Alabama lawmakers to begin 2023 legislative session Tuesday

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - State lawmakers will head back to the statehouse for the start of the 2023 legislative session Tuesday.

While the legislature’s only requirement is to pass the general fund budget and the education trust fund, there will be a number of other topics and issues that will also take priority for each party.

Democrats are calling for a “Plan for Prosperity.” Medicaid expansion will be at the top of the list, as it has been for the last decade. Along with that, expanding broadband access and amending the state’s abortion law to include exceptions for incest and rape.

Republicans will focus on a bill relating to Fentanyl which will add a mandatory minimum sentence for people who are caught in possession of the dangerous drug. They will also focus on streamlining the state’s adoption process. Lawmakers told political reporter Erin Davis while they won’t touch the state’s abortion ban, they will seek to make the adoption process easier.

Both the Alabama House of Representatives and the Senate will gavel in at noon.

Gov. Kay Ivey will deliver the annual state of the state address to a joint session of the Alabama Legislature Tuesday evening. The address will be broadcast live by WSFA 12 News to media outlets across the state starting at 6 p.m. You can watch the state of the state address here.

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