Education

Governor Kay Ivey is passionate about education. She believes it is the key to helping families, creating a stronger economy, and making Alabama the talk of the nation – in a good way.

The Strong Start, Strong Finish (SSSF) education initiative launched by Governor Ivey works to integrate Alabama’s early childhood education, K-12 education, and workforce development efforts into a seamless educational journey for all Alabamians.

There are three major strategies for SSSF:

• Pre-Kindergarten through Third Grade (Pre through Three)
• Computer Science for Alabama (CS4AL)
• Advanced Training leads to Better Jobs (Advanced Training, Better Jobs)

 Measurable Goals for SSSF Include:

• Securing Alabama First-Class Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) program state-wide.
• Ensuring all of Alabama’s third graders are proficient readers by 2022.
• Offering a rigorous computer science course at all middle and high schools by 2022.
• Prepare 500,000 more Alabamians to enter the workforce with high-quality postsecondary degrees, certificates, and/or credentials.

Job Creation

During Governor Kay Ivey‘s first 100 days in office, Alabama recruited more than $1.3 billion in new business investments and more than 2,000 new jobs. In fact, Governor Ivey has worked toward sparking Alabama’s economic development and job creation efforts since before she took office. During her time as Lt. Governor, she played an important role in passing key legislation to attract new industries to Alabama.

A vital part of Governor Ivey’s Economic Development plan is to have a well-educated workforce that is ready for new industry that creates jobs in Alabama. In July 2017, Governor Ivey along with the Alabama Community College System announced a partnership with Apple for a pilot program to train individuals on the skills needed for jobs developing apps for mobile devices. According to Code.org, there are more than 4,500 open computing jobs in Alabama.

Two industries that have thrived in Alabama over the past few years are automotive and aerospace. In 2016 alone, both aerospace and automotive industries accounted for $747.1 million in investments within the state, as well as, the creation of 2,582 jobs. These rising industries help create a healthy commerce for the state, and boost the already well-known reputation of rocket building and car making.

Infrastructure

During Governor Ivey’s Listen, Learn, Help and Lead tour, local civic leaders and businesses stressed the importance of infrastructure. Since that time, the governor has made infrastructure one of her top priorities. Infrastructure is the foundation which allows people to connect to each other, whether in reference to major interstate highways or fiber lines.  In order to improve the lives of Alabama’s citizens, the state must make an increased investment in our infrastructure.

Businesses rely on our ports to ship their products all over the world. Children use broadband to complete school assignments. With millions of Alabamians using our infrastructure to travel for work and for leisure, it is not surprising that infrastructure has a major impact on our economy.

Transportation and warehousing has contributed significantly to the state’s economy. Governor Ivey has ensured every county received infrastructure investments and directed the Alabama Department of Transportation to improve our roads.

GOV. IVEY'S LISTEN, LEARN, HELP & LEAD TOUR MADE SEVERAL STOPS IN TUSCALOOSA ON AUGUST 30, 2017.

In addition to maintaining existing infrastructure, Governor Ivey is committed to major infrastructure projects across the state. Widening Interstate 65 (I-65) in Shelby County will provide relief for traffic congestion. For Mobile and Baldwin Counties, the governor is a strong advocate for deepening the Mobile Port and its shipping channel in addition to building the Mobile Bay Bridge to connect Alabama products to the international market by providing an alternative to existing traffic routes.

GOV. IVEY DELIVERS REMARKS AT THE RIBBON CUTTING CELEBRATING THE OPENING OF THE SOUTH MEMORIAL PARKWAY MAINLINE ON JULY 31, 2018 IN HUNTSVILLE.

Infrastructure is not just better roads and bridges but also high-speed broadband internet access statewide. To connect rural communities with high-speed internet, Governor Ivey allocated millions of dollars for grants to help connect rural communities to many of the services the internet provides. Bringing broadband to rural areas, allows local businesses to access the digital marketplace and for children to participate in online classes.

One of the governor’s top priorities is making sure that the citizens of Alabama can easily get to the places they need to go in the state by relying on a safe and reliable transportation network. We have worked hard to make sure our state’s infrastructure keeps up with the needs of our growing economy. Modern transportation infrastructure helps create jobs while allowing citizens and visitors to live, work and play with more ease and efficiency.

Health Care

Governor Kay Ivey has acted to protect the health of Alabamians through programs designed to combat infant mortality and opioid overdoses, and through the state’s work to improve services for roughly 1 million Alabamians covered by Medicaid.

GOV. IVEY TOURED THE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL DURING HER LLHL TOUR OF MOBILE ON AUG. 9, 2017.

