256 Today’s Mecca Musick spoke with Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels (D-Huntsville) about the current legislative session that convened on January 11 and concludes on April 25. Daniels represents District 53 in the Alabama House of Representatives and has served as House minority leader since 2017.
Daniels opened the interview by describing his district as “very diverse – in thought, different incomes levels, ethnicities and different socioeconomic statuses.”
The Democratic lawmaker touched on his political career, which he said began in graduate school.
“At that time, I was a student leader, a state student president for the Alabama Education Association student program, where I represented all the college students that were members, students training to be teachers at various universities across the state of Alabama,” he advised.
He said that experience gave him an understanding of the impact of politics in education. That path led him to Washington, D.C., where he worked with a number of politicians including the Bush administration and U.S. Senate and House leadership to work on the college affordability bill. Once back in Alabama, Daniels was elected to represent House District 53 in 2014.
Turning his attention to the current legislative session Daniels said the recently passed $774 million COVID aid spending bill provides a tremendous impact to North Alabama.
“We are very proud of this piece of legislation and the work we have done in a bipartisan manner,” he stated.
Daniels said volunteer fire departments, which he pointed out in many communities serve as our first responders, will have grant opportunities, hospitals will benefit, broadband infrastructure will be expanded in the state, and grant opportunities will be provided for water and sewer systems for municipalities regardless of their ability to provide matching funds.
He added, “This is truly a piece of legislation that aids communities in need.”
Daniels also advised there is a strong possibility the state portion of the grocery tax will be eliminated this session but more work is needed, he said. According to Daniels, the removal of 4% of the state’s grocery tax is not fair if products and services continue to increase in cost.
“So we are not doing the people any justice,” Daniels stated. “We’ve got to figure out a way to help.”
Education remains a focus this legislative session for the District 53 representative. While he applauded Governor Kay Ivey’s continued investments in pre-K education, he would like to see more support.
He continued, “We are proponents of cradle to pre-K.”
Daniels said pre-k lays the foundation for long-term increases in the rigor of the curriculum to be competitive globally not just domestically.
Speaking on the recently introduced school choice bill, Daniels shared he is not a proponent of the bill.
“Would you build an Interstate 64 next to I-65 because 65 has a few potholes? No, you fix the potholes, then you move forward,” he outlined. “That’s what you have to do with our education system.”
Senator Del Marsh’s (R-Anniston) school choice bill would allow parents to use state money for other educational opportunities including private schools and homeschooling. Daniels said people should be able to send their children to private school, adding his daughter goes to a private Catholic school, but he doesn’t believe this bill is the right one for Alabama. He argued there should be a focus on improving our system, which he said many others agree with.
“I’ll be very surprised if this bill can make it out of the Senate, but I will tell you I don’t see this bill having a chance to move out of the House of Representatives,” he asserted.
Despite sometimes disagreeing on certain issues, Daniels had high praise for his fellow North Alabama legislators from across the aisle.
“At the end of the day, what we prioritize as a delegation in North Alabama is North Alabama,” he declared.
He said there are no real differences in their thoughts on how to move the state forward. “We partner with our county commissioners and we partner with our municipal office holders and county officeholders to form policies that are going to impact our community.”
“There are no Rs and Ds when it comes to North Alabama,” Daniels added.
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