>> From our statehouse studio in Montgomery.

I'm Todd Stacy.

Welcome to Capitol Journal.

While Alabama's capital city has been somewhat slow here, at the start of the summer, the nation's capital was bustling with activity this week, and Alabama's delegation in Washington was right in the thick of it.

We'll start in the House of Representatives, which took up and passed the National Defense Authorization Act.

The NDAA is an annual bill that sets policy and spending parameters for the US military.

Despite Congress changing hands between Republicans and Democrats over the years, the NDAA has passed without fail for 62 consecutive years.

Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, which crafts the NDAA.

He guided the bill on the House floor and highlighted some of the bill's features, including an almost 20% pay raise for service members.

>> The NDAA is one of the most consequential bills Congress considers.

Passage of this bill each year sends an important signal to the men and women defending our freedom that Congress can function and will prioritize their needs above all else.

Enacting the NDAA has never been more vital than today.

America and our allies face unprecedented and rapidly evolving threats from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and terrorist organizations throughout the world.

These threats are real.

We all just witnessed terrorist acts on their threats against one of our closest allies in the Middle East, and we all pray for Israel as it counters the most vile attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.

To stay ahead of these threats, DoD came to Congress this year, as they do every year, to request critical new authorities as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act.

We took those requests seriously.

We held dozens of hearings to examine them.

Then we worked to improve them and add our own priorities, uh, through the committee and floor processes.

The National Defense Authorization Act passed the House on a vote of 217 to 199, with Democrats opposing it.

The Senate is working on its own version of the NDAA.

Typically, what happens is the two chambers will work out differences between the two bills in a conference committee.

US Senator Tommy Tuberville has been engaged on the farm bill, which was discussed in committee this week.

The farm bill sets agriculture policy and authorizes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.

Tuberville said he and his Republican colleagues are working closely with the House on an approach that aims to reverse the trend of farmers going out of business by reducing regulations and increasing commodity reference prices.

>> In the last three years since Biden took office, we've lost 25,000 farmers in this country, and we've lost 150,000 farms.

A lot of those are smaller farms that usually are passed down from generation to younger farmers, but they can't make a profit.

You know, the EPA regulations, the input cost, the low reference prices have all put a lot of our farmers out of business.

This will be a critical year, and this is coming from talking to people at Alpha.

This is coming from people that are farmers in the state of Alabama.

This is a make or break year for a lot of our farmers across our state, and especially a lot of the small farmers and legacy farmers, as you just ask about.

So hopefully we can pull this off.

Hopefully the weather is good and we have good crops and we have good prices.

We have to have farmers.

Walmart does not raise their own food, folks.

It comes from farmers across this country and across Alabama.

US Senator Katie Britt has been engaged on the issue of in vitro fertilization or IVF.

This has become a political issue in this election year.

Britt and her colleague, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, last month proposed legislation that would prevent states from enacting bans on IVF treatments.

Senate Democrats blocked that legislation, opting to advance their own IVF bill this week.

Britt took to the Senate floor to express disappointment over what she characterized as Democrats attempting to use the IVF issue for political gain.

>> There's only one bill that would protect IVF access and not stray outside those parameters.

That's our IVF Protection Act.

There's only one bill that would protect IVF access while safeguarding religious liberties.

That's our IVF Protection Act.

And there's only one bill protect IVF access that could get 60 votes in the Senate.

And once again, that's our IVF Protection Act.

However, that's not the bill that Democrats are going to be putting on the floor this week.

Sadly, they aren't interested in a bill to actually protect IVF access and figuring out how we could get that to become law that wouldn't advance their true goal, which is about partisan electoral politics.

If Democrats allowed the IVF Protection Act to pass today, they would lose a key scare tactic they believe helps them in November.

And that, ultimately is what this is all about.

They're in week two of their summer of scare tactics, and eventually they're going to transition into a fall of fear mongering.

At the end of the day, the American people want secure borders.

They want safe streets, they want stable prices, and they want strong families.

My colleagues across the aisle know that they can't sell the Biden administration's record on any of these topics.

It's been failure after failure yet again.

So instead, they have to rely on distorting and misrepresenting Republicans positions on issues including our support for IVF access.

The bottom line is the American people deserve better.

And there is no better path out there than our bill.

The path of common ground solutions not show votes or scare tactics.

Again, I want to applaud the leadership of my colleague from Texas.

Senator Cruz has been a champion as we work to make sure that the world knows that we're going to protect access to IVF.

It was Military Appreciation Week here in the capital city, city and county officials partnered with the Chamber of Commerce to honor military families and offer them special free access to the Montgomery Zoo.

>> Serving and protecting us.

But a special thanks today to the spouses and the families and the kids.

Look out.

You sacrifice a lot, just like your spouse does.

And we're so glad you're in Montgomery, Alabama.

We're so glad you're here for the short time that many of you spend.

You are our family.

You will always be our family.

>> And Montgomery County and the state of Alabama support military and their families, not just those that are currently serving, but the thousands of veterans, uh, who previously served.

And so it's an honor to represent you.

