This week on Capitol Journal.

The government shutdown is over, and Alabama's delegation played a key role.

Alex Angle reports from Washington.

That's a sigh of relie for food banks across the state.

And Randy Scott reports on how they've fared.

And Jeff Sander reports on a legislative effort to tie higher education funding to student outcomes.

Joining us in studio this week, U.S.

Senator Katie Britt sits down to discuss her role in negotiating an end to the government shutdown and other topics in Tuscaloosa.

Mayor Walt Maddox joins me to talk about his effort to reform the state's online sales tax.

That's all next on Capitol Journal.

From our statehouse studi in Montgomery, I'm Todd Stacey.

Welcome to Capitol Journal.

The federal government is open again after a record-setting shutdow that lasted more than 40 days.

President Donald Trump made it official, signing legislation funding the government through January.

Alex Angle reports from Capito Hill on how Alabama's lawmakers voted on the funding bill.

After 43 days, the House voted to reopen the government Wednesday.

The bill, as amended, is passed.

The Senate passed the funding legislation two days before that.

A handful of Democrats in both chambers joined Republican to put an end to the gridlock.

Alabama's delegation voted with their party.

I'm excited.

It's finally over.

The shutdown lef a trail of pain across Alabama with delayed food aid payments and missed paychecks.

We've got a lot of military bases, a lot of general contractors, stuff that that's important to our state, but it's more important t those families that have income.

But Democrats are frustrated that an extension of health insurance subsidie was not included in the measure.

It was their main demand in the shutdown fight.

Extending the health care premium subsidies is something that's very important.

Making sure that we hav the resources that are necessary throughout the state of Alabama to bolster up our rural hospitals.

During a House Democrat press conference, Congressman Shomari Figures added that the deal's promised Senate vote on the subsidies is not enough.

Congresswoman Terri Sewell also joined her colleagues to continue the health care push.

I want my constituents to know that nobody wins in a government shutdown, but it is a false choice that you have to choose between opening up government and protecting the health care of Americans.

Before the House returned to Washington, eight Senate Democrats broke with their party to vote for the government funding bill.

Senator Katie Britt helped make that happen.

She worked to secure Virginia Senato Tim Kaine to vote, figuring out what she needed to be abl to provide for his constituency within the framework of what the white House is willing to do.

And so being the liaison between thos two things, those two parties.

The deal required the white House to rehire federal employees laid off during the shutdown, and guarantee back pay to furloughed workers.

The bill runs through the end of January.

It also fully funds programs like Snap and those relating to veterans and military construction.

Reporting on Capitol Hill, Alex Engle, Capital Journal thank you, Ale and Senator Britt will join me later in the show to discuss all of this in more detail.

At the end of the shutdow is a relief for families on food assistance who saw their snap benefits lapse.

The shutdown put a greater demand on food banks throughout the state, but also raised awareness about Alabama's food bank network.

Capital Journal's Randy Scott reports.

We are trying to find ways to reach out to the community to help us get wit get more frozen meals in here.

Staff with the Montgomery Meal on Wheels program are breathing a sigh of relief with the end of the national government shutdown.

They're not alone.

Other organizations, including airlines and government agencies, are looking to restart their operations for Meals on Wheels.

It's about keeping people from going hungry.

I mean, currently we're serving 450 hot meals five days a week to seniors who are 60, 60 and older.

But right now, our, our probably our biggest problem is the frozen meal program.

We have a number of, folk who provide us our frozen meals, and they've had t they're dropped off, basically.

We are definitely a volunteer driven organization.

A lot of people always ask, what do you need more money or what, in order to take care of our waiting list?

But it really is a two fold problem.

You need money to start the route, and we won't start aroun unless we can sustain a route.

Meals on wheels CE Chris Turman says the shutdown caused vital partners such as the Heart of Alabama Food Bank to see a shortage in some supplies.

They're used by other partners to supply the meals progra with meals for senior citizens.

All the money that's coming i and we're turning right around and ordering truckloads of food, again.

And we're trying to focus on shelf stable, kind of core products that can last a long time.

Both Meals on Wheels and the Heart of Alabama Food Bank say the shutdown hit their facilities.

From a supply standpoint to a personnel standpoint.

We know in a huge program like Snap, people are going to be affected in different ways.

You've got different situations.

You've got some people that may be working, working part time, and so maybe they're getting enough.

This kind of pushing through, but they still hav some resources to fall back on.

Both organizations say it will take time to get the supplies and the people needed to get their daily operations up and running.

They also hope the ending of the shutdown will encourage more volunteers to return.

Sometimes it takes very difficult situations, to spur people into action.

And so, there's always good that comes out of any bad situation.

The meal is about feeding them, but it is also about providing a safety check that we know you're okay and that you'r not on the floor needing help.

You know, but it's also socialization.

Being able to open the door, see a smiling face, and knowing that someone cares enough to deliver that food to you that day.

In Montgomery, Randy Scott, Capital Journal.

Thank you.

Randy.

The rising rate of obesity in Alabama has lawmakers and health experts searching for solutions.

The Chronic Weight Managemen and Type two Diabetes Task Force met this week to look at new data on treatments and those rising health costs.

Chairman Representative Ed Oliver said the state must be careful as more people turn t compounded versions of the GLP one drugs and doctor Catherine Sanders, a national obesity expert, walked number through the new research showing risks associate with these compounded products and how proper GLP one programs work in other states to improve outcomes and lower long term costs.

We're not sure what all the answers are because the landscape is changing so quickly.

We'll see what the Trump plan brings us.

We'll see where insurance companies are.

