An Alabama think tank wants the state to stop charging license fees for some occupations. The Alabama Police Institute is a group that lobbies for small government and says eliminating the fees would save thousands of Alabamians money. The Institute used to be called The Alabama Family Alliance. It has produced a report with the Manuel H. Johnson Center for…
The House has voted to scrap an Obama administration regulation extending background checks for disabled Social Security recipients mentally incapable of managing their own affairs. The vote to repeal the regulation is 235-180. The vote is part of an effort to repeal a handful of regulations issued in President Barack Obama’s final months and represents the first steps toward strengthening…
Attorney General Luther Strange announced that a federal court judge has granted a motion for a preliminary injunction by Alabama and 12 other states staying the Obama administration’s transgender school restroom access order. The U.S. District Court ruling allows schools in Alabama and nationwide to keep in place their current gender-based restroom and locker room policies. “The court decision is a victory for parents…
The Justice Department says it’s phasing out its relationships with private prisons after a recent audit found the private facilities have more safety and security problems than ones run by the government. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates has instructed federal officials to significantly reduce reliance on private prisons. As of December 2015, more than 22,000 federal inmates – or about…
The White House is predicting the government’s budget deficit for the soon-to-close fiscal year will hit $600 billion. That’s an increase of $162 billion over last year’s tally and a reversal of a steady trend of large but improving deficits on President Barack Obama’s watch. The disappointing figures, while expected, come after the deficit has steadily declined since the huge…
An Alabama congressman says the Obama administration is dropping a plan to possibly house migrant children in Baldwin County and Montgomery. Rep. Bradley Bryne issued a statement Thursday saying he’s learned the Department of Health and Human Services won’t pursue two rural, military airfields in Baldwin County as shelters for children who are in the country without their parents. An…
Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange is urging state schools to ignore the Obama administration’s directive on transgender students and school bathrooms. A statement issued Friday by the attorney general’s office says Strange sent a letter to the Alabama Board of Education calling the federal guidance improper. The administration has said schools could lose federal funding if they prevent transgender students…
Alabama and 10 other states are suing the Obama administration over a new directive about transgender students in public schools. The lawsuit announced Wednesday also includes Oklahoma, Texas, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Maine, Arizona, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia. The challenge follows a federal directive to U.S. schools this month to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that…
The Obama administration is telling public schools that they must allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. The directive is in formal guidance being sent to school districts Friday by the departments of Education and Justice. The letter does not impose any new legal requirements, but federal officials say the guidance is meant…
