A series of state bills that will dovetail with federal immigration laws and policies will likely be the early focus when the Alabama legislature convenes for its 2025 session this week. And Marshall County’s legislators – Sen. Wes Kitchens and Reps. Brock Colvin and Jeana Ross – are expected to be quite involved with that.
The three Marshall County legislators were among several Alabama lawmakers who traveled to the border for an eye-opening firsthand experience last year. They’ve been working on this package of bills since, Rep. Kitchens said.
“These are things that will compliment some of the things the Trump administration is doing,” Sen. Kitchens said. “It’s things we can do at a state level to compliment the federal level and protect our communities.”
Late last week, he said none of the bills had been finalized yet and he looked for 15 or 16 proposed bills to be condensed into four or five bills.
He said different legislators had been working on different pieces of it.
“Now it’s time for all of us to put our brains together and try to attack some key issues,” he said.
Sen. Kitchens said he doesn’t look for gambling to be as big an issue in this session as it was last year.
“Nothing has been pre-filed on it,” he said.
One issue that is expected to arise is more funding for school safety. He looks for a big push on that. There will also be a bill on insurance reimbursement for certain drugs for independent pharmacies, an issue that local pharmacists have been dealing with for some time.
“We are trying to come up with a compromise that will take care of our independent pharmacies and also keep insurance rates as low as possible,” Sen. Kitchens said.
He said the governor may offer a package of bills on public safety to aid pardons, paroles and police officers.
“We anticipate veterans benefits coming up,” Sen. Kitchens said. “Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth chairs our veterans’ stability commission and he wants Alabama to be the most veteran friendly state in the entire country. There are a few things we are looking at to try to advance that mission.”
The budgets are expected to once again be in good shape. And there is a local bill on cleaning up the distribution of TVA in lieu of tax money.