It's an honor to serve you in this capacity as a military brat myself.

I'm coming up on a move here.

In about five weeks.

It'll be my 28th move in 47 years of life.

And I think about now as you kind of get closer to the end and maybe you are at the beginning, what it takes to be in a community and what it takes of the community to serve families who live and serve a very unique and exceptional experience.

And so I'm thankful for all the families that are here, all the military members, for the community partners.

The Alabama Legislature has passed multiple laws in recent years aiming to address the fentanyl crisis.

That includes legislation intended to help protect law enforcement officers who come into contact with that deadly substance.

Capitol journal's Randy Scott reports on just how real that danger is.

>> We understand that every time we go out the door, we might not come back home to our family, to our loved ones.

But somebody's got to do the job.

>> Skyler Campbell, deputy with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department, remembers April 16th, 2022, as a daily patrol day.

The northern district of Montgomery County up near the casino at Horseferry Road and Dozier Road.

The Wind Creek Casino in Montgomery conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle, um, during the traffic stop.

Multiple indicators of criminal activity were observed, which eventually led to a probable cause search being conducted of the vehicle.

Campbell knows this story because he was the deputy on that patrol.

When things suddenly went wrong while making a traffic stop.

During the search.

I ended up coming into contact with fentanyl and inadvertently inhaling or subsequently overdosing on the side of the road.

Pretend you have a career whose main job it is to protect and serve the public.

Then one day, you're the one who needs protection from an assault.

But not with a knife or a gun, but a drug.

A fellow deputy with Campbell saw him showing signs of someone who was exposed to the drug fentanyl.

He immediately went to his vehicle to retrieve Narcan, the medicine used to fight Campbell's exposure.

I was overdosing.

I mean, I was, I was slowly.

Stopping all functions on the side of the road.

I was totally unconscious.

Campbell would take four doses of Narcan while his fellow deputies drove him to be the ambulance for more treatment.

Once I was in the back of the ambulance, they gave me a fourth dose of Narcan, which is where I fully regained consciousness and did not lose consciousness anymore due to the overdose.

Campbell recovered from the event and two years later is a K-9 handler for the department.

His new partner specializes in sniffing out drugs.

A part of the job keeping people safe.

Campbell encourages citizens to report suspicious activities when they see them.

It could save lives.

I wouldn't say any of this to scare the general public, to be scared to go out of their house, to be scared to go and enjoy time with their family.

I would definitely lean on the side of caution and always be aware of your surroundings.

In Montgomery, Randy Scott Capital-journal.

One marquee issue this year in the legislative session was removing barriers for Alabamians to seek employment.

Part of that is making citizens aware of workforce development and higher education opportunities.

Capital Journal's Jeff Sanders reports on how those efforts are shaping up.

>> While we have record low unemployment, our labor force participation rate is one of the lowest in the country, and that's not low in a good way.

>> Governor Kay Ivey earlier this year, emphasizing the importance of training for high skilled jobs that do not necessarily require a four year degree.

As I said during my state of the state address, I workforce development programs need to work better for two customers job seekers and employers.

The governor signed into law a package of workforce development bills aimed at accomplishing those goals.

However, Gordon Stone of the Higher Education Partnership emphasized that while alternative forms of higher education may be necessary for the workforce, they do not diminish the advantages of a four year degree.

>> The unemployment rate for those with a bachelor's degree 2.2 2.2%.

Now those who don't have a college degree at all who chose not to pursue that.

The unemployment rate nationally is above 4%.

The Higher Education Partnership represents Alabama's 14 public, four year universities and advocates for these institutions to lawmakers at the statehouse.

And what's really, really encouraging to us is we're seeing a lot of interest in probably as much interest as we have since the pandemic of young people pursuing four year degrees.

One of the biggest challenges Stone says he's seen in the last few years is the rising cost of a traditional four year education.

But despite the rising cost, he insists it's a worthwhile investment.

There is no free lunch anywhere, and in in education, it has always been that those who are willing to invest receive the greatest returns.

The investment will pay many, many times over.

So yes, there is an investment attached to this, but it is an investment with tremendous returns.

Reporting from Montgomery.

I'm Jeff Sanders for Capitol Journal.

Coming up after the break, I'll sit down with State Representative Terri Collins to talk about the state's recent progress on third grade reading and other education issues.

After that, Jeremy Walker of the Alabama Association of Realtors joins me to discuss the latest economic indicators from an improving real estate market.

And later in the show, David Walters of the Alabama Community College System is in studio to talk about the various ways Alabama's two year schools are helping get more Alabamians trained for good paying jobs.

We'll be right back.

>> You can watch past episodes of Capital Journal online at videotape Tv.org.

Capital Journal episodes are also available on AP TV's free mobile app.

You can also connect with Capital Journal and link to past episodes on Capital Journal's Facebook page.

And you can listen to past episodes of Capital Journal when you're driving or on the go with Capital Journal podcasts.

Keep up with what's happening with Capital Journal.

Welcome back to Capital Journal.

Joining me next is State Representative Terri Collins of Decatur.

