Today is national earmuff day, dedicated to celebrating both earmuffs designed for cold weather and noise cancellation. The modern earmuff that we have today was the brainchild of Chester Greenwood, who first came up with the idea when he was 15. Greenwood’s patent and earmuff factory in his hometown of Farmington, Maine, helped keep the town afloat. Earmuffs aren’t nearly as common here in Alabama as they are in Maine, but regardless, it’s an inspiring story of entrepreneurship.
Alabama top stories in brief
- A civil rights complaint has been filed against the Alabama Department of Environmental management by The Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice and Natural Resources Defense Council. A press release from the NRDC says that ADEM has adopted policies making it difficult to access funds for on-site sanitation through Alabama’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which disproportionately harms Black residents. ADEM has responded by denying the claims and saying it has spent more on infrastructure in the Black Belt per capita than anywhere else in the state.
- U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama, is supporting legislation to make daylight saving time permanent. The Sunshine Protection Act would make it so Americans no longer change their clocks and instead stick to daylight saving time year round. In 2021, Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill into law to make Alabama stay permanently on daylight savings time, however, daylight saving time is mandated by the federal government, so it would take an act of Congress to actually change the law.
- Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm announced recently that the department would be increasing pay for state correctional officers. This pay increase is part of ADOC’s efforts to increase retention and recruiting efforts. As of last month, ADOC had a staff shortage of around 680 employees. Trainee officers recruited by ADOC for maximum security facilities will now make $55,855.20 per year.
- A Norfolk Southern train derailed in Calhoun County on March 9. There were no injuries, and while the cars had previously carried hazardous materials and contained residue, there were no reported leaks. This derailment came the same day that Norfolk Southern’s CEO was testifying before congress regarding the Feb. 4 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which forced many living nearby to evacuate. A second Norfolk Southern train derailment occurred in Springfield, Ohio on March 4.
The Alabama legislature gets under way
The Alabama Legislature had their first meeting of 2023 this past week. Among the top issues discussed was the budget. Numerous departments have asked for increases in funding, and the state is currently considering the best way to use a 2.7 billion budget surplus in the state education fund.
One of the most discussed ways to utilize the surplus has been to give every taxpayer a one-time $400 dollar rebate. This was pushed in Gov. Ivey’s State of the State address.
“A paycheck does not go as far as it did two years ago,” said Ivey in her speech. “That’s why I am calling on you to put nearly a billion dollars back into the hands of hardworking, taxpaying Alabamians through one-time rebates of $400. That means $800 for our working families, and it couldn’t come at a better time.”
Other Alabama lawmakers have pushed for utilizing the funds in a different way. Rep. Sam Jones, D-Mobile, told AL.com that he would prefer to see the money put towards removing state sales tax and tax on overtime pay, saying that he believed it would be more helpful in the long-term.
Justin Bogie, the Senior Director of Fiscal Policy at the Alabama Policy Institute, a conservative think tank, also believes that Alabama should remove its sales tax.
“After taking so much money from citizens over the past few years, a limited tax rebate is not good enough,” Bogie wrote in an opinion column for 1819 News in October. “By sending a small check in the mail to Alabamians, the money will be gone and quickly forgotten. A rebate should truly be the last option, not the default option.”
Another top concern for Ivey during the address was the remaining 1.06 billion of Federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. She called the legislature into a special session in order to decide how to spend the ARPA funds.
The current proposed spending would dedicate the ARPA funds towards water and sewer infrastructure, broadband expansion, health care reimbursements and other projects to address economic impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The legislature will reconvene for regular sessions on March 21.
Our articles you might have missed
- Last week’s Alabama Roundup focused on the recent recommendations made by the Alabama Workforce and Wage Gap Task Force designed to help decrease the wage-gap between men and women in the state.
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