Issue: Criminal Justice

Alabama House could vote next week on bill to end lifetime SNAP, TANF bans for people with felony drug conviction

By Carol Gundlach

The Alabama House could vote as soon as Tuesday on a bill that would allow people convicted of a drug-related felony to regain eligibility for food assistance or cash welfare benefits. A House committee Wednesday approved the bill, which the Senate passed last month. SB 303, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham, awaits consideration by the full House.

SB 303 would allow people convicted of a drug-related felony to regain eligibility for benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program if they successfully comply with their conditions of probation or parole and are otherwise eligible for assistance. The bill’s provisions would expire in three years unless lawmakers renew them.

Alabama is one of 10 states where people convicted of a drug felony face a lifetime SNAP eligibility ban. Alabama is also one of 12 states to apply a similar ban to TANF benefits. The bans apply even to people with a decades-old offense.

Other legislation affecting SNAP, TANF recipients also wins House committee approval

The House State Government Committee also approved a bill Wednesday to require drug testing for TANF applicants who had a drug conviction in the last five years. The Department of Human Resources (DHR) would pay for initial drug tests under SB 63, sponsored by Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose, as well as any later required tests that the applicant passes. The bill would allow someone else to receive benefits on behalf of other family members if an applicant fails two or more drug tests. As with SB 303, SB 63’s provisions would expire in three years unless reauthorized.

People would have to apply for at least three jobs before applying for TANF in Alabama under another bill that won committee approval Wednesday. SB 115, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, was amended in the Senate at Alabama Arise’s suggestion to ensure that a TANF’s applicant’s cohabiting partner must have a legal obligation to support the applicant’s children before that partner’s income would count in determining TANF eligibility. SB 115 also would order recipients to comply with DHR’s requirements for job search preparation, education and other employment activities.

TANF recipients could not use EBT cards in bars, liquor stores, casinos, tattoo parlors and adult entertainment establishments under SB 116, which the committee endorsed Wednesday. SB 116, sponsored by Orr, also prohibits using TANF benefits to buy alcohol or tobacco.

The House committee Wednesday also approved a new version of SB 87, sponsored by Sen. Bryan Taylor, R-Prattville. The substitute bill would prohibit DHR from seeking a statewide waiver to provide extended SNAP benefits to able-bodied, childless adults. However, the bill would allow DHR to continue to seek local waivers in counties with extremely high unemployment rates.

The new SB 87 would authorize DHR to seek a federal waiver to participate in a pilot program to develop and test employment and training programs for SNAP participants. It also would require the department to implement a work and training program for SNAP recipients.

SB 303 and the other proposals will be among the bills awaiting House consideration as the session winds to a close. Lawmakers will return Thursday for the 24th of 30 allowable meeting days during the 2014 regular session, which is expected to last until early April.

By Carol Gundlach, policy analyst. Posted March 12, 2014.

Senate passes bill to end Alabama’s lifetime SNAP, TANF bans for people with felony drug conviction

By Carol Gundlach

People convicted of a drug-related felony could regain their eligibility for food assistance or cash welfare benefits in Alabama under a bill that the state Senate passed 18-8 Thursday. SB 303, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham, moves to the House.

SB 303 would allow otherwise eligible people to receive food assistance or cash welfare benefits even if they have a prior felony drug conviction, as long as they have completed their sentence or are complying with their probation terms, including court-ordered drug treatment. The Senate amended the bill Thursday to say its provisions would expire in three years unless lawmakers renew them.

Alabama is one of 10 states where people convicted of a drug felony face a lifetime eligibility ban under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Alabama also is one of 12 states to apply a similar ban to benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The bans apply even to people with a decades-old offense.

Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose, said SB 303 could help people as they try to overcome a drug addiction and become productive workers. “It’s important to encourage people and try to give them support to be able to make good personal decisions,” Pittman said. “People who have paid their debt … will be able to get modest amounts of money that hopefully will get them on a better path.”

Other legislation affecting SNAP, TANF recipients also wins Senate approval

The Senate’s action Thursday came one day after the chamber voted 25-4 for a bill that would require drug testing for TANF applicants who had a drug conviction in the last five years. The Department of Human Resources (DHR) would pay for initial drug tests under SB 63, as well as any later required tests that the applicant passes. The bill would allow someone else to receive benefits on behalf of other family members if an applicant fails two or more drug tests. The provisions of SB 63, sponsored by Pittman, would expire in 2017 unless reauthorized.