Mrs. Collins, thanks for coming on the show.

>> Good to be with you today.

Yeah, good to be with you as well.

It's fun to visit outside of session when everything's not just crazy busy, but I know you're here in Montgomery doing work and everything.

That's what a lot of people don't realize about the legislature is just because it's not in session.

You'll still make trips back to the state House all throughout the year.

I wanted to have you on to talk about these reading scores, right.

We are rightfully celebrating some unexpected, maybe progress on the Reading initiative, the Literacy Act passed back in 2019.

You were sponsored that legislation.

Um, and while we are celebrating, there was also an article that came out today from Trish Crane reminding us that those scores, the cut score that we're basing that on was adjusted lower.

And so maybe a little grain of salt in some of that news.

Can you kind of talk about how that worked?

I would love to I would love to.

Um, the reason that a different cut score was made a year ago was that the test changed in 23 that they would be given, and it included an extra element into that testing, which made it a harder test.

And so I was assured by several people, I trust that while it looked like a lower cut score, that it was kind of a parallel when you adjusted in the additional rigor because of the extra measure being, um.

Being able to see in that testing.

And so when the state board was working on what that cut score would be, we knew we had to set something.

And so I remember talking with state board members, talking with the superintendent, talking with different people, and I appreciate being included in that conversation.

But, um.

I finally decided, while maybe I had preferences that they were responsible for, for making that final decision of a cut score and I would support their decision.

What I was told is when they picked two standards of deviation to make sure that everyone included truly could not read on grade level, that I was told that then the next year, we would move to one standard measure of deviation and that we would continue to lift.

And if we will continue to lift, we have to start somewhere.

Sure.

And we did.

And I think it's a good place.

I am pleased with what we've done, but I would hope that every year we lift it and now I'm going to get a little bit.

Our test has four quadrants of where your student grades land three quadrant, the last three, three and four.

Those are grade level in advance.

So they're good to go.

They're good to go.

They're ready.

They're reading.

And we know that.

One are really struggling.

And so if you're in one, then you're in some of those that are being held back, which there's still an additional test.

There's still summer school, but those.

Parents got letters.

Those parents got letters.

They are still, um, actually a portfolio that would show you test poorly, but you know how to read.

Um, or there are exceptions if you're an English language learner, if you have a 504 an IEP.

Anyway, we have certain exemptions that are in the law.

But our cut score is somewhere in that second in the two quadrant.

And I would hope that we continue to lift that every year until we get to three to where it.

Would be, you know, that.

Yes.

Yeah.

Okay.

And so what I think some have been concerned is that we've always called this.

If you were above that, you were proficient or you were grade level.

And that's really not accurate.

You are sufficient because you've met the cut score.

But but I would love to see those parents.

And I even encouraged every interview I did or anything for parents, if your child is near that cut score then they need to be at summer reading camp.

They need all the help that they can that will move them forward and prepare them.

I was going to ask because if you are in that gray area between cut score and the third quadrant, right?

I'm guessing that because you're going to fourth grade, right?

Right you are.

But I'm guessing you might need some help, might need some extra support.

So, I mean, do you see that happening?

I do, there are two things, really, if you are retained in the third grade because you're not ready, the the law says you that third grade has to look different.

So they have to be they have to have more specialized, more, you know, targeted reading.

They have to do something in a different way.

Because if what they did last year in third grade didn't work, then we want to do something different.

And the law spells that out.

We have not added to the law or added anything about what happens.

For those that are still somewhat struggling but are promoted, we did put funding in the budget to work with that doctor.

McKee had asked for that and we put some of that funding in there for that, and we know we need to continue to work with those just like we also know we need to work with all the students that have been promoted, that weren't ready, that are still now in fourth grade or fifth grade or sixth grade.

And so I, um, I believe we continue to work on that.

One of the things I used to say all the time when I was meeting with our regional specialist or our literacy specialist or all the ones that were going through, they were doing a yeoman's job.

They were doing working so hard.

They were in letters training.

They were getting the professional development on the science of reading that many of them had never had before.

We were truly flying the plane as we were building it.

But and the literacy Task force was putting those quality measures that have made it successful in place.

One of them being the core curriculum.

We were like two years in before they asked.

The state board voted on that.

So they were.

We've known it was a work in progress.

It was just so important.

We didn't want to wait till we got it all right to get it done.

We wanted to start now.

And so they've done great.

And so does does the fact that we're not to level three know we have students all over Alabama that are reading that would not have been reading if we weren't doing all this efforts.

So I say congratulations to the teachers, the students, the families.

But do we need to stay engaged and be educated on where our student is?

Yes.

Do we need schools to say, here are the things your child is still struggling with?

Here's how you can help at home.

Yes, well, that's exactly why I asked you.

Because I know you're celebrating too.

I mean, look, you were.

It's terrific news, but can't keep the foot off the gas, right?

Really have to stay engaged.

That's kind of what happened to the literacy, the reading initiative last time, right?

It is.

It is.

And we know the importance of coaching now.

Um, hopefully we don't have another, um, 2008 through 11, like, kill our budget, which is what happened before.

