has authorized the production and use of medical cannabis in Alabama for 15 different medical conditions. However, after multiple botched rounds of licensing by the AMCC, medical cannabis has yet to reach anyone with the 15 conditions in Alabama. Once licensing has been fully approved and cultivators and facilities are allowed to begin growing cannabis, patients won’t receive cannabis as quickly as other states. This is due to medical cannabis in Alabama not being available in flower form. Because of that, THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis that is responsible for many of the medical benefits associated with the plant, must be extracted and processed into the available medical forms under the Alabama legislation. This extends the process of growing to consumption. If licensing were to be solved overnight, patients could expect to have access to medical cannabis in about four to six months. 

Our articles you might have missed

• In her latest edition of The Breathing Room, Hannah Irvin addresses the difficulty that many of us have when it comes to asking others for help. She encourages everyone to reach out to others for support when they are going through difficult times in life. 

Announcements

• We are excited to announce a new column called The Longleaf Hiker, which will be published by Xander Swain, our Roundup writer. The column will focus on the outdoors of Alabama and surrounding states. From hiking and kayaking to adventuring deep below in the cave systems under the Appalachian and Smoky Mountains, Xander will be taking our readers through his own personal experiences outdoors. He’ll detail his excursions and write about the unique natural history in the southeast. The column will be published on our site on the first Friday of each month, with Ko-Fi members receiving it a week in advance. The first issue of The Longleaf Hiker will come out on Feb. 23 for Ko-Fi members and March 1 for regular readers and will feature a trip to the Kathy Stiles Freeland Bibb County Glades Preserve. Make sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn for updates!

• We’ll be providing general updates on the Alabama Legislature every two Roundups. If there are any bills that you’d like to have us explain in detail, let us know and we’ll do our best to cover them. 

• We’ve made a quality of life improvement to our newsletters. Readers that wish to make adjustments to which newsletters they receive or to update the email address we send them to can do so by clicking “update your profile” at the bottom of our emails.