People would have to apply for at least three jobs before applying for TANF under legislation the Senate passed 25-6 Wednesday. SB 115’s sponsor, Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, amended the bill at Alabama Arise’s suggestion. One change would ensure that a TANF’s applicant’s cohabiting partner must have a legal obligation to support the applicant’s children before that partner’s income would count in determining TANF eligibility. The other change deleted an obligation for TANF recipients to continue applying for three jobs every week to stay eligible. Instead, recipients would have to comply with DHR’s requirements for job search preparation, education and other employment activities.

TANF recipients could not use EBT cards in bars, liquor stores, casinos, tattoo parlors and adult entertainment establishments under SB 116, sponsored by Orr. The bill, which the Senate passed 25-0 Wednesday, also would prohibit using TANF benefits to buy alcohol or tobacco.

DHR could not continue to request waivers of federal SNAP work requirements for able-bodied, working-age adults with no dependents under a bill that senators passed 25-5 Wednesday. SB 87, sponsored by Sen. Bryan Taylor, R-Prattville, could limit Alabama’s ability to provide SNAP benefits to some single adults during economic downturns or after natural disasters. The bill that passed in the Senate is far narrower than the original version was.

SB 303 and the other proposals will be among the bills awaiting House consideration when lawmakers return Tuesday for the 20th of 30 allowable meeting days during the 2014 regular session, which is expected to last until early April.

By Carol Gundlach, policy analyst. Communications director Chris Sanders contributed to this report. Posted Feb. 27, 2014.

Legacies of recession, chronic shortfalls linger in Alabama’s budgets

By Chris Sanders

State support for education and other public services under the Education Trust Fund (ETF) and General Fund (GF) next year would not come close to its pre-recession level under the budgets that advanced in the Alabama Legislature on Wednesday. Both budgets are built on the assumption that the state will see no major revenue increases next year.

One-time teacher bonus, Alabama State funding cut in Senate committee’s ETF budget

Alabama would allocate $113.9 million, or 1.9 percent, less from the ETF next year under the $5.9 billion budget that won approval Wednesday in the Senate’s ETF budget committee. (By contrast, K-12 and higher education officials had requested $474 million more support next year.) If the budget becomes law, ETF funding in 2015 would be 18.5 percent less than it was in 2008, adjusted for inflation. The full Senate could consider the plan as soon as Thursday.

K-12 teachers would receive a one-time 1 percent bonus next year under the committee’s budget. Gov. Robert Bentley had recommended a 2 percent pay raise, but committee chairman Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose, said he isn’t sure revenues will grow enough to sustain that pay increase. “You can’t spend optimism,” Pittman said. The committee rejected an attempt by Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, to provide a 6 percent teacher raise.

K-12 schools and two-year colleges would receive slightly more ETF money next year under the committee’s budget, while universities would receive slightly less. The budget would include money to hire more middle school teachers and increase support for the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative (AMSTI). Funding for the Alabama Reading Initiative would be flat.

Alabama State University (ASU) would lose about one-fourth, or $10.8 million, of its ETF support next year under the budget, accounting for almost the entire overall funding cut to universities. The budget would include $10 million for ASU as a “first-priority conditional,” meaning Bentley could release the money to the university if ETF revenue collections exceed budgeted spending next year.

Flat funding abounds for General Fund services

The House voted 80-20 Wednesday night to approve a GF budget that would be about the same size it was last year and is little different than the one that cleared a House committee last week. The $1.8 billion budget now goes to the Senate.

Medicaid, prisons, mental health care and other public services could struggle to maintain current services at the funding levels in the House’s GF budget. Overall GF support for those and other non-education services would be 8.3 percent lower next year than it was in 2008, adjusted for inflation, despite higher costs and population growth since then.

The House budget would cut GF support for Alabama’s prison system, which operates at nearly twice its designed capacity. Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, who chairs the House’s GF budget committee, said last week that he wants to work with House and Senate leaders to find more money for corrections.

Medicaid would see an 11.4 percent GF increase, though that amount still would fall short of what State Health Officer Don Williamson said the agency needs from the GF. Williamson said Medicaid could survive next year at the House’s proposed funding level by looking for more ways to trim costs in the prescription drug program and other areas.