We'll see where the drug manufacturers are.

And also in the state at our level.

Something the legislature has to contend with is compounding pharmacies.

Whether they continue to operate, or do we find a way to make sure that everybody has access if it's a $150 a month?

A lot of people may or may not take that, but I think that that will will eliminate the compounding pharmacies, by and large.

Obesity i a really heterogeneous disease.

Most patients need more than on medication, and most patients, need to try a variety at some times before we figure out what really works for them.

And so it's not about getting a you know, it's not about prescribing a GLP one to every single patien who is eligible for a GLP one.

Some patients will do much better with some of the first generation medications.

And you mentioned, you know, cen There are medication that have been around for longer where, they work really, really really well for certain patients and even some patients who are on GLP ones.

You know, if they are not achieving their health goals with those GLP ones, and we need to add in something else, those older generation of medications are a critical part of our toolbox.

Alabama lawmakers are exploring a significant shift in how colleges and universities are funded.

A legislative tas force is studying whether to tie a portion of state dollars to student success outcomes.

Supporters say it could reward institutions that help more students graduate and move into high demand careers.

Others caution that the details must be fai across very different campuses.

Capita Journal's Jeff Sanders has more.

Finding a new model to fund higher education in Alabama is becoming a top task for lawmakers heading into the upcoming legislative session.

Members of a legislative task force looking at modernizing Alabama's higher education funding formula are considering a performance based model that would direct new state dollars to institutions that improve student success outcomes.

Senator Arthur or co-chairs the committee.

We're not challenging ou institutions of higher education to improve their output, in any way, so that, you know, we hope this process, the through this process, the legislature will help them with additional resources.

A additional funding to improve their outcomes.

Representative Danny Garrett, who also co-chairs the group, emphasized that the proces is still in its early stages and the lawmakers want broad input before drafting legislation.

Probably not going to have a list of 20 outcomes that we're going to we're going to be looking, you know, step into this slowly and measuring it and making sure that it's that it's that's that's targeted, it's constructive and it's working.

But we welcome your thoughts on some of these things we've added as we floated this morning.

The task force also heard from Excel and Ed, a national education policy group that has advised states across the country on performance based funding.

Their funding policy expert Matthew Joseph, shared lessons learned from states that have already put outcome based systems in place.

This is something that that the workforce department can be doing is helping figure ou what are these in-demand wages, in-demand occupations, and are they going to change and give people a little bit of a heads up and figure out?

I feel like that's that's very specific to implementation and your design.

AUM Chancellor Carl Stockton attended the meeting and said institutions want to collaborate with lawmakers as long as the approach remains fair and considers the different missions of each campus.

Glad to hear the committee talking about the differences between the different universities.

We're a regional campus and we serve a different set of population.

A lot of first generation students that stay in the community versus the metrics they're talking about using for your R1 institution.

And so I'm encouraged to hear that.

Lawmakers expect to have legislation ready for review before the session begins in January.

Reporting from the statehous and Montgomery, I'm Jeff Sanders for Capitol Journal.

Thank you.

Jeff.

Well report cards are out this week.

That's the states k-through-12 school report cards which measure individual school and overall statewide performance.

Let's take a look.

Overall, the state scored an 87 out of 100.

That's up two points from last year and three points from 2022 for academic achievement.

It's at 67, up about three points from last year and up almost seven points from 2022.

Academic growth scored at 97%, which is about the same as it has been the last three years.

And chronic absenteeism is at 12%, down more than two points from last year and more than five points from 2022.

And joining me next to talk about some of these numbers is apt.

Senior education reporter Trish Crain.

Trish.

Okay.

I mean, look, based on these numbers, based on the trends, it looks like we're headed in the right direction.

That's easy to say.

Yes, all the numbers are going in the right direction.

Little slip in academic growth, but that's it's not anything big to worry about.

All of this was based on your reporting and I'm seeing these numbers and I'm no I don't quite understand them.

You see 876 some different kind of numbers.

How do we, how should we read these numbers.

Well it depends on how deeply you want to read them.

Right.

But it's important to know that academic achievemen and growth are not percentages.

They're scores and they're based on weighted categories.

I won't go into details.

But then when you look at like chronic absenteeism, that is a percentage.

So that number shows you the percentage of kids who are chronically absent.

And we want that number down.

Yes, we want that number low.

And districts have made loads of progress on that since the pandemic.

In fact Alabama's making more progress on it than other states.

It's another thing we've excelled at.

And then, you know, I think what you want to do is you want to get an idea of trends, right?

Because one set of numbers doesn't tell you a whole lot.

Also, the federal report card to report cards, we have links in our stories.

The federal report card gives a lot more information than the state version that's online.

It'll tell you about teachers in your child's school.

It can tell yo how much experience they have, how many out of field teachers you have.

It tells you about your child's classmates, you know, and the percentage of kids who have disability.

These are the percentage of kids who are economically disadvantaged.

So there's a lot of information on that.

But these top line numbers, we're looking at trends and they are going in the right direction.

Now loca results are also online right.

So every school has a report card.

And that's the one the the Department of Education's website.

It is Alabama achieves.org.

There are a couple of links you have to click go to the reports and data section and then just hit all those tabs on the left.

You'll, you'll find it on your, your children school.

Or if you're moving to a new area kind of checking out the schools.

And you know, I remember when this passed because I was working in the speaker's office at the time, it was a big priority, and the whole point was, accountability, right.

Let's let's let parents know exactly what their children's school, you know how it's grading.

Is there any evidence that that's happening?

I mean, these grades are out there.

I mean, they're available for parents.