But we have been trying to fund what we know it takes to help everybody be successful.

We have more teachers than ever that have been trained in the science of reading.

I think all that is making a difference.

And I think we'll we'll continue to see growth, and that's what we want to get a little bit in the weeds, too.

I had one school district who brought a third grade teacher, their reading specialist and their principal, and they met with me.

One of the other representatives brought them to Decatur.

They ate at Big Bob's, and they met with me.

I think he thought they were going to beat up on me, but we ended up being really good.

But the principal had all those portfolios, and here's what I will say.

She every child in the third grade just about had a portfolio.

But when you looked at her second graders half or less, so they know they've been preparing.

And when you looked at first graders, even fewer.

In other words, they know these children don't need a portfolio.

They're going to pass the test.

They know how to read, okay.

And so it's going to get better and better and better.

And the other thing that no one's really mentioning is that these these third graders are really our Covid babies.

Just going to say these are the Covid kids that were, you know, this time would have been in pre-K or kindergarten, right?

And some of those families may have wisely held those children back in kindergarten because they didn't get a grade kindergarten.

And so, um, I think we're moving in a great direction, and I'm proud of all those that have made that and had that accomplishment.

It's a great perspective.

Thank you.

While we still have a little bit of time, I want you you kind of quietly passed a trio of bills because, look, we had gambling, we had IVF, we had a very busy session full of big issues.

But on the education front, you passed a trio of bills, uh, teachers, Bill of rights, um, due process for student discipline.

Um, I'm missing one.

Parents right to know.

Parents right to know with curriculum.

Right.

Okay.

Big.

You know, pretty significant pieces of legislation.

I'll specifically ask you about the the teachers Bill of rights has to do with discipline in the classroom.

Does this come from feedback you've been getting from educators about what needs to happen in terms of discipline in the classroom?

It truly does.

This was very important to my senator, which is senator or, and, um, he was hearing and I will say this as the bills were moving through committee.

For like one week of issues that came up.

We had a folder that was this thick of teachers that had sent in.

This happened this week, this happened this week.

And they were horror stories.

And so wanting teachers to feel like we hear that there are problems.

We want to enable them to be able, when they go into their classroom, to teach their subject and not deal with discipline as much.

You know, one of the biggest things, and I said this as the bill moved through that I think will benefit.

That is not just this bill, but what we passed a couple of years ago on the Principals Act.

Right.

If we can provide great professional development for principals so that they are prepared to coach a teacher to um.

Know how to discipline a student and to hold them accountable.

Mhm.

Um, not just send them back to the classroom and.

Just not send them back to the classroom.

That's the biggest thing we heard.

And so trying to get that right and to put some levers in that make that a necessity because while you wish maybe you could do everything with the carrot, sometimes there has to be a stick involved to make sure something happens.

And that was what I saw.

Even with the Literacy Act, everyone wants children to read.

But until we had that sense of urgency, that was this year in a cut score.

That was the stick, so to speak.

But that was the the thing that gave the sense of urgency has.

To be some accountability.

There does.

Before I let you go, I mentioned IVF.

You were obviously very involved in that issue, helped pass that legislation to offer clinics protections, right?

In the wake of the Supreme Court.

Maybe it's too early to think about next session, but a lot of people are saying a larger fix is needed on IVF.

What's the conversation behind?

Is there any thought to that going on?

There's a lot of conversation behind the scenes.

I will say I did not have a lot of experience in that and actually got to look at an IVF clinic, which is just a reproductive clinic.

So it was all kinds of things, not just IVF, but to try to better understand it.

And I would say most of the legislature, as we were working through it, we didn't have a background knowledge.

And so I think a lot of people are trying to gain some information.

We're trying to look at what might have been done in other states.

Where do we need to go?

I would say right now that's across the board.

There are people that are certain we need some legislation, and there are some that don't think we need to do anything else.

So I think we will continue to have those conversations.

I don't know if a task force or something will be put together in the future, but I know that a lot of, of both legislators and people that are involved in the community are wanting to continue that conversation, and I'm certainly wanting to be a part of that.

Sure.

Well, I would say, you know, let's count on Congress to bail us out, but I don't really think that's going to happen.

No, we're out of time.

But thank you so much for coming on the show, Todd.

Glad to be with you.

We'll be right back.

You can watch past episodes of Capital Journal online anytime at Alabama Public Television's website at iptv.org.

Click on the online video tab on the main page.

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>> The Alabama Department of Archives and History was founded in 1901, becoming the nation's first publicly funded independent state archives agency.

The archives identifies, preserves, and makes accessible records and artifacts of enduring historical value to the state.

Thomas Owen founded the agency and served as its first director.

He was succeeded by his wife, Marie Bankhead Owen, who headed the archives for 35 years and was the second woman to lead a state agency.

You're watching Alabama public television.

Welcome back to Capital Journal.

Joining me next is Jeremy Walker, president and CEO of the Alabama Association of Realtors.

Jeremy, thanks for coming on the show.

>> Thanks for having me, Todd.