Mental health services would receive the same amount of GF money next year, despite the increased demand for community-based mental health services following the closure of several state mental health hospitals. State courts, which have cut hundreds of jobs in recent years, would receive far less GF funding than they requested.

ALL Kids, which insures Alabama children whose low- and middle-income families do not qualify for Medicaid, would receive 28.3 percent more from the GF to help cover higher enrollment. A $13.9 million ETF boost for the Department of Human Resources (DHR) would help the agency offset an $11.8 million GF reduction. DHR provides child welfare, child support collection and elder abuse services. The agency also administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program in Alabama.

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, said lawmakers have missed several opportunities to ease the burden on state budgets in recent years. Instead, England said, the Legislature has declined to increase the state cigarette tax, reform the state’s criminal sentencing system, or expand Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act.

The GF draws its revenues from a variety of sources that do not grow quickly enough to keep pace with cost increases. That leaves the budget with a structural deficit, meaning it often is strapped for cash even when the economy is doing well.

Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery, said lawmakers eventually must solve Alabama’s perennial GF shortfalls. “At some point, we’re going to have to figure out how to say, ‘We’re going to do better,’” Knight said. “We can’t take care of the basic things we’re supposed to do.”

Time is getting shorter for the Legislature to finalize the budgets. Lawmakers will return Thursday for the 19th of 30 allowable meeting days during the 2014 regular session, which is expected to last until early April.

By Chris Sanders, communications director. Posted Feb. 26, 2014.

Medicaid, prison funding challenges remain as Alabama House committee OKs barebones General Fund budget

By Carol Gundlach

Medicaid, mental health and other human services in Alabama would face yet another year of tight funding under the General Fund (GF) budget that cleared a state House committee Wednesday. The committee’s version was virtually identical to the one that Gov. Robert Bentley recommended last month.

The committee approved next year’s proposed $1.8 billion operating budget for Medicaid, public safety and other non-education services after little discussion or debate. The budget now goes to the full House, which could consider it as soon as next week.

Big challenges ahead for Medicaid, prisons

Medicaid and state prisons would get nearly half of the GF’s money next year under the House GF budget committee’s plan, continuing the recent trend of those agencies consuming an increasingly larger share of the budget’s dollars. Medicaid would receive a $70 million, or 11.4 percent, increase, while the Department of Corrections would face a cut of $6.8 million, or 1.7 percent.

The committee’s proposed funding level could make it a challenge for Medicaid to maintain current services. Medicaid would remain $15 million short of the $700 million that State Health Officer Don Williamson said last month that it needs from the GF. The agency, which insures about one in five Alabamians, already has cut reimbursements for dental services, dialysis and services from non-primary care doctors. Williamson said the agency could survive next year by looking for more ways to trim costs in the prescription drug program and other areas.

Funding challenges also would remain for the state’s prison system. The corrections cut would come even as state prisons face a shortage of guards and run at nearly twice their designed capacity. Alabama also faces growing demands to hire more female guards, install more cameras and make other prison infrastructure improvements. Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, who chairs the House’s GF budget committee, said he wants to work with lawmakers to find more money for corrections.

Flat funding the norm for many other services

Other critical social services would receive essentially the same amount of GF money next year under the committee’s plan. The Department of Mental Health would be funded at the 2014 level despite the increased demand for community-based mental health services following the closing of several state mental health hospitals.

The Department of Senior Services, which provides Meals on Wheels nutritional assistance to the homebound elderly, was similarly level-funded. State courts, which have cut hundreds of jobs in recent years, also would get much less money than they requested.

The Department of Human Resources (DHR) would receive 16.8 percent, or $11.8 million, less from the GF next year. DHR’s allocation in Bentley’s recommended Education Trust Fund (ETF) budget would nearly double to offset that loss. Between the two budgets, Bentley recommended about a 2 percent increase for DHR. Because the ETF budget has not yet won committee approval, it remains to be seen whether the Legislature will support this increase. DHR provides child welfare, child support collection and elder abuse services. The agency also administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program in Alabama.

A children’s health insurance program would get a substantial funding boost next year to help cover higher enrollment. ALL Kids, which insures Alabama children whose low- and middle-income families do not qualify for Medicaid, would receive 28.3 percent more from the GF.