Is there any evidence that that's happening in, in, throughout the state?

You know, it's hard to say.

I think the communities that get A's and B's are very excited about it.

When you when you get from C to A, B or B to an A, I think you see it on social medi and people celebrate the schools that are struggling that are at the bottom, of the, of the grading scale.

You don't hear a lot from them on social media.

But those are signals hopefully to like the state Department of Education, they offer additional suppor for schools that are struggling.

And there's a turnaround initiative, things like that.

Right?

I mean, these are ways to identify where the struggles are.

But, you know, realtors love these.

And city councils, county governments.

You know I talked with the superintendent who's city council was pretty upset with him at one point, because they had gotten a C and they had been a B the year before.

So people are paying attention to these.

But it's generally principals and, and superintendents, and maybe some community members.

Yeah.

Well we would hope that we would hope that, if this information is available and obviously people spent a lot of time preparing it that parents and anybody community leaders absolutely matters.

Right.

Go online, see about you know, how your schools are performing with the intention of getting involved and improving what needs to be improved?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Well, look, thank you for your reporting on this.

It's very valuable.

And look, to have you back on to explain other education topics that we have trouble understanding.

Sounds great.

Thanks.

Before we go to break.

Two more turkeys have been spared from becoming Thanksgiving dinner here in Alabama.

Governor Kay Ivey this week hosted the 77th annual turkey pardoning ceremony at the governor's mansion.

This year's birds were named Phil and Buster after an online naming contest.

Get it?

Phil and Buster.

As always, local schoolchildren joined the governor for the ceremony.

Thanksgiving reminds us to pursue and paus and be grateful for our faith, our families, and the blessings of freedom that we share as Americans.

And now, after careful consideration and taking a good look, I believe I have reached a final decision today.

By the powers vested in me as governor of the state of Alabama.

I am here by granting a full pardon to feel it.

Buster.

I think they are free to live out that day soaking up the Alabama sunshine and stayin clear of any Thanksgiving table.

Buster.

We'll be right back with Senator Katie Britt.

Stay with us.

You can watch past episodes of Capital Journal online any time at Alabama Public Television's website.

aptv.. org.

Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Joining me next is Alabama's U.S.

senator, Katie Britt.

Senator thanks for coming on the show.

Hey, I appreciate being here.

And I mean, it feels good to be home, but to say I've been, I've been in Washington quite a bit.

The Senate has been in session, man, as it.

It has set a record, I think, at this point it's my understanding we have been in session more days than ever before and have taken more votes than any other Senate and United States Senate history.

So, I would think that we'll probably finish out the year, strong as well.

And obviously we've gotten a lot done.

We've had a record number of nominations.

We had a blockade, but we got that moved on.

We've had you know getting all of those in place.

We had the one big beautiful bill, getting that done.

We've also passed the Genius Act amongst a number of other things.

And then obviously, you saw us be able to open u the government, this past week.

So really proud of that.

Well, that's what I want to talk to you about, because headline after headline talked about you playing a leading role, including Ale Angle on Alex Angle reported on you playing a lead, by the way, she does a great job.

She has learned every way my roots.

And so she will hunt me down and righ and get an answer to a question when you're calling from the Capitol back.

She knows.

She knows how I get to a vote and how I get back.

So she she holds me down for sure.

She does a great job in Washington.

You got to know those hallways.

You do.

So yeah, all these headlines about you playing a leading role in negotiating between those.

I guess it was eight Democrats, if you count Angus King and the white House.

Yeah.

On reaching an agreemen to in the government shutdown.

So just start us from the beginning.

Who said what how did you shoul negotiate this and why did you why was it you why was i you playing this leading role.

Yeah.

So first off, in order for us to achieve this goal and get the government back up and running, a lot of people did a lot of things.

I give, the utmost credit.

And thanks to Leader Thune and to Susan Collins, the chair of the Appropriations Committee and the role they played in making this happen.

Additionally, Jeanne Shaheen, for the Democrats, really stepping up and forging a pathway forward a couple of weeks ago.

Todd, I just said, look, nothing's moving and no one's talking, and we've got to change that.

One of the ways that I felt like we could possibly open the government was through this three bill package that we ultimately utilized.

I started socializing that.

And the reason fo that was that passed the Senate by the end, at the end of July, with over 80 votes.

So I knew that those three bills had true bipartisan momentum and felt like people had kind of forgotten why we were in this position.

To start with, because we hadn't passed the appropriations bills in a timely fashio in order to keep the government up and running.

Now, I will say we did far more than Senator Schumer did.

He didn't put any bills on the floor last year.

And like I mentioned, we had three that we passed through the Senate floor before July.

So I thought we could utilize that package.

And in utilizing that package, when I knew that that package did, was unlock the funding to make sure that Snap was funde for the remainder of the year, that which was funde for the remainder of the year.

Capitol police would be funde amongst our veterans programing and and a lot of good stuff would be taken off the table for future negotiations and or used as leverage.

In in future potential government shutdown or funding fights.

So and knew how important that was, I had came I'd come back home, I went to my 25 yea reunion, Enterprise High School, and I had several classmates that work, some in Huntsville and other places.

Some were still in the job but not being paid, and some were furloughed and said, look, how long is this going to last?

They started talking to me about, obviously the real implications of that for them.

I then, saw a gentleman from, from Huntsville, Alabama, who told me, he said, how much longer is this going to last?

Is it going to last more than a week?

And at the time I said, yeah, it is.

And Todd, he said, if this last more than a week, I'm going to have to close the doors of my small business.

