Photo by Leah Ingram Eagle.
Leadership Shelby March 2020
The Leadership Shelby class watches the House debate the medical marijuana bill on March 12.
Leadership Shelby made it to Montgomery for Government Day just before the coronavirus outbreak began to shut everything down. The very next day, the first case was reported in Alabama in Montgomery County.
This was the first event where the adult and youth leadership classes participated together. The youth class consists of juniors from Shelby County schools who were selected for their leadership skills in their respective schools.
Once we arrived in Montgomery, our first stop of the day was the Supreme Court Building, where we sat in the upstairs courtroom with justice William Sellers. He explained how cases make it to the Alabama Supreme Court, how they are ruled on and how for some, the next stop is the United States Supreme Court.
Our next stop was the State House, where RB Walker, Director of Legislative Affairs for Alabama Power Company, moderated a discussion with several legislative delegates, including Senator Cam Ward, Senator Jim McClendon, Senator Jabo Waggoner and Representative Corley Ellis.
They explained that while most states have one budget, Alabama actually has two: an education and general fund. Eighty percent of taxes go to education. Ward said that the legislature has its largest freshman class this year and the three biggest issues that were being discussed were a medical marijuana bill, prisons and lottery and gaming.
Sen. Jabo Waggoner, who serves as Chairman of the Rules Committee, explained that the education budget is funded from sales and income tax and is around $7 billion and pays for K-12 schools, two-year schools and four-year colleges. The general fund budget is $2 billion and pays for things including Medicaid and the prison system.
McClendon discussed the importance of the census and how the state gets funding based on the population.
From there, we went to the Young House for lunch. Our guest speaker during this time was Secretary of State John Merrill. His role is in the oldest office in the history of the state and he is Alabama’s 53rd Secretary of State. One of the things his office is in charge of is elections and voter registration.
He said since January 2015, over one million voters have registered in Alabama, and the state has over three million registered voters.
Next, we went to the Capitol where we visited state constitutional offices, including the state auditor Jim Zeigler and state treasurer John McMillian.
Later in the afternoon, we spent time viewing the Senate session, where the topic of medical marijuana was being debated. The House had already finished its session for the day, so we toured their area on the sixth floor.
That day was also the kickoff for the census, so we got to stand in the balcony as Governor Kay Ivey gave her official speech and urged Alabamians to complete the census.
After a quick tour of a part of the Capitol, we boarded the buses back to Shelby County.
Our last Leadership Shelby class day is scheduled for April 14 on quality of life and tourism.
280 Living Editor Leah Ingram Eagle is a member of this year’s Leadership Shelby County class. This article is part of an ongoing series, documenting the group’s year.