A plan to spend $1.06 billion in federal dollars on water and sewer projects, healthcare, expansion of broadband access and other programs won quick approval today in the Alabama House of Representatives.
The House passed the bill by a vote of 102-3 after about a half-hour of discussion.
The money is from the American Rescue Plan Act, approved by Congress two years ago to help states recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The money is the second half of Alabama’s share of ARPA funds. The Legislature allocated the first $1 billion of Alabama’s ARPA funds in 2021 and 2022.
The bill that passed today moves to the Senate, which could approve it later this week. Lawmakers are meeting in a special session called by Gov. Kay Ivey.
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The plan would allocate $400 million to water and sewer projects, $339 million to healthcare costs, and $260 million to expand access to broadband internet. Another $55 million would fund a grant program for community programs like those for food banks, senior citizens, housing assistance, and summer learning and sports programs for children.
Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said today’s quick approval was the result of numerous meetings where lawmakers had a chance to get their questions answered.
“I’m excited about it. I think we made an investment in our state today,” Ledbetter said.
Out of the $339 million category for healthcare costs in the bill, $100 million would go to reimburse hospitals for pandemic-related costs and $100 million would go to reimburse nursing homes. Other reimbursements under the health care portion of the bill include $5 million for state veterans homes, $40 million to the health insurance program for state employees, and $40 million to the health insurance program for public education employees.
Other funds in the healthcare category include $25 million for mental health services, $9 million to expand the use of telemedicine, and $20 million for “a voluntary clinical trial and health care research program to enable greater access to personalized medicine for citizens of Alabama.”
The $400 million for water and sewer projects would include $195 million for projects identified as high-need and eligible for the EPA’s clean water and drinking water revolving funds. Projects that were not funded last year would be priorities, and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management would rank the projects. Another $200 million would be used as matching grants for water and sewer projects. The bill sets aside another $5 million for septic systems that can be used in the state’s Black Belt, where some communities lack sanitary sewage systems.
This story will be updated.