Well, and then I watched him g talk to his wife and tell her, and you can see the heaviness of the conversation.

Then I was flying back, to watch my daughter at a volleyball game after after votes and, a gentleman on my flight sai that his wife, ran a food bank here in the River region and that they had had an increased number of clients coming to them.

And so when you look at all of those things, when you hear about the head start in Dothan, you know that this shutdown has real implications for real people.

And, one of the things I thin that I was most frustrated by, I, withheld my paycheck the moment that this started.

We had many members particularly on the Democratic side, Todd, that never did that, but yet wanted this shutdown to continue.

And it is my thought that as a former staffer and remembering what this was like, you're trying to figure out how to pay your bills or your child care or whatnot.

The people who are in charge of making these decisions need to feel the same pain that other people feel.

So I withheld my paycheck at the very beginning.

But but all of this to say, literally sat in there and said, why don't we move this?

I went and talked to Leader Thune and said, what about moving this three bill package?

Why don't we go ahead and try to conference as informal or, or formal?

Then I went and pitched the same idea to Senator Schumer, not attaching it to a continuing resolution, but just actually doing our job and funding these things through the remainder of the year.

So had promising conversations there.

No, no actual affirmative.

Yeah, we can do this.

But wanted to open the door because we had just put an appropriations bill on the floor right before that defense appropriations.

Democrats voted, even though it came out of committee in a bipartisan way, voted to not let us proceed on that.

The reason that they gave me for that when I went and talked to them was, well, we're not talking.

So I wanted to make sure that we opened that dialog because you can't break a logja without having a conversation.

So starting with the two leader and then building out momentum with the remainder of appropriations and some key people, Jeanne Shahee being one of those talking about how do we conference these bills formally, informally, and get them ready to move them back over to the house?

Knowing that attaching a CR with a new date was always a possibility.

And the closer we got to that November 21st deadline was originally set in the clean CR.

The more likely I knew it would be that we would need a new CR deadline.

But in order to form and build out a coalition of, willing people to to have the courage to reopen and move forward, you know, we had to have various conversations about what additional things would be in that CR.

And that' where you saw the conversation with Tim Kaine come into play?

Yeah, I wanted to get to that because the, reduction in force, issue, obviously he represent Virginia, Northern Virginia is, you know, government central, some three out of ten of furloughed employees.

That's what was interesting to hear about and read about was you negotiating that with the white House.

And I would imagine, I mean, that that was a white House policy, right?

To, to kind of, I don't know, lay off people that had been furloughed and, getting that right.

So how did you get the white House to agree to something like that?

Because I would have thought.

I would have thought that would be unlikely, that the white House would agree to do away with the reductions.

And for.

Yeah.

So, so first, first off, like when I talked about moving this three bill package even together independently of, with the CR, I made sure to bring the white House end on the front end before I started, you know, having these conversations and said, look, I think this is a possible way forward and wanted to make sure that I kept them in the loop.

That communication continued throughout us building the momentum for this, both onc inside our own conference and, and outside of that, when it came to figuring out, you know, what the numbers look like and how we were going to piece it together, as you know we ended up not being able to be totally unified on the Republican side, onl having 52 out of 53 Republicans, you know willing to vote to move forward.

So we knew, the numbers wise, that we would be one short.

And so, Tim, was the was the best and most likely opportunity that we had to reopen the governmen and so had begun conversations, obviously, prior to talking with him, with the Democrats that we were negotiating wit and then about the last 48 hours really started talking with Tim, you know, nonstop back and forth, ultimately on the phone, but then ultimately meeting in person to talk through it.

So, you know, a couple of things that are and there were the, you know, any any just solidifying that any employee that was either working or furloughed would receive back pay for all of their time period.

So getting that language right and in place.

And then to your point, those employees that had been rift throughout the process getting their job back and then also a moratorium on riffs, you know, during this next time period and so, that and making sure that both parties were comfortable, obviously, the white House is i the driver's seat when it comes to what they agreed to in the negotiations.

But making sure that, you know where Tim was, where they were trying to be kind of sort of a bridge within that, a conduit, if you will, within the conversations to promote clarity and continuation of those so that we could actually reach a result.

And, I think I go I got word from Jeanne Shaheen, you know, about five something p m after I met with, with Tim and, and others that that we were ago and we locked the agreement and moved it forward.

So it's a it's a great day for America and a great day for all of these families.

Coast to coast, whether it's the 42 million Americans on Snap or people not receiving paychecks or those, that need, need various services, is a great day for, for our country.

Not every day you see Democrats coming into you on the floor and shaking your hand and giving you all that credit for it so well.

And, you know, Tim and I had a good relationship from our childcare.

We worked on affordabilit and accessibility of childcare, and we built out, a real meaningful bipartisan coalition to address that.

Obviously, that was something that we ended up getting.

And the one big beautiful bill and and really excited about the changes that will, that will ultimately bring.

But that relationship that Tim and I built, you know, that of trust and respect, being able to have these kind of conversations and figuring out a pathwa forward, I think, is what laid the foundation for us to be able to have this one.

And, was certainly proud to, amongst a number of other people at plow, to proud to play a role in it.

So, you know, the issue at hand, the issue that the Democrats had was they were demanding, extending, I guess, the subsidies in Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, subsidies.

Y'all, we're not going to negotiate on that.

Right?

But they do have a point because, I mean, with the expiration of these subsidies and just the risin cost of health care in general, it's about to be really painful for Americans out there, especially those on the individual market.

So what's the endgame?

There can can anything be done to avoid this?

I don't know, health care, Cliff, that people are about to come up on in terms of the incredible cost that people will face.

