MONTGOMERY — Gov. Kay Ivey delivered a message of the future Tuesday in her annual State of the State address.
“Folks, our students…our young people are why our work today matters and why we must get it right,” she said. “Everything we do today is for a better tomorrow for these children and all the families who call Alabama home.”
With a strong emphasis on improving education, Ivey related nearly all of the topics she touched on to “the power of strong families.”
In her 30-minute speech, she rolled out major announcements that will guide the format and tone of the 2023 legislative session.
With the General Fund and education trust fund in surplus, Ivey said the state is experiencing the best financial standpoint in modern history.
“Alabama’s budgets are strong,” she said. “Folks, that is not by chance. That is because, together, we have taken a fiscally conservative approach to budgeting.”
On top of that, the governor said Alabama can make even further gains by spending $1 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds in a “prudent and wise” way.
“This evening, I am calling a special session of the Alabama Legislature to begin tomorrow so that we can urgently address these endeavors,” she said. “Let’s wisely invest these federal monies to overcome some of our biggest challenges, while also paying off our debts.”
Among the broad range of priorities she laid out for improving education included investment toward reading and math, a 4% pay increase for teachers, doubling funding for computer science, and a reinvigorated focus on charter schools and school choice legislation.
“It’s important we continue to have meaningful discussions on school choice,” Ivey said. “That must begin with improving the school choice we already have: Our charter school options and the Alabama Accountability Act.”
She took the opportunity to say measures being proposed around the well-being and future of Alabama’s students that is put at risk by the rising toll of Fentanyl-related crime and sweeping the nation.
“That is why I am instructing ALEA to make combatting this drug the top priority of our Alabama Drug Task Force,” Ivey said. “Tonight, I am also urging you, our legislators, to pass House Bill One so I can sign it into law as soon as possible.
“By doing this, we will put any traffickers of this deadly drug behind bars – and keep them there.”
When it comes to renewing and expanding the Alabama Jobs Act and the Growing Alabama Act, she pointed to the scoreboard since taking office.
“Since I’ve been governor more than $42 billion have been invested in our state, which has created some 78,000 new jobs,” Ivey said. “For most of those, we can thank the Alabama Jobs Act.”
In a fitting reference to her invited guest, Terry Saban, and the debut of an economic agenda lawmakers will begin tackling immediately, Ivey called it “The Game Plan,” a playbook for economic success. Most notably, she underscored the need for “shovel-ready sites,” recruitment of high-tech industry, and sparking growth in rural areas through investment.
“We have a lot of work still ahead, but as I have said before: I am confident
Alabama’s best days are still in front of us,” Ivey said.
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