Late-night budgeting

The state’s Education Fund and General Fund budgets are passed and in the governor’s hands with just a few days left in the 2025 Legislative session, reports AL.com’s Mike Cason.

The General Fund budget came in quite late Tuesday night at $3.7 billion. That’s a 10% increase over the current year’s budget. The General Fund is for non-education state spending and includes Medicaid, prisons, state troopers and courts.

There wasn’t much drama in getting it passed — the Senate tweaked it and approved it 29-0 and sent it back to the House, where the budgets originate. The House passed the final version 100-0.

The vote went late into the night because state Sen. Rodger Smitherman, a Birmingham Democrat, requested the entire budget be read aloud. Which probably sounds exciting if you like to watch CSPAN even when there’s no salacious confirmation hearing going on.

This budget is 125 pages — like my copy of “The Old Man and the Sea” — and was delivered by an automated reader.

Smitherman said he requested the budget be read in order to slow down the process and have more time to review the budgets and other pending legislation. It’s a tactic the woefully outnumbered Democrats can use to try to avoid a late-session Republican steamrolling of measures.

House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, a Rainsville Republican, chalked it up to being part of the process.

But state Sen. Shay Shelnutt, a Trussville Republican, was even less fired up, blaming the delay for stymieing his bill to tweak sex education in the state, making public schools teach “sexual risk avoidance” and abstinence.

Police immunity

A “Back the Blue” bill made it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, reports AL.com’s Mike Cason.

The GOP-backed measure is a rewrite of the state’s police immunity law. The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Rex Reynolds, said the law needs to be updated to jibe with U.S. Supreme Court rulings and to offer more criminal and civil protections for officers as some agencies struggle to recruit and retain help.

This is part of Gov. Kay Ivey’s crime priorities for the session. Expect pushback from Democrats. Republicans voted down a proposed amendment from Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton that would’ve required the state to adopt statewide training and procedures standards.

Termites in church

Many homeowners won’t be surprised a bit to learn that termites are little wood-gnawing heathens.

AL.com’s Greg Garrison reports that the termite damage at a historic Mobile cathedral is so extensive that part of the building is unsafe.

The Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception was built from 1835-1850. Apparently, termites have been an issue for years at the old church. The Archdiocese of Mobile said engineers have determined that the west end of the cathedral is unsafe to use, although the rest of the structure is still safe.

While the building dates back to the antebellum period, the parish is the oldest in Mobile, having been established in 1703.

Watch the Weather

If you’re in the northern or western part of the state you could see some severe weather from this afternoon into tonight, reports AL.com’s Leigh Morgan.

And as of this recording there was a slightly higher Level 2 risk roughly north and west of I-59.

Rain and possibly storms are expected to develop ahead of a cold front that Leigh talked about on “Down in Alabama” earlier this week.

Quoting

“I think coach Saban (for Senate) would be a slam dunk. Immediately, he would be among the best known and influential individuals in Congress which would greatly enhance the state of Alabama.”

ESPN’s Paul Finebaum, on former Alabama football coach Nick Saban, who’s speaking today at a UA event that also includes President Trump.

More Alabama News

Born on This Date

In 1928, country singer Sonny James, “The Southern Gentleman,” of Hackleburg.

In 1964, singer-songwriter Will Kimbrough of Mobile.

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