Yeah.

So I just so you and I are kind of sort of working off of the same and, and also your viewers.

So the more we dug into this, I think it's important to kind of, sort of remember how we got here.

So if you go back, Obamacare was passed in 2010 with all Democrat votes.

Then in 2014 they began subsidies for 400%.

There were the poverty leve and that was all Democrat votes.

Then if you go to 2021, they did the Covid subsidies during during Covid.

And in that those these subsidies are available to anyone.

There is absolutely no income cap.

Democrats only vote.

Then they came back in 2022.

Extended that and Democrats with Democrat only votes actually set the date and deadline for this.

So you kind of sort of think about about where we are and how we got here.

That's where it is when you look at these particular subsidies that they're talking about.

There is no income cap on these.

The Hyde Amendment, has not been written into these.

There's also no actual buy in for people that are utilizing it.

So, we've seen a number of people even even in their own state, eligible versus actually enrolled.

The numbers don't add up.

So extending these as is, I think, Republicans have said is not going to happen.

And ultimately, Democrats are the ones that not only created it, but set the end date and expiration date of it.

I do think, though there is a larger conversation to be had here about health care and about the cost, becaus when you look at the Obama care and it was supposed to help with affordability across the country, you look at actually rising cost for Americans, Alabamians, front and cente and that and you also see that whether it's, you know, the profits of insurance companies and others have actually moved in the opposite direction, you know, having significant gains into the industry.

So I think we have to ask a lot of questions about how do we make this more affordable for people.

But at the bottom line, I think Obamacare just on its face, has been a disaster for Americans and for affordability.

So figuring out a pathway for it, I think is going to take real change, and it's going to take a real conversation.

I do have a number of colleagues that have ideas about that.

Yeah, I thought I was going to ask somebody, y'all have had $0.40 a day.

That's right.

There's somebody sitting room coming up with another repeal replace idea that seems like to be a very, tough thing to do.

But i is there a conversation going on about some kind of health care?

Yeah.

And I was I was in the Oval Office with President Trump.

You know, the day that we voted here in the Senate and moving those things along and he, reiterated his commitment to trying to figure out a better pathway forward for the American people, where we can lower cos and make this more affordable.

So we have a number of people in the Republican conference, you know, whether it's Rick Scott who has a background here or Roger Marshall or others that have said, hey, we've got plans, we've got ideas.

Marsha Blackburn has one.

So I think you'll start to see us have those conversations.

I think there will b some bipartisan conversations.

And then it'll be interesting because as a part of this package, the Democrats were guarantee a vote on something in December.

So, it'll be interesting to see if they just put a flat extension on, which would not pass for the reasons that I just told you.

Or if they do find some people across the aisle to work with and try to actually forge a pathway forward, I think, we're taking a look at the numbers.

We se what's happening to Americans, but this is completely created by Democrats.

We've gotten used to cleaning up their messes.

And I think that this will will be one that, that we're going to have to dig in and see if we can find a pathway forward.

We'll be watching that for sure.

But on a similar note, you've got an economic situation up there that is just tough.

It's been it's families are being squeeze and health care is part of that.

But you know tariffs we've talked about tariffs before how it's really hurting farmers.

It's hurting you know and impacting prices at the grocery store.

I mean it's just painful for a lot of folks out there.

So I was listening to Tom Emmer, the House whip talk about this.

In some kind of political terms.

But he was saying, look, wait until next year or next spring, summer, fall, you're going to really see some some momentum on that.

So that's what I wanted to ask you about with these tariffs.

And of course, there's a Supreme Court case that's a whole different ball of wax.

Right.

But do with your relationship with the white House.

Do you sense that there's an end coming for these tariffs situation.

By end I mean trade deal with China and other countries that will, you know, releas some of this economic pressure.

Yeah, I think the president had some really good meetings and made significant progress there.

When he did do his oversea trip to Asia, and talking about forging a pathway forward with China, we know that that that righ there is critically important.

How do we create a pathwa with China that is sustainable for the long term?

Ultimately, what the president's trying to do is make sure that we're actually on shoring jobs and on shoring opportunit and then ultimately driving up American wages.

We know that that takes time.

But I think you've already seen when you look at companies and even, you know, industry that has made commitment and investments and said, here's what we're going to do in America.

Here's the kind of investment we're going to make.

Instead of creating a plan overseas we're going to create it here.

I think we'll see more of that.

And then I think we'll see th ultimate impact of that as well.

I think also you'll see the one big beautiful bil actually be able to take effect.

So whether it's no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, whether it's $6,000 deduction for seniors or for a couple 14,000, whether it's the child care tax credits that I'm so proud to have led the way on, I think we're going to make sure that more money returns to the pockets of hardworking Americans.

And this is just the start.

You've also seen the white House come out this week and say, we've got some big plans that we're going to enroll now that we've go the government up and running.

So I would say stay tuned.

For instance, in you even look at the work we're doing in the Senate, on housing affordability, we passed 24 to 0, which I didn't know anythin could pass in this environment, with a bipartisan vote that strong out of committee, the Road to Housing Act to help with housing affordability.

So we'll be looking to mov pieces of legislation like that.

One of the things that was so frustrating about this shut down, in addition to, obviously, the harmful effects on Americans coast to coast.

And what I saw in Alabama was also that we have 120 plu pieces of bipartisan legislation that have been marked up in committee that we want to see the Senate floor.

And some of those, I think are not only about affordability, which is so critically important, but they're also about safety, child safety online.

I have several pieces of legislation that have been marked up, and so we're ready to get to work and begin doing those.

