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Rep. Chip Brown, R-Hollinger's Island, prepares to speak to reporters at the Alabama Statehouse on Feb. 12, 2026 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The Alabama House on Friday delayed a vote on a bill that would end popular elections to the Public Service Commission. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Sometimes I wish Alabama legislators were a little more creative. A little more inventive in the ways they sell bad legislation. Take this abrupt push  to cancel Alabama Public Service Commission elections . Rep. Chip Brown, R-Hollinger’s Island,  the sponsor of the effort , said switching to an appointed board would lower Alabama’s high residential utility bills. Why? Because Alabama state leaders would choose commissioners with experience in utilities and business. Who (presumably) would make the right choices. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE Come on, man. Never mind that the Public Service Commission already has experienced staff to guide commiss...

Left to right: Alabama State Board of Education Members, Tonya Chestnut, Jackie Zeigler, Allen Long and Wayne Reynolds listen during a debate over regarding social studies textbooks on Feb. 12, 2026. (Andrea Tinker/Alabama Reflector) Alabama State Schools Superintendent Eric Mackey Thursday gave members of the Alabama State Board of Education four options to resolve a long-delayed decision on social studies textbooks.   Vote on recommendations made in a state textbook committee report; amend the report; vote on individual sections of the report, or delay a decision until 2027. “We are back on not the original plan, which was, of course, to vote in November, but we’re on plan B, and that is to talk about today and to bring it back for a vote in March,” Mackey told the board. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE That sparked a heated discussion among board members over why adoption of the new textbooks had been delayed in the first place.  “We’re not out there...

Legislation approved on Feb. 3, 2026, by the South Carolina House would classify mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled dangerous substances. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) Republican-majority legislatures have continued to focus on abortion medication by proposing legislation to further restrict mifepristone and misoprostol. GOP lawmakers are advancing bills that would allow people to sue out-of-state abortion providers and manufacturers.  Measures popping up in Missouri, South Carolina and West Virginia echo a law Texas passed last year that lets residents  sue anyone involved in sending abortion pills into their states.  Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats in other states — even those that restrict abortion — have joined forces to endorse legislation that could make it easier to access contraception.  Lawmakers in Georgia and Tennessee are considering bills that would allow pharmacists to prescribe contraception and require insurers to co...

A pharmacist at Mayo Pharmacy in Bismarck, N.D., reviews completed pharmaceutical orders in January. Advocates, providers, medical associations and state lawmakers are pushing for insurers to cover non-opioid pain medications. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) More states are requiring their Medicaid programs and health insurance companies to cover non-opioid pain medications as an alternative to opioids, which can be cheaper for insurers but also more addictive for patients. Advocates, providers, medical associations and state lawmakers are pushing for parity in coverage. That means prohibiting insurers from charging higher copayments for non-opioids than they do for opioids, and barring them from requiring prior authorization or step therapy — mandating that patients try other medications first — before they will cover non-opioid drugs. At least eight states have enacted such laws: Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Oregon and Tennesse...

A security officer stands outside Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters during a protest on Feb. 3, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — The second partial government shutdown in 2026 was set to begin at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, after lawmakers left the nation’s capital without reaching a deal on changes to immigration enforcement tactics at the Department of Homeland Security.  The department’s shutdown is also likely to go on for some time. With Congress out next week for the Presidents Day recess, lawmakers are not expected back on Capitol Hill for votes until Feb. 23.  A procedural vote to approve funding for the Homeland Security bill for fiscal year 2026 failed Thursday to gain support from Senate Democrats because constraints to immigration enforcement were not included, such as an end to agents wearing face coverings.  Even with the president’s border czar Tom Homan  announcing Thursday   the withdrawal...

Rep. Tracey Estes, R-Winfield (left) stands next to Rep. Parker Moore, R-Hartselle (right) on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 10, 2026 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Here are the bills that passed the Alabama Legislature this week. Tuesday, Feb. 10 House HB 366 , sponsored by Rep. Bob Fincher, R-Woodland, sets the salary of Randolph County probate judges to $70,000 per year, effective Oct. 1, 2027. The bill passed 12-0. It moves to the Senate. HB 367 , sponsored by Rep. Bob Fincher, R-Woodland, allows Randolph County court clerks to charge a $30 booking fee to individuals in the Randolph County Jail who have been convicted or pleaded guilty in cases prosecuted in the county’s circuit or district courts. The bill passed 9-0. It moves to the Senate. HB 368 , sponsored by Rep. Bob Fincher, R-Woodland, allows staggered terms for Randolph County Commissioners. The bill passed 10-0. It moves to the Senate. H...