A state Senate committee has approved a bill to take Alabama probate judges out of the wedding license business.
APR’s Stan Ingold reports, this comes after many judges refused to follow the U.S Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage.
The Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee approved the bill to do away with state-issued marriage licenses. Instead, spouses would file a signed marriage contract at probate offices.
Several Alabama probate judges have shut down marriage license operations rather than give licenses to same-sex couples.
Senator Greg Albritton, the bill's sponsor, says the bill could be a solution to lingering disputes over gay marriage.
Lawmakers are in special session to deal with a budget shortfall. Bills outside the Governor's call for a special session have a slimmer chance at passing because they require a two-thirds vote.
Several Gulf Coast legislators are hoping to move half of the billion dollar BP oil spill settlement.
The money is currently allocated to the General Fund. They hope put it toward road and infrastructure projects in Mobile and Baldwin Counties.
The bill would also allocate $100 million to reforming homeowner’s insurance policies along Alabama’s Gulf Coast. Representative Margie Wilcox of Mobile explains.
“You’ll hear a lot of people say ‘Well, you live south of I-10. If you live south of I-10, you’re unlikely to be able to get affordable insurance.’ But we all know Hurricane Katrina didn’t get to I-10 and turn around and leave and go back into the Gulf.”
Wilcox says the insurance rates near the Gulf Coast are unfairly high and are based on incorrect models.
State health officials say too many Alabama teens aren't getting vaccinated for a potentially cancer-causing virus.
The Alabama Department of Public Health says not enough Alabama youth are being immunized for human papillomavirus, or HPV, according to a new national report.
The report shows 39 percent of Alabama girls aged 13 to 17 have had the vaccine, which matches the national number. But only 9 percent of male adolescents have had the immunization. That is well below the national average.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says HPV can lead to cancer, particularly cervical cancer in females. It also causes other problems, such as genital warts.
The HPV vaccine is recommended for all children at age 11 to 12.
State vaccination rates are better for other diseases.
Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard is asking a judge to postpone his ethics trial, saying his defense needs more time to prepare.
Lawyers for the Republican speaker filed a motion seeking a continuance of the trial on Sunday.
Hubbard’s defense says there are numerous pretrial issues that have to be resolved, and they need more time to go through millions of pages of documents turned over by prosecutors.
Defense lawyers say they have also had difficulty accessing those materials.
Hubbard’s trial is scheduled to begin on October 19. His defense hasn’t suggested an alternative date.
The House Speaker faces 23 felony ethics charges accusing him of using public office for personal gain. He has pleaded not guilty.
?