And I think the America American people will, we'll see positive effects as a result.

Let's say the Supreme Court does overturn these tariffs or talk about the cost or, you know, deemed them unconstitutional.

Would there be votes in the Senate to go?

And because it's supposed to be through the Senate anyway, if they ruled that it's that way, would there be any kind of appetite to actually institute these tariffs back?

You know, I think, I think people would take a, careful look, I think President Trump has come up with some tremendous agreement with countries that people didn't think were possible.

I think he's gotten companies to invest in ways that, you know, people didn't think was possible.

And so I think solidifying that commitment to the American people, in many cases would be a good thing.

So I think people would absolutely take a look.

You mentioned, protecting children online.

You've got a couple of pieces of legislation on this.

I was hoping yo would explain it a little bit.

We had a discussion her in the state House about this.

There were a couple of pieces of legislation that doing with filters on phones, age verification and things like that.

What would your, legislation do on the federal level?

Yeah.

Well, and look, I just like to say I'm obviously not familiar with exactly what's happening here on the state level but I certainly encourage state leaders, local leaders, parents to really be educated and informed on this.

And if there is something that they can move through the state House that protects, the next generation, it's absolutely they're absolutely worthy of it, of that protection and us fighting for them.

That's certainly what we're trying to do on the federal level.

So we have a couple pieces of legislation, just a two that I'll are three that I'll mention to you.

One is stop the scroll.

And that's with Senator John Fetterman.

John and I are dear friends and have really come at this, as you know, concerned parents and see what's happening.

And that just makes a warning label pop up on your phone that tells you about the challenging, mental health effects and other side of other things that can occur from, online being online and that pop up window.

The only thing that John and I have said we want on there is just a number or a link to help so that if someone finds themselves in an unthinkable situation, that we get them to someone that can help them.

The other one i that kids of Social Media Act, and that is Brian Schatz and mysel and Chris Murphy and Ted Cruz.

So we could not you could not span the political spectrum, wider than that.

But we have said often, you know, we're not coming as Democrats or Republicans, but truly, as for concerned parents raising teenagers in this environment.

And that message can't be on social media, until you're 16, which is what the surgeon general says they do, and they are 13, which, which is what the social media companies say they do anyway.

And the surgeon General actually says 16 is when you should be on.

So 13 shouldn't be a problem.

It doesn't allow you to use algorithms against our kids under the age of 18.

We found that algorithms drive them in many times to dark holes.

The longer you stay on a post, the more money they make, the more depressing or addicting the content, the longer you stay.

So it's a vicious cycle there.

And then last but not least, it's eyes on the board.

Really trying to create a space for social media.

It is not utilized in the school.

And then the last one is that the newest piece that I have signed on to with Josh Hawley and, Senator Murphy and Senator Blumenthal, again, a piece of bipartisan legislation.

It's about AI chat bots saying AI chat bots can't be used against children under 18.

It also makes sure that the AI chat bo periodically has to remind you that it is a chat bot.

I also tell you that it's not a license.

Whether it's therapist or physician or any of that.

So there's a couple of things that safeguard, for kids because we have seen far too ofte and I've heard too many stories from parents of these chat bot that have induced the children into, either, sexual interplay.

We saw that on meta with an eight year old.

We saw then, them also when the parents, have gotten have gotten that the chat bot, dialog back and forth after the fact where they have isolated them from their parents, where they have told them and encouraged them to take their own life, goodness.

And in many of these cases, unfortunately, that's what has happened with these children.

And I think it's really important that we take a step back.

1 in 3 high school young women last year said she actually considered death by suicide.

Than 25% of high school young women said that that she actually made a plan to take her own life.

And then 13% of high school young women actually attempted death by suicide when you add in young men, that number is 9%.

So 9% of our high schoo population across this country attempted death by suicide last year.

And so being honest about what's happening, being honest about people, victimizing, I mean, and going after our children and the way they do.

And this added layer that I think many parents are unaware of until it's too late.

I think we need to sound the alarm bells.

We need to educate people, and then we need to actually do something about it because the most vulnerable deserve to be fought for.

And, this is certainly the case.

With with us.

Well, I'll, I'll be watching that as well.

You mentioned Senator Fetterman, John Fetterman, senator from Pennsylvania, you know, he had a fall this week and you've seen a lot of outpouring of support on social media.

I've gotten a lot of texts from my colleagues asking for his number, wanting to reach out, make sure he's okay.

And, it's and you know, that type of humanity, humanity, particularly in the building I work on is, is encouraging to see and we certainly I hope that he gets gets well soon and is back at it because we need him.

Well, yeah.

And it's it's just so interestin because you just find yourself just being very candid, just rooting for this guy.

You know, he's had so many struggles, but he's you know, what you see is what you get.

And that's kind of rare because it it's interesting and it's an and it is always like that too.

And that's one of the things I love about John.

John and I became friends at orientation.

So right when we got there and I remember just the experience for me just kind of sort of thinking, do do I belong here?

And, and this is, you know, it's it's a lot.

And then if you think about the challenges that he had coming into that with just the limitations from his stroke and kind of sort of getting back moving, I could only imagine what all he was going through at that point in time.

And, Wesley became dear friends with, with Giselle.

And so the four of us, you know, enjoy each other's company and meals and, and just encouragement.

But he, he really, particularl in the midst of this shutdown, went against the grain because he said, this is what's right for the American people.

This is not about party.

This is about people.

And he continued to elevate his voice, even when, you know, he he's having to hear a lot of noise, kind of from, from both sides.

But he, he really has he really has stepped forward and is speaking truth in a time where we certainly need it.

