Figures Hosts Town Hall in Montgomery, Addresses Health Care, Industry and Infrastructure
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) — U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures met with constituents Tuesday night at a town hall in Montgomery, where he discussed priorities including health care, infrastructure and economic development.
The meeting, held at the Resurrection Catholic School gym, drew dozens of people from District 2, which Figures has represented since winning election in November after congressional lines were redrawn.
The event was briefly disrupted when a woman opposed to the war in Gaza shouted and gestured at Figures while he was talking to constituents as the meeting was ending.
Figures emphasized that expanding access to health care remains at the top of his agenda, pointing to the financial struggles of rural hospitals in Alabama. He said 52 rural hospitals remain open across the state, but 26 are at risk of closing — and 22 face an immediate threat of shutting down.
“Particularly here in Montgomery, if those rural hospitals in neighboring counties close, those patients are going to flood the system here, and they don’t have the capacity to take that kind of volume,” Figures said. “We’re working to try to fix that through the Rural Hospital Stabilization Act.”
He also highlighted the need to strengthen infrastructure to support new industry, citing the expansion of the Port of Mobile and ongoing investments in the inland port in Montgomery. Figures said improvements to east-west travel corridors are especially important for moving goods efficiently across the state.
Additionally, Figures noted his support for a water resources development act aimed at improving Alabama’s river systems, and he said he played a role in preventing the closure of Job Corps center in Montgomery.
