Despite distractions, the Alabama Legislature had a productive 2016 session

By Shay Shelnutt

In spite of the controversies swirling around Governor Robert Bentley, Legislators in the Senate and House worked hard to pass legislation that will move Alabama forward during the regular session that concluded last week.

Shay Shelnutt
file photo by Ron Burkett

The Education Budget for fiscal year (FY) 2017 is the largest education budget since 2008 and includes a 4% pay raise for principals, assistant principals, and all education personnel who make less than $75,000 per year (teachers over that salary will get a 2% pay bump). Further, the FY 17 budget increases funding for our nationally acclaimed pre-kindergarten program, dual enrollment, and classroom supplies.

I personally pushed hard for the pay raise without the proposed additional evaluation because I believe higher salaries will help us attract and retain quality teachers while the proposed evaluation was unwarranted. Improving Alabama’s K-12 schools for our students remains one of my top legislative priorities. In the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report, only 17% of Alabama’s eighth graders scored proficient or higher in math, and Alabama ranked dead last in fourth grade math scores. Great teachers are the most important factor in achieving educational excellence, and I hope the pay raise will incentivize more bright young people to consider teaching as a career.

I also remain committed to requiring state agencies to work more efficiently and save taxpayer money. The FY17 General Fund budget (the budget for all non-education state spending) asks some state agencies to make small cuts, while slightly increasing the budgets of Medicaid, the National Guard, and Public Health.

Medicaid – the government health insurance program for pregnant women, children, disabled adults, and the elderly not covered by private insurers – remains a challenge for lawmakers. Medicaid’s costs have risen significantly over the last decade as more and more people have gone on its rolls. The program currently consumes close to 40% of the General Fund. At the beginning of the year, Medicaid’s administrators asked for a $157 million increase over last year’s budget, but the most we could afford without deep cuts to the prison system or state troopers was an additional $15 million.

Like you, I believe government has a fundamental responsibility to protect life. This session, the Legislature passed two bills to preserve the dignity of unborn children. The Infants Dignity of Life Act forbids the sale of infant body parts, a disgusting practice that has no place in a civilized society. The Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Act outlaws abortions of the same name in which surgical instruments are used to rip apart a fetus’s body. In his opinion on Stenberg v. Carhart, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy observed that in dismemberment abortions, “The fetus, in many cases, dies just as a human adult or child would: It bleeds to death as it is torn limb from limb.” If no other legislation were passed, these two bills alone would have made it a worthwhile session.

Outside of Montgomery, I worked with local Trussville leaders to secure a visit from U. S. Presidential candidate Ted Cruz. I believe it’s important that our local citizens have the opportunity to personally see and listen to candidates to our nation’s highest office.

It is a deep honor to represent you in the Alabama Senate. If you have any questions on specific legislation, please email me at shay.sd17@gmail.com and I will be happy to respond.