Alabama Lawmakers Begin 2018 Legislative Session

Alabama lawmakers have begun the 2018 legislative session.

Lawmakers convened at noon Tuesday at the Alabama Statehouse to begin a legislative session that also coincides with an election year.

The session will be dominated by two major budgetary issues: prisons and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Alabama is facing a court order to improve mental health care in prisons. The state will have to pick up some of the cost of the insurance program if Congress does not renew funding.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey will give her first State of the State address on Tuesday night. Ivey became governor nine months ago by the sudden resignation of then-Gov. Robert Bentley.

In the speech, Ivey will discuss her session proposals, which include a pay raise for teachers and state employees.

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