Well, it's been a while since you've been on the show, and we're going to get to June as home ownership month and everything, but can you kind of remind our audience about the Alabama Association of Realtors and your role in the state?

Well, we represent over almost 20,000 realtors across the state of Alabama, and they help families get into homes, buy property both on the buy side and the sell side.

They do a fantastic job.

They're in every community.

They're great partners in the local communities and great participants.

So we're very proud to represent them.

We'll engage on issues from economic development, private property rights, tort reform, ways to grow the state, um, and just improve our economy.

Um hum.

Well, I wanted to talk about that because it's not just the buying and selling of homes.

Y'all are very engaged in the state House here in the state House, when the legislature is in session, but also on the campaign trail and in elections and things like that.

So talk about that in terms of how the association engages in the political process.

Well, you know, we've got members that are very engaged across the board, and they want to be engaged in the process.

We've got a First Amendment right to be engaged on that.

But we really look at the legislature as partners in that endeavor on improving the state.

And really, the legislature has been fantastic the last few years on being forward thinking and proactive on having good housing policies affecting real estate and construction.

And really, the state has benefited from that.

The last four years, we've had positive inflows of net migration.

We're growing from one end of the state to the other, and part of having good policies put forward by the legislature is a big, big part of that and grow in the state and the economy.

And that goes with workforce development, uh, growing manufacturing jobs and the manufacturing sectors and really creating opportunity for people.

We have a great quality of life, but they've got to have economic opportunity.

And our state leadership has done great in providing that.

Um.

So it all kind of works together good, good business policies and all that.

And, and obviously with the housing, you mentioned tort reform.

That was an issue that came up late in the session.

I know you were one of several involved in talking about how Alabama's laws could be improved in terms of lawsuits and things like that.

It kind of came up late.

I don't think there was much expectation that it was going to pass, obviously, negotiations with the trial lawyers.

But talk about that issue, why it's important, and do you expect it to come up next year?

Well, we do expect it to come up next year.

It's important to our organization.

You know, we are in an industry that's being reshaped by lawsuits across the country.

And to an extent, we think many industries are being reshaped by overaggressive lawsuits, in some cases frivolous lawsuits.

And I think in the whole tort reform debate, you want there to be attorneys there to help people when they're harmed.

People need to be able to go to court and seek redress.

You don't want to protect bad actors in that.

Also, but you've got to.

There is a cost to society and a cost to consumers when you have too many lawsuits, frivolous lawsuits, billboard attorneys that are really exploiting the system.

It's not about representing the victims anymore.

It's about making a dollar.

And the system is being exploited across the state, and that has to be reined in.

We need to have some responsible limits, some guardrails, and we're going to be working hard towards that in the future.

Mm.

Interesting.

Well, we'll be tracking that as this as the next legislative session approaches.

All right June is home ownership month.

You've been out there on the trail, so to speak.

Um, messaging on this issue.

What is your message to Alabamians about June as home Ownership month?

Well, home ownership month is a way to celebrate home ownership, as the name implies, across the state.

You know, we have about 73% home ownership rate across the state, which is higher than the national average right now.

That's at about 66%.

So we're tracking about 7% above.

So we've got a lot to be happy with, a lot to be proud of in our state.

But we can always improve on that.

And home ownership really helps every community out there.

It helps families.

It creates stability and it really helps the economy.

Every time a home is bought and sold in Alabama, the spin off economic effect is around $85,000.

So when you're getting cleaning supplies at Lowe's or Home Depot, you're remodeling the yard.

You're doing landscaping projects.

There's a true spin off effect from that.

And overall, we represent about 16% of the state's GDP each year.

Real estate and construction, it's a big chunk of that.

But again, the the legislature's been a great partner on that.

When you look at the property tax cap, this this last session.

Oh yeah.

That was a big one that.

A host of business coalition partners that we all work together arm in arm to get that passed.

That was huge relief.

And that helps home ownership.

That promotes home ownership because a lot of our surrounding states have already put in reasonable caps.

And just to highlight for your listeners, I mean, you had cap property tax rates going up as much as 40, 68% in some counties.

Your average folks can't afford that type of an increase each year.

And it's just a it's a property valuation, right.

So every year you get a letter in the mail saying your property is was worth this.

But if it goes up that means your property tax goes up, right?

That's right.

Your property tax goes up and you're expected to pay more.

So nobody actually passed a tax increase.

It's just the value, you know, going up and all that.

That's right.

And look we feel for local government I mean citizens there want local governments to provide services.

And we support our local governments in doing that.

It's very hard for them to get a straight up property tax vote, you know, by the local citizens.

They fail all the time, but.

You don't want to go around the system and kind of have this backdoor tax increase is really what this has become, and be too aggressive on raising your taxes each year.

And it affects, again, small business owners, citizens are equally affected.

So we're really proud of the legislature for stepping up on that.

There's a 7% cap now on both residential property and commercial property.

It's a huge win for average folks in Alabama.

We're really, really proud of that.

Lieutenant governor Will Ainsworth, Senator Sessions, Representative Philip Pettus did an excellent job on that.

