Governor Ivey Responds to DOJ Lawsuit, Looks Back on 2020 and Talks 2021 Goals
The year 2020 has been a tumultuous year marked by obstacles no one could have imagined.
One day after the U.S. Dept. of Justice filed suit against Alabama regarding prisons, Alabama News Network Reporter Jerome Jones sat down with Governor Ivey for an exclusive one-on-one interview.
Jerome: ” As turbulent and uncertain as this year has been, what bright spots did you see in Alabama?
Gov. Ivey: ” Certainly the resilience of our people in responding to COVID, and the passage of the PSEA Bond issue. That’s to have some money for some major projects at our institutions and that’s going to be very helpful. That, and the fact that our people are eager to work and want to work. This year you know that I do not have any plans to close businesses.”
Governor Ivey says the most difficult part of this year was dealing with the Coronavirus Pandemic.
“The most difficult thing was nobody knew anything about COVID-19. We didn’t know what we were up against or how to deal with it.” said Governor Ivey.
Jerome:Â “Governor Ivey that is an excellent segue into my next question. When you think about 2020 and the response to the pandemic, are you happy with the way your administration responded? Knowing what you know now is there anything you would have done differently?”
Gov. Ivey:Â ” Knowing what I know now, certainly I wouldn’t have closed businesses down and let some of them be classified as essential and non-essential, that was a mistake. The people of Alabama stepped up, but that (decision) was no good. Every business is essential, it provides opportunity for our people, but I was pleased we moved past that.”
Jerome: “Looking forward to the 2021 Legislative Session, what would you like to see the Legislature accomplish?”
Gov. Ivey : ” I’ll certainly be working closely with them and sharing our priorities. We’ll have a lot of discussion about continuing to grow our economy and bringing new investments into our good state. I’ll explain more about that in my State of the State Address so stay tuned!”
On Wednesday December 9, the U.S. Dept. of Justice filed a lawsuit against Alabama regarding the conditions inside of the states prisons.
Jerome: “What can you tell me about the next step as far as the state is concerned in dealing with that lawsuit? Where do we go from here?”
Gov. Ivey : “The state gets it’s day in court. We’ll be able to point out what we’ve done. Look we’ve done this, we have these plans underway. So it will be a time for clarification, and it too will be lengthy process.”
Governor Ivey says the state has made big strides in efforts to correct the prison issues in Alabama, and she believes that when the Justice Department has all of the facts, they will agree.
The Governor says when she took office she knew there were tough issues to deal with, and she want’s her legacy to be that of a Governor that was not afraid to tackle the tough issues.