Improving Alabama Medicaid

• Alabama Medicaid has won approval from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to start a new program, called the Integrated Care Network (ICN), to provide education and outreach to people eligible for Alabama Medicaid’s long-term services and supports. Those services include nursing-home care as well as in-home services, which tend to be less costly and can help elderly or disabled people stay at home.
  • Alabama Medicaid signed a contract with Alabama Select Network to be the state’s ICN. The company will get a per-member, per-month payment for helping direct people to appropriate services, and to cover the costs of in-home services.
  • Alabama Select Network could earn bonuses if, over time, there is an increase in the percentage of people receiving in-home services among people eligible for Medicaid’s long-term services and supports. The ICN is now operating in Alabama.
• In addition, Alabama Medicaid has worked to create a program called the Alabama Coordinated Health Network (ACHN), under which most Alabamians covered by Medicaid would have their care monitored by case managers. The program is slated to start in 2019 or as soon as CMS approves the plan. The ACHN will encourage doctors to provide a higher quality of care while rewarding them for care provided at a lower-than-forecast cost.
• Alabama Medicaid officials have filed a revised application that asked CMS for permission to impose work or training requirements on some of the 75,000 parents or other caretakers of Medicaid-eligible children who are themselves covered by Medicaid, which could take affect once approved by CMS.
  • Exceptions would be given for disabled or medically frail people, pregnant women, people 60 or older, people in treatment programs for alcohol or substance abuse, people required to care for a disabled child or adult, single custodial parents of a child 1-year-old or younger, or single custodial parents of a child younger than 6 for whom appropriate child care is not available.
  • People subject to the requirement who did not work or undergo training or do volunteer work for 35 hours a week (20 hours a week for parents/caretakers of a child younger than 6) would lose Medicaid coverage.
  • Parents or other caretakers on Medicaid would have 90 days after Medicaid notified them of the work or training requirements to meet the requirements or provide proof that they were exempt.
  • Alabama Medicaid officials in their application said a key goal of the proposal is improving the health and economic security of affected Medicaid beneficiaries by requiring them to engage in employment activities.
• Governor Ivey approved changes in Alabama Medicaid’s dental policies and rates of payment to dentists, as suggested by the Alabama Dental Association.
  • An actuary hired by Alabama Medicaid estimated the changes would save the state $1.2 million a year over five years.  

GOV. IVEY TOURS UNITED ABILITY IN BIRMINGHAM ON AUGUST 28, 2017.

Addressing Infant Mortality

• Governor Ivey added, and the Legislature approved, funding to combat infant mortality.
• As the chair of the Alabama Children’s Cabinet, the governor followed through with the Cabinet’s recommendation to financially support pilot programs in Macon, Montgomery and Russell counties.
• The money will be spent by the state agencies over early childhood education, mental health, and public health, in part to expand evidence-based home visitation programs, such as the Nurse-Family Partnership or Parents as Teachers, to visit new mothers and their babies.

Combatting the Opioid Problem

• Governor Ivey created the 40-member Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addiction Council, led by state Mental Health Commissioner Lynn Beshear, State Health Officer Scott Harris, and state Attorney General Steve Marshall, and charged the group with proposing ways to “address the overdose crisis in Alabama.” The Council included many of the members of a similar group created in 2016. The Council’s second annual report is due by the end of the year.
• Governor Ivey secured funding in the state’s operating budget for Fiscal Year 2019 to improve the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP), in part by making it easier to use. This was a direct recommendation from the Opioid Council.
• Physicians and other prescribers by law must report to the PDMP prescriptions they write for opioids, and pharmacists must report the prescriptions for opioids that they fill. The PDMP can be used by prescribers to see if a patient already has been prescribed opioids.
• Governor Ivey signed a law that made it a crime to traffic in fentanyl and carfentanil, synthetic opioids that are much more potent than heroin. Among other things, the law made it a felony to knowingly possess more than a half gram of fentanyl or a related synthetic opioid, or possess, sell, or deliver a mixture containing fentanyl or a related synthetic opioid. Outlawing fentanyl was one of the recommendations made by the Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addition Council.

GOV. IVEY SIGNED THE NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH PROCLAMATION WITH DHR COMMISSIONER NANCY BUCKNER NOVEMBER 26, 2018 IN MONTGOMERY.

Providing Additional Behavior Health Services

• Governor Ivey signed an agreement to set aside state dollars to expand behavioral health services for Medicaid-eligible children and youth with severe emotional disturbance or autism spectrum disorder.
• The funding will come mostly from new appropriations proposed by Governor Ivey and approved by the Legislature, and also from Alabama Medicaid, the Alabama Department of Human Resources, and the Alabama Department of Mental Health.
• The agreement signed by Governor Ivey also was signed by leaders of two nonprofit advocacy groups, the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program and the Center for Public Representation, who helped develop the agreement and will provide input as state officials provide services outlined in it for thousands of affected children and youth.

  GOV. IVEY SIGNED HB 76 ON MAY 21, 2018 AT THE STATE CAPITOL.

Making Child Care Centers Safer

• Governor Ivey signed a law that is expected to reduce the number of child-care centers in Alabama that are exempt from licensure by the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) from 875 to 546.
• The law requires currently exempt child-care facilities that receive state or federal funds to be licensed by DHR by Aug. 1, 2019. The law also requires unlicensed child-care centers to be inspected at least annually by local fire and health departments
• It further requires unlicensed child-care centers annually to provide DHR proof of compliance with fire and health inspections, proof of insurance, employee criminal-background checks, and, if requested, immunization records of all children.

Census

The next census of the United States will be taken in 2020. A full and accurate count is critical for Alabama’s communities because many of the federal programs distribute money to the state based on statistics. An under count or drop in census numbers for Alabama will mean less funding allocated to the state and - as an extension – to your community.

The census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution.  The purpose is to conduct a census of population and housing and disseminate results to the President, the states, and the American people.  The primary uses for decennial census data are:

• Reapportionment
• Government Resource Allocation
• Redistricting
• Demographic Data

All responses to Census Bureau surveys and censuses are confidential and protected under Title 13 of the U.S. Code. Under this law, the Census Bureau is required to keep respondent information confidential. Census Bureau will never share a respondent’s personal information with immigration enforcement agencies; law enforcement agencies; or allow it to be used to determine their eligibility for government benefits. The results from any census or survey are reported in statistical format only.

ADECA serves as liaison between the State of Alabama and the Census Bureau and is already working to encourage maximum participation in the 2020 census. ADECA is also the certifying official for annexations and boundary changes and works with local officials to ensure that Census boundary records are accurate and up-to-date.