Well, let's talk about interest rates, because obviously they're still pretty high, especially compared to the historic lows that they were, you know, 2019, 20, 2021.

Um, it seems to me there was almost like this initial shock when they when the interest rates spiked up, this initial shock.

Um, where homeowner homebuying, I suppose, went way down.

Was that the case?

And then people saying, goodness, I'm not going to buy a home anytime soon, but now they're kind of coming back up.

You said three straight months of positive growth on home ownership is that folks getting over that initial shock of interest rates?

Well, we think it is.

We're really optimistic about where things are going.

We've had again three consecutive months of increases.

And we feel like things are definitely going in the right direction heading into the summer months, which traditionally are the strongest each year.

But when we go back to interest rates, we do think a lot of people were waiting on the sidelines, you know, because it's just two years ago that we had historically low interest rates, 2.5%, 3%, 4%.

So if you have one of those mortgage rates right now, you're not jumping to get a 6% or 7% mortgage rate, right?

Um, the good news is, again, the indicators are that consumers are saying, hey, we've adjusted a little bit expectations of we're comfortable with that high 6%, low 7% mortgage.

And when you look at historically, those are still really good, really competitive interest rates when you look back over the past 30 years.

So all the data, all the indicators are pointing towards a lot of progress, a lot of optimism heading into the summer.

That's that's that's good to hear.

We like to hear good news.

One of the things your organization does each month is provide this report on home sales, on all kinds of different economic indicators.

I've I've found it tremendously helpful.

It's kind of like a service.

What's the feedback that you get on that from lawmakers, from others in the political arena that that read your monthly reports?

It's really been good so far.

And if you've got any readers that would like to receive the report, they can go to our website, Alabama realtors.com and sign up for the newsletter, which we we publish that every month.

But anywhere from lawmakers to media have really responded very, very favorably to that.

They find it a data rich resource.

And so we cover a number of economic indicators, mortgage indicators, building construction indicators, and then real estate focused trends, unemployment, workforce participation, I mean, you name it, we cover the gambit.

But but it just is an important tool to put out there into the public space.

And and hopefully many people take advantage of it.

It's a free resource that we provide and we're grateful for any feedback that anyone has on it.

Yeah, well, it's really helpful for us in the media to try to follow the trends and see where things are going.

So I really value that we're out of time.

But Jeremy, thanks again for coming on the show.

Thank you for having us.

We'll be right back.

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Welcome back to Capital Journal.

Join me.

Next is David Walters, vice chancellor of the Alabama Community College System.

David, thanks for coming on the show.

>> Well, Todd, thank you for having me.

Now, I said vice chancellor of the Alabama Community College System, your title is actually much longer than that.

Can you kind of explain what all is in your title and what your role is in the system?

Well, certainly my title is Adult Education Special Projects and System Initiatives, and that seems to be very encompassing for a lot of different things that I do for the system, and certainly a new, uh, program that I've inherited, which I'm really proud of, is prison education.

So we're really focusing on prison education throughout the state of Alabama and doing some wonderful things through Ingram State Technical College and our other colleges that work with our jails and so forth throughout the state.

I've heard some really great success stories coming out of Ingram State, and we really want to dive into that.

Also talk about what the system is doing in terms of getting new corrections officers trained within the system and all that.

That seems to be a new initiative you all are getting on.

It certainly is.

Todd So we're working very closely with Commissioner Hamm and the Alabama Department of Corrections.

It was really the Chancellor's brainchild to really focus on meeting the needs of the Alabama Department of Corrections and individuals throughout the state of Alabama, but really taking advantage of a really good career opportunity of becoming a correctional officer.

Certainly, we don't realize sometimes the pay that a correctional officer makes, but you can start out up to 57,000 a year pretty good.

That's really good.

And then in 20 months when you go through the academy, you can actually get into around 72 to 73,000 a year.

And then with overtime, you can make close to 100,000 plus a year, which is a really great sustainable wage.

Um, but those are also tough jobs, right?

I mean, very tough jobs.

So what goes into because if I remember correctly, a lot of these are current employees in the corrections department being trained up to be officers.

Is that.

Correct?

Yes.

Many of them start out as security officers.

And then what we're doing is working with them, getting them physically fit and then also working in other skills that they need to actually be a correctional officer.

So we're we've got a six week training program.

It's on the job training.

So they're already paid by the Alabama Department of Corrections.

And then we put them through a six week training.

Just a wonderful training that encompasses different academic skills writing skills also physical skills.

Also just knowledge of the job that they're doing.

And certainly constitutional law has worked into that as well.

So we've got professionals in the field of corrections education that's working with these individuals to get them up to a level where they can become a correctional officer.

Mm.

It's interesting because you're obviously meeting a need there.

We've talked for years, if not decades about the need for corrections officers.

There's a huge staff shortage.

They're trying to address it.

So you're obviously helping a fellow state agency address a need.

But it kind of I mean, I know that they're not the only one.

Y'all are sort of trying to help the meet the needs of multiple state agencies.