General Fund’s long-term structural deficit remains

Alabama is one of the only states with two major state operating budgets. The ETF budget funds K-12 schools, two-year colleges and public universities, as well as other state and local services related to education. The General Fund budget provides support for all other state services, including public health, public safety and child welfare.

Alabama has the highest rate of “earmarked” revenue in the nation. That earmarking forces lawmakers to spend certain tax proceeds only for very limited purposes. For example, individual income taxes and sales taxes are set aside for the ETF and can be spent only on education. Revenues from sales taxes and income taxes tend to rise and fall with the economy, allowing the education budget to make up for bad years during good years and to save some money for years when the economy is not doing as well.

The GF budget lacks this flexibility because it is funded from a variety of revenues that are not as responsive to economic changes and that do not grow quickly enough to keep pace with cost increases. That leaves the GF with a structural deficit, meaning it often is strapped for cash even when the economy is doing well. Next year’s proposed budget once again illustrates Alabama’s chronically inadequate funding for core services, ACPP executive director Kimble Forrister said.

Time is getting shorter for the Legislature to pass GF and ETF budgets for next year. Lawmakers will return Tuesday for the 17th of 30 allowable meeting days during the 2014 regular session, which is expected to last until early April.

By Carol Gundlach, policy analyst. Communications director Chris Sanders contributed to this report. Posted Feb. 20, 2014.

Alabama Senate panel OKs bill to lift lifetime SNAP, TANF bans for people with felony drug conviction

By Carol Gundlach

An Alabama Senate committee Wednesday approved a bill that would allow people who were convicted of a drug-related felony to regain eligibility for food assistance or cash welfare benefits. The Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Accountability (FR&A) Committee voted 5-2 to send the bill to the full Senate for consideration.

Alabama is one of just 10 states where people who were convicted of a drug felony face a lifetime eligibility ban under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Alabama is also one of only 12 states to apply a similar ban to benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The bans apply even to people with a lone offense decades ago.

SB 303, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham, would allow otherwise eligible people to receive SNAP and TANF benefits even if they have a prior felony drug conviction, as long as they have completed their sentence or are complying with their probation terms, including any court-ordered drug treatment.

It was clear during the lively committee discussion of SB 303 that many people saw unfairness in a policy that denies eligibility only to those convicted of a felony drug crime. “A person that rapes, robs or kills can come out [of prison] and receive SNAP,” Coleman said. “This bill just levels the playing field.”

Another Senate committee last month approved a proposal – SB 63, sponsored by Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose – to require drug testing for TANF applicants who had drug convictions within the last five years. Several members of the Senate FR&A Committee asked whether Pittman’s bill would apply to newly eligible people under SB 303.

Both Coleman and a representative of the Department of Human Resources agreed that SB 63 would apply to TANF applicants, but they said federal law forbids drug testing as a condition of SNAP eligibility.

After a minor, uncontroversial amendment, the committee voted 5-2 for SB 303. Voting in favor were Sens. Paul Bussman, R-Cullman; Coleman; Del Marsh, R-Anniston; Bryan Taylor, R-Prattville; and Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City. Voting “no” were Sens. Rusty Glover, R-Semmes, and Clay Scofield, R-Guntersville.

The Legislature will return Thursday for the 14th of 30 allowable meeting days during the 2014 regular session, which is expected to last until early April.

By Carol Gundlach, policy analyst. Posted Feb. 12, 2014.

Bills to shorten Alabama’s death penalty appeals process speeding toward committee votes

By Stephen Stetson

House and Senate committees are set to vote Wednesday afternoon on proposals to shorten the appeals process for people convicted of capital murder in Alabama. Members of both chambers’ Judiciary Committees gathered Tuesday to hear public testimony on the legislation – HB 216, sponsored by Rep. Lynn Greer, R-Rogersville, and SB 194, sponsored by Sen. Bill Holtzclaw, R-Madison – as well as other bills related to the criminal justice system.

Legislators heard from five speakers at the public hearing, which took place before a standing-room-only crowd. Many other speakers were hoping to be heard, but the committee adjourned after an hour because the House was going into session. Two speakers opposed HB 216 and SB 194, while three spoke in support. Two of the bills’ three proponents were family members of murder victims.