Well, and we're going to continue to root for.

Thank you.

Before I let you go, all this you're doing all this time in Washington, running around, doing what I can imagine.

Your flight schedule.

You found time somehow to hos a neighborhood, get up dot dot.

Because I have a picture here.

That's okay.

This is Phoenix Johnson.

She sits.

He's a dear friend of mine.

Sent a picture, and I'm going to tell you, you have a big fan in Phoenix trying to deliver on Beckett.

And, I just thought it was so cute.

Because I don't know yet what kind of favor I will.

She is a Senator Katy fan, so I could I had to take a moment o personal privilege, if you will.

Phoenix and that.

And that is Hoover fighting for its Phoenix.

It is the next generation.

And it's, How do we make things better for them?

And how do we, you know as your parents and grandparents always told you, leave things better than you found them.

And I think it's our generation's turn to make good on that.

And, Phoenix that she inspires me.

That's that's what keeps me moving.

And it was awesome to have our neighborhoo get together, get to visit and, you know, see, people, I think this day and age, you know, you feel like you're connected because you're on your phone.

And actually, that couldn't be further from the truth.

I think getting in front of people and you pass them when you're walking your dog, but stopping and having conversation has become more and more rare.

So we wanted to get people together, enjoy each other's company in the neighborhood.

And, Phoenix was star the night.

Well, I had to share that with you.

Look, we're out of time, but thank you so much for your time, and I hope you'll keep u updated.

Absolutely.

We'll do.

We'll be right back.

Since 1997, Alabam Public Television has provided programs, services, and resources to childcare professionals, teachers and parents.

Visit AP tv.org/education to learn more.

Welcome back to Capital Journal.

Joining me next is Tuscaloosa mayor Walt Maddox.

Mayor thanks for coming on the show.

Oh, thank you for having me.

Glad to be here.

Lots to talk about, but I have to I have to say y'all had another monster weekend in Tuscaloosa this weekend.

I mean, it just the scale of it.

The scope of it just looks incredible.

What goes into planning, just logistically for a huge weekend influx of fans like that from a mayor standpoint?

Well, months of planning and it all begins with our public safety personnel, but also it is beyond fire and police.

It's public works.

It's water and sewer it's revenue, it's inspections.

Overall, we'll have 600 plus employees who will be working on game day itself.

Hundreds employee before and afterwards as well.

We go from a city of 115,00 to a quarter of a million people in about 24 hours.

So, we go from Alabama's fifth largest city to the largest city, and it takes a lot.

As mayor, number one, we want to make sure anybody gets in and out safely.

And that's a huge logistical challenge.

We couldn't do it without our amazing team at the city, and our partnershi with the University of Alabama and other state agencies assist us.

But as challenging as that is, it's got to be a major economic boon for your city.

Every time there's a home game.

Absolutely.

There is.

And we know that we benefit by it.

It creates jobs.

It creates also for us.

A national profile is so cool.

Being the mayor of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

But I can go anywher in the country and they'll go, oh yeah, the University of Alabama football.

We embrace the heck out of that because it helps us sell our city.

So it's really a good thing.

Always think we're the green Bay Packers of college football, right?

You know when you say Tuscaloosa, you think of championships in a very positive way.

We try to leverage that for economic development opportunities outside our own state.

Okay, I'm not going to get sat over here as an Auburn guy.

But you know very well said.

Your time is coming back.

And we all know that when we play down in Auburn, which is coming up very soon, Mr.. Cool things happen.

So you have a you have a life savings that is Hornet down there.

It is on it.

Okay.

Suit simplified seller' use tax more colloquially known as the internet sales tax.

Been around I guess for about ten years now.

But it's controversial.

You have brought a lawsuit to the state.

You were in town this week to, I guess, the first hearing.

Yes.

About that was going on.

Make your case.

What is your case?

Legally, for doing away with the associate.

Well, we want sales taxes in Alabama to be collected like they've always been collected.

And that's by destination sourcing.

So here's the deal.

If I'm in Thomasville, Alabama, and I go shop at the Walmart, I pay Thomasville full sales taxes.

But if I go to that same Thomasville Walmart but purchase it on the Walmart app, still pick it up at the same Walmart with the same employees.

Now I'm paying a suit, which means the city of Thomasville basically doesn't get any of those dollars.

Physical access should matter.

And so what we're arguing against cities in Alabama that if you buy something in Auburn, Alabama, or in Atmore, Alabama, or in Rainbow City, Alabama, those dollars should stay in the city in which their purchase.

The way that suit has been created, it's ignoring physical nexus.

And so that is simply our case.

If you buy it local those dollars should stay local.

It could you map that with today's technology with like cell phones and everything to know exactly where somebody wa when they purchased a product?

Absolutely.

In fact, Apple does it today.

So when I buy an Apple product or an Apple app, it' actually destination sourcing.

So with Apple we want to happen across the state.

The technology exists today that it didn't exist 8 or 9 years ago.

And so now it's time that that technology catches up and that cities be able do.

And towns and frankly counties as well if it's generated local it needs to stay local.

When the community set loca taxes, they do it for a reason.

They do it because they want it to go into their schools.

They want to go into their police departments.

They want to go into their fire departments.

Those who are our local taxes are created.

When you look at this map here and you see across Alabama, you actually see a couple of things.

You see communities who whose local sales taxes are actually lower than SS.

So where do you see green and blue.

Those are areas of Alabama that are overtaxed.

So society actually has a detrimental impact on rural Alabama.