But off air earlier, you kind of described it as not necessarily agency to agency, but almost like a business mentality, treating them like, hey, this is an entity that has employers and or employees and has needs that the Alabama Community College System can help address.

Absolutely.

Todd.

So, so we've taken a different approach when we look at our state agencies.

If you really look at our state agencies in Alabama, they're almost like a fortune 500 company.

So they have employees all across the state.

So what we're doing is like we would with any business and industry in the state of Alabama, is we look at the needs and what is it that they really need us to assist with.

So we've taken that same mentality and approach with the Department of Corrections.

We're looking at working with some other agencies like the Department of Youth Services.

And then certainly we have a lot of great partnerships out there through other programs with the Department of the Human Resources, Department of Commerce, Department of Labor, and those type of things as well.

So we're looking at those state agencies a little different as we move forward.

Certainly, we're going to be training individuals that are working for the Department of Corrections, but we're also working really hard on the inmates that are incarcerated in our state and the state correctional facilities, also in the halfway houses, and then certainly out in our jails as well.

So, well be careful because you basically put an advertisement out there to all state agencies we have.

>> But do you think there's a.

Greater awareness.

A growing awareness, that of the importance of credentials and the value that the community college system can offer to agencies and to businesses.

Absolutely.

Todd.

So when you look at it, it's all about skills.

And that's what we're focused on in Alabama.

Community College System is making sure the individuals have the skills to do the job.

You don't have to have a four year degree or even a two year degree, but you do need to have a skill set.

So we're very laser focused, as the Chancellor would say, on meeting the needs of Alabamians and providing them the skills and abilities to get sustainable employment.

So we want to make sure that everyone in the state of Alabama has access to services, and certainly there's no better training entity in the state than the Alabama Community College system and all of our colleges.

And certainly we couldn't do this without the state legislature and their support.

And I just want to thank them for all of their support.

And then certainly our colleges, we have a great group of presidents and staff out there and all of the colleges throughout the state of Alabama.

You mentioned formerly incarcerated or even those that are incarcerated about to have about to be released, and the importance of getting them trained, getting them skills.

It's about reducing recidivism, right?

If it.

Certainly is.

I remember cam Ward was on here talking about like, if we can get them trained, if we can get them skills into a good paying job, they're not coming back to prison.

They're not going to re-offend.

So talk about what goes into being a part of that solution.

Well, all of our training programs is really a built with business and industry in mind.

We actually sit down with business and industry when we build training programs.

So we want to ensure that what we're training all of our Alabamians and our citizens on, including the incarcerated, is really going to meet the needs of the workforce.

So we prepare them for the high demand in demand jobs in the state of Alabama.

So we want to make sure that we've got welders and people in the construction fields and people in the health care and all of the major, uh, fields that we have sectors, if you will, that we have in the state of Alabama.

Um hum.

Um, you know, speaking of workforce, uh, there was a huge initiative this year in the legislature to really transform a lot of our workforce, uh, you know, uh, infrastructure, if you will.

So a lot of that's being implemented right now, and there's a lot of going to be some interagency, um, changes being made and all that talk about what the community college's role is in all that, because, you know, there are multiple sort of workforce entities.

Is this going to help to kind of streamline things in terms of how y'all operate with in, in conjunction with commerce, with eight, with labor and all that?

Well, certainly there's a lot of working parts, and we work very well with all of our partners in the state.

So certainly consistency is what the Alabama Community College system is all about.

So we're the consistent education and training entity and really the foundation for all of that.

So no matter what may be going on around, uh, there's always the consistency when it comes to what we do in the Alabama Community College system, which is to train the Alabamians with skills, with abilities that when they come out of our programs, they're able to go into really good jobs in our state.

And we're very proud of that.

And we are focused on continuing to move the needle, if you will, when it comes to creating a really skilled, qualified workforce.

One of those pieces of legislation was called the Pathways to Success, I suppose, or path, you know, education pathways, basically trying to.

Help students early in their education.

I mean, junior high or even earlier say, you know, let's identify maybe some careers that you might be interested in and start gearing their education curriculum toward that.

I know that has a lot to do with community college system dual enrollment.

So talk about the pathways that exist.

So certainly we're really focused on pathways, pathways for individuals in our elementary schools all the way up to middle school and into secondary.

And certainly in secondary.

We focus on dual enrollment.

We've got examples of individuals graduating high school, and they're graduating with an associate degree at the same time.

Certainly we're very proud of that and focusing on continuing to to enhance our services in that arena.

And with the help of the legislature, we've been able to get additional dollars to help us do that.

So we're very proud of what we do there.

Also, there's a lot of adults, Todd, in our state that that may have dropped out of high school or certainly may have graduated, but their skill still skill deficient in certain areas.

So we are constantly looking at working in academics, applying your reading and mathematical knowledge into the world of work, and then soft skills.

We want to make sure that people are skilled in the areas of team building, problem solving, critical thinking, those type of things that we work into our programs.

So we do a lot of integrated education and skills training to make sure that we have a very well rounded individual, and they come out of our programs, any of our programs, and certainly we offer quite a bit.