Before the public hearing began, the committees heard from Beau Brown, an attorney with the Alabama Office of Prosecution Services, which helped to draft the bills. Brown briefly explained each of the bills:

  • HB 216 and SB 194 would cause direct and collateral death penalty appeals to run concurrently, thus shortening the appeals process in capital cases. The legislation, labeled the “Fair Justice Act,” would accelerate the pace of post-conviction appeals known as Rule 32 appeals. Those appeals, which examine claims such as ineffective assistance of counsel, now occur after direct appeals that consider issues such as sufficiency of evidence. The bills also would require the state to provide lawyers for both sets of appeals if a defendant is too poor to afford a lawyer.
  • HB 217 would forbid a defendant’s attorney from contacting victims or their families without first giving the prosecutor a chance to ask the judge to forbid that contact. The bill would apply to all criminal cases, though Brown indicated he would be open to an amendment limiting the provisions to capital cases.
  • HB 218 and SB 193 would add additional types of murders to the list of those defined as capital offenses.
  • HB 219 would forbid contacting jurors in criminal cases without permission from the court. Gathering information from jurors is a technique that many defense attorneys use in determining whether there was any sort of improper behavior during trials. As with HB 217, Brown indicated he would be open to an amendment limiting those provisions to capital cases.

Greer sponsors the House bills, while Holtzclaw sponsors the Senate ones. Holtzclaw said he plans to introduce Senate bills that mirror the provisions of HB 217 and HB 219. The package of bills has the support of the Alabama District Attorneys Association.

‘You can’t imagine what you go through’

Walker County District Attorney Bill Adair was dismissive of the idea that the proposals could lead to additional costs for the state. “Those costs all exist now,” he said. Adair told a lengthy and graphic story about a 1988 murder in Cordova. Greg Hunt, convicted of the crime, has been on death row since 1990. Adair described that situation as an unconscionable delay in justice.

Denise Gurganus, the sister of the victim in Hunt’s case, said she had insight on criminal justice policy that most people cannot share. “Until you have lost a loved one to a murder, you can’t imagine what you go through on a daily basis, and it does not stop,” she said.

Sherrie Carter, whose brother-in-law was killed in 1996, was emotional in comparing the amount of time it took to commit the crime to the amount of time the person convicted of killing him has spent on death row. Carter described the state’s lengthy capital appeals process as “just so the defendant can grasp at a thread to get out of what he did.”

‘The cost of this bill will be huge’

Birmingham criminal defense attorney Richard Jaffe said HB 216 and SB 194 could place a tremendous strain on Alabama’s budget and could carry severe unintended consequences.

“You know, 45 percent of our reversals in death cases come because of inadequate assistance of counsel at the trial level, and that’s because of inadequate funding,” Jaffe said. “You get a few thousand dollars to do something that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, and we’ve already got a shortage of trained attorneys. The cost of this bill will be huge and end up hurting crime victims in the long run because of the reversals of all of these cases.”

Criminal defense attorney Bill Clark, a former president of the Alabama State Bar, focused on the lack of research that had gone into the bills’ potential effects. Clark asked why the bills have not been evaluated by the Alabama Law Institute or the State Bar.

“We have criminal procedure committees that are designed to examine just this sort of thing,” Clark said. “I don’t understand the rush to pass a bill that is difficult to understand. The Bill of Rights was passed to protect citizens from the power of government, and these bills don’t do that.”

Lawmakers will return Wednesday for the fifth meeting day of the 2014 regular session, which is expected to last until early April.

By Stephen Stetson, policy analyst. Posted Jan. 21, 2014.

Against the tide: The death penalty in Alabama

By Stephen Stetson

In Alabama, the death penalty is a curious exception to concerns about government efficiency. When it comes to executing people, a majority of Alabamians appear to trust the government to get it right every time. Lack of transparency in our capital punishment system prompts little public comment. Similarly, on the fiscal side, calls for reducing Alabama’s spending rarely include eliminating costly executions.

This fact sheet looks at Alabama’s death penalty through the lenses of governmental competence, transparency and fiscal responsibility.

A temporary halt: Alabama’s executions

By Stephen Stetson

Alabama has a long and tangled history with the death penalty. A Tuskegee University archive preserves the grim evidence of the “lynch law” that long terrorized African Americans. The state’s historic enthusiasm for legal executions, which remains strong, bears the stain of racism as well. One measure of the problem is the frequency of national court rulings that address Alabama’s capital punishment machinery.

This fact sheet examines the history of capital punishment in Alabama against the backdrop of national legal trends and the growing call for a moratorium.