And in those areas that are gray, you see communitie who have set their local sales tax rates at rates that are higher than 8% because they want to invest in their schools and their law enforcemen and into their fire departments.

And so we think it's very important that local sales tax rates, number one, stay in the communities that are generated.

But two, that the community has the opportunit to elect those decision makers and decid whether they're doing a good job spending those sale tax dollars estate over taxes.

Rural Alabamians.

And second, it abandons the ability of local people to determine how local taxes are spent.

I do hear from the othe side County specifically, Sonny Bryce Brecksville, who runs the Counties Association about look, if this goes away, there's going to be chaos.

And a big revenue generato that didn't exist ten years ago would go away harming counties, harming the state, revenue.

How do you respond to those arguments?

Well, number one, it's harming.

We know over 60 cities in Alabama.

Nearl every school system in Alabama is being harmed by a statute.

So I would argue tha every public education student and the majorit of the population of the state is being harmed by the model today.

Number two is that destination sourcing is already being done across the United States.

Our friends in Tennesse are doing it successfully today.

Apple is actually doing it successful today in Alabama.

So really what Sonny Brasfield, who I respect and his position with the county commission, all they have to do all they have is to sell fear.

Destination sourcing is happening across the United States.

It's happening actually here in Alabama with Apple.

It is something not to be feared.

It's something to be embraced.

And think about it this way taxes that are generated locally should stay locally.

When you pay taxes in your community, you believe it' going to your police department.

You believe it's going to your fire department going to your schools.

That's not happening under Nat right now with that statute.

And that's not fair to citizens who work hard to pay taxes.

It's also not fai to those people in rural Alabama who are being overtaxed by our society.

And that should be part of this equation, too.

That's not fair to them as well.

Going to destination source and correcting this problem is fair for every alabamian.

So play the tape through to the end.

If you are successful in this lawsuit, would that mean, legislation that mean the legislature needs to come in and, and change this somehow, or even if you aren't successful in the lawsuit, is that what you're kind of overall seeking?

Is the legislature to chang this for more equity for cities?

I think ultimately, I mean, we have sought for nine years to get the legislature to make changes to this.

So we just didn't begin had a lawsuit.

This has been a nine year process.

We believe there are fundamental flaws with the way this law was designed and implemented, and those will be adjudicated in the courts.

But certainly, we would love the legislature to be able to remedy those problems and create a fair balance.

I think in the end all of us as mayors understand that any solution may be one we have to work through.

And for nine years we have bee willing to compromise on that.

At the same time as we continue to lose at the city of Tuscaloosa, over 15 million a year, Huntsville is losing nearly 50 million a year, mobile over 30 million a year.

Alabama's leading job producers our cities who create the economic investments.

We can't continue to take those amounts of sales tax losses and not do anything.

And that's why I'm moving forward with litigation we felt was important.

So we'll have to continue to follow the, the the the train tracks of lawsuit.

At the same time, we're certainly going to work with the Alabama legislature because I don't think they intended this to happen the way it's unveiled itself over the last decade.

I think you're right about that.

And yet, anytime you start, you know, opening u this can of worms, that's what that's what probably hasn't been done yet, with this lawsuit, is it too early to tell how it's going?

This was kind of a preliminary hearing this week, right?

Yes.

We're right now in the processes of motions of dismissal, which will likely continue for the next few months, like any sort of court case especially, is one that's complicated, like SSD.

I imagine it could be months if not years in the process.

Well, look, while I've got you, I wanted to ask you but you mentioned the Big Te mayors and I had your colleague Sandy Stimpson on this past week.

What a, what a pleasure it was to have him as the outgoing.

But y'all have been really active as a group and I found it interesting.

But I wanted to ask you specifically about the issue of mental health.

That's something the state has really focused on of late, more and more.

But it's not just a state issue or a national issue because you all see it from the local level.

Talk about y'all's focus on mental health from a mayor's perspective.

Well the number one job of any mayor in Alabama is public safety.

And under that public safety umbrella is mental health.

In Tuscaloosa, for example, we have the largest state mental health hospital in Bryce.

But unfortunately, the second largest institutions are Metro jail, where 30% of our inmates are o some sort of psychotropic drugs.

We are now interacting in a wa because there's no really place to institutionalized those who have high, who are in high mental health distress.

Probate judges will tell you throughout Alabama there's no room to place them.

And what you're seeing is more and more of those with mental healt needs ending up on our streets, then they ultimately end up in our jails.

So as mayors, what we want to do is work with the Alabama legislature to figure out what sort of solution can we create to better address this problem.

I believe the state has taken some significant steps in recent years, but there's partnership we believe we could form with the state, to better, remedy this problem.

It's growing, not decreasing.

And we as mayors feel lik we need to give voice to this, not just to say, here's a problem, but we want to work with the Alabama Department of Mental Health and the Alabama Legislature and trying to craft some solutions.

Yeah, there's been a lot of moving on that.

And, you know, one of your biggest advocates is Rex Reynolds, the general fund budget chairman, who is a former police chief.

He's seen it on the ground level, too.

So it is interesting to see that movement.

We have today.

And I don't mean to interrupt you, we have 26 police officers who do nothing but mental health care.

We have four social workers at the city who do nothing but mental health care.

Representative Reynolds is a police chief, probably saw the evolution of police departments having to morph into mental health providers during his service with the city of Huntsville.

That's happening more and more.

And so as mayors, we want to bring that perspective and work with the legislature to try to craft solutions.

Absolutely.

Well, let us know in the Big Ten mayors here in town.

We certainly want to uncove that.

Mayor, we're out of time.

But thanks again.

Thank you for having me.

All right.

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.