The Alabama Legislature has approved a general fund budget and wrapped up their second special session.
Lawmakers gave final approval to a spending plan that will avoid cuts to critical state agencies such as Medicaid, prisons and mental health. Other state agencies will see cuts of around 5.5%. Gov. Robert Bentley says he expects to sign the budget into law after reviewing it this morning. He praised lawmakers for their hard work.
The budget approval came after lawmakers broke a seven-month stalemate over tax increases and how to handle a $200 million budget shortfall. This week, lawmakers approved a 25-cent-per-pack cigarette tax and a transfer of $80 million in education funds to help cover the projected gap. All in all, over $165 million in new revenue was approved.
Some legislators feel this budget is just a stopgap measure, and they expect to see the same problems next year.
The agreement was reached with just two weeks to go before the start of the fiscal year on October 1.
The Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center is working to focus attention on the problem of homeless veterans.
The center is hosting its Good Samaritan’s Challenge Conference today. The event combines several meetings to educate landlords about homelessness and encourage them to help.
Damon Stevenson is the public affairs officer for the Tuscaloosa VA. He says people need to know more about the problem.
“One thing we’re trying to educate the community about is we want to do away with the negative stigma concerning homelessness because we like to remind everyone that most people are only one or two steps away from being homeless themselves.”
The conference will be held from 9:30 AM to 3 PM on the medical center campus.
The American Cancer Society is hoping to black out cancer tonight in Baldwin County. A-P-R student reporter Kendall Worman has more.
The “Black Out Cancer Ball” will honor the Mobile area’s top men and women who dedicate their time to fighting cancer. The event was formerly known as the ‘Baldwin County Gala'. The American Cancer Society says fundraising events like tonight’s have helped their organization prevent 650,000 cancer deaths between 1990 and 2005.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists Alabama as the seventh highest death rate in the nation. One reason is that Alabama is in the top ten U.S. states for smoking. For more information on tonight’s fundraiser, go to blackoutcancerball.org.
For APR News, I’m Kendall Worman in Tuscaloosa.
Mobile’s BayFest Music Festival has been cancelled after a 20-year run.
Yesterday, BayFest president Robert Bostwick Jr. announced the three-day event was canceled after the festival's board of directors saw a lack of support and interest. The 21st annual festival was scheduled to be held Oct. 2-4 in downtown Mobile.
All tickets will be refunded at the point of purchase.
In addition to concerts, the festival also included events like the BayFest 5K & Fun Run.
Bostwick’s statement says the festival has generated in excess of $425 million in tax revenue for the Mobile economy since 1995.
This year's lineup included musical performances from George Clinton, Seether, Kip Moore, Three Days Grace, Randy Houser and Shinedown, among several other artists. Last year, Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert and Earth Wind & Fire headlined the festival.