Alabama top stories in brief

• Longtime Alabama Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham, agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Rogers is the last of three individuals to have plead guilty to charges connected to a kickback scheme. Rogers will be confined to his home for 14 months and has agreed to step down from office. Additionally, Rogers must pay over $197,000 in restitution. 

• A bill, HB238, about pharmaceutical pricing has passed the Alabama House Insurance committee and is now ready to be voted on in the house. HB238 targets pharmacy benefits managers, — PBMs — third party administrative companies who are hired to negotiate drug and prescription pricing and other benefits between pharmacies, health insurance companies and drug manufacturers. As the law stands, PBMs set reimbursement rates for drug acquisitions by pharmacies and can set the rebate rate to be less than what a pharmacy paid for. This means that depending on the prescription, pharmacies can end up losing money. Pharmacies then have an option of losing money, or to stop stocking the specific prescription. HB238 would require PBMs to pay the full rebate, on top of a $10.64 dispense fee. Opponents to the bill have raised concerns that the changing of pricing policy restricts negotiation freedom, and would put the additional costs on the individual. However, the bill also increases transparency of PBMs in Alabama. HB238 increases pharmacy protections, gives the commissioner of insurance additional powers to investigate PBMs, and requires PBMs to report rebates to the insurance commissioner and health insurers. While there are concerns about individuals fronting the costs, the bill is supposed to protect rural pharmacies in Alabama, according to the sponsor, Rep. Phillip Rigsby, R-Huntsville. 

• A bill to increase penalties for discharging a firearm into a building or vehicle has received support from the mayors of Alabama’s 10 largest cities. The bill, HB174, would increase penalties for anyone who discharged a firearm into either an occupied or unoccupied building or vehicle to a class A felony, which would mean a minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison. 

• In the midst of ongoing lawsuits regarding licensing awards, the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission passed a new set of rules for public comment which would lift some requirements for caregivers and medical cannabis. The new rules would lift the previous requirements of being screened by Alabama Medicaid Agency, certification from the American Caregiver Association or employment by a hospital, or other medical facility. The goal of the new rules is to make it administratively easier for patients to receive cannabis. However, there are concerns over caregivers being able to administer cannabis to patients in medical facilities due to the drug still being a Schedule I substance under federal law. Justin Aday, general counsel for the AMCC, believes some level of legislation will have to be introduced to alleviate the concerns around caregivers administering cannabis in Alabama. 

• The Biden Administration and Department of Transportation announced that $3.3 billion will be going to states across the country to help rebuild and revitalize infrastructure in 132 communities. Alabama will receive $97.3 million for five communities. Phenix City will receive $352,000 to improve road safety and create walking and cycling paths along Crawford Road. Around $18.4 million will go to the Dr. Bill Sims Hike-Bike Way on the Singing River Trail in Decatur, improving access for an isolated historically Black community to resources in Decatur. Huntsville will receive around $27 million to create three new cable pedestrian bridges to improve access for low-income communities to the city’s downtown. Approximately $36.6 million will go to making infrastructure improvements for the communities along the Selma to Montgomery trail west Montgomery. Finally, over $14.5 million will be dedicated to a project redesigning Birmingham’s 4th Ave N., a historic business district, and converting 4th Ave N. into a two way traffic road instead of its current one-way model.

Our articles you might have missed

• In case you missed it, The Longleaf Hiker came out early this month. In this first issue of The Longleaf Hiker, Xander Swain travels to the Kathy Stiles Freeland Bibb County Glades Preserve, home to many rare and unique species of plants. Xander gives readers advice on traveling to the glades, describes some of the unique sites he found and shares his love for identifying species while hiking. 

• In the most recent edition of The Breathing Room, Hannah Irvin writes about the importance of finding your strength when you don’t have a large community to lean upon for help and how we can all choose to be the positive change we want to see in the world.