So it's it's a vast array of services that we offer through the Alabama Community College System.

I'm thinking about adult education.

You talk about, like, you know, deficiencies or whatever, because, okay, I'm working a job and maybe I dropped out of high school, but I'm working a job, a good job, but.

I need that extra something to get me a promotion right to to to climb the ladder a little more.

Is that kind of what it offers in terms of opportunity?

Absolutely.

So one of the there's several things and I'll quickly describe them to you, but several things we do in the field of adult education.

So when the individual drops out, we have a high school equivalency exam that we offer in the state of Alabama.

And it's called the GED, the General Educational Development Diploma.

So the GED has been around for a long time, since the 60s, and is developed for the military.

We utilize that assessment to give someone a high school equivalency.

We also developed about six years ago with the Alabama Department of Education, a program where we can actually help build credits for individuals that have dropped out, where they get an actual high school diploma from the last school that they attended in the state of Alabama.

So we're proud of that program as well.

And then we also do English language learner services or people use called English as a second language services.

We do that as well for our population of individuals, that English is not their first language.

So we can help them build their ability to read, write, speak the English language.

And certainly we also have citizenship opportunities for them to become a citizen in our country as well.

Um.

I love what you said about the high school diplomas, because it's like.

Your chance didn't pass you by.

That's right.

Like it's there's another chance to to get that that diploma.

That's that's really nice.

Yeah.

Um, while I've got you, you know, one of the biggest issues going on in the state, really, the last couple of years has been the focus on workforce participation.

Yes.

And you all are right in the middle of this, because we certainly are.

We've got a great unemployment rate.

I mean, it's historic unemployment, but also really low workforce participation, 57%.

And that means 43% are on the sidelines.

I remember talking with Neil Wade, a former Edo director who's now running the paths for Success Foundation, all about removing those barriers to the workforce.

There's a lot, a lot of what the legislation was about this year.

Talk about the importance of removing identifying the barriers.

Yes, and removing them, and then training folks up to to how they can participate in the workforce.

Get off the sidelines.

That's right.

Well, certainly, I think you articulated it very well, Todd.

We've got 43% of the population that we certainly would like to see in the workforce.

Now, there's different issues of why they may not be in the workforce currently, but through the community college system, we have several initiatives focused on getting the population into the workforce, removing those barriers.

And certainly we've mentioned the adult education, and we're doing a lot of things to remove barriers.

We also have other programs that help remove barriers as well.

So certainly on the college academic side and then on the skill training side, the innovation center, you're probably familiar with that and the skills for success programs.

We offer short term programs that help people get the skills and the content that they need, and show that they have the ability to get into successful employment in certain sector areas.

And we do that within probably six weeks or less.

So we're flexible when it comes to individuals that may be working.

Certainly we're looking at child care.

We're looking at transportation challenges that face many of our population.

On the child care.

We're working very closely with the Alabama Department of Human Resources.

We've got several partnerships with them from an education and training standpoint with Snap and TANF.

And certainly we've expanded that.

We've got a new program that we're going to be rolling out soon that will be focused on helping employers.

We're going to be subsidizing up to $15 an hour, 40 hours a week for three months for employers to hire individuals that are formerly incarcerated or low income, that has multiple barriers that is impacting their ability to be successful, gaining sustainable employment.

So that's a wonderful partnership that we're very proud of.

We also on the child care side, real quickly, I want to share with you we're we've created a child care accelerated program.

So this is training.

Workers in the child.

Care industry.

That's right.

Because that's a need.

You know, in order for us to provide child care, we've got to have good quality, skilled child care providers.

And we need more child care providers in the state.

So we have worked very closely with the Alabama Department of Human Resources and Commissioner Buckner and her staff on creating a program that will accelerate people to get into the field of child care.

A huge issue going on right now, and it's interesting to see how you're interwoven in all these different issues and initiatives going on.

David, we're out of time, but thanks again for coming on the show.

Todd, thank you very much, I appreciate it.

We'll be right back.

>> Birmingham's Rickwood Field is the nation's oldest operating ballpark and served as the home field of the Birmingham Barons, Birmingham A's, and the Birmingham Black Barons for decades.

The Birmingham Barons inaugurated the new field on August 18th, 1910, by defeating the Montgomery Climbers.

The Black Barons played there between 1924 and 1950.

Rickwood hosted Birmingham's minor league teams for several seasons through 1987.

From 1967 to 1975, the Barons were owned by Ensley native Charlie Finley and were part of the Kansas City and later Oakland A's organization.

More than 100 members of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame have played at the field, including Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Satchel Paige, and Willie Mays.

Today, the historic field is managed by Friends of Rickwood and hosts local amateur and college teams.

The Birmingham Barons still play a ceremonial throwback game at the ballpark every year.

The Rickwood Classic, which celebrates Barons teams of the past and this historic field.

That's our show for this week.

Thanks for watching.

We'll be back next week.

At the same time right here on Alabama Public Television for our Capital Journal team I'm Todd Stacy.

We'll see you next time.