MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – Alabama lawmakers face decisions in the coming months on how to spend more than $1.5 billion in pandemic relief funds, and legislative leaders say infrastructure projects – such as broadband and sewer projects – are expected to be a spending priority.
Congress allocated $2.12 billion for Alabama through the American Rescue Plan. The state received the first half in June and has $580 million remaining after steering $80 million to hospitals and nursing homes and $400 million on a controversial prison construction plan. The state will receive a second $1.060 billion in May or June of this coming year. The state also has $191 million allocated through the America Rescue Plan’s Capital Projects Fund.
Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Reed, R-Jasper, said how to use the money will be one of the major issues before lawmakers in the session that begins Jan. 11. He said proposals are still being developed, but he expects money to be steered toward a combination of local and regional projects as well as reimbursements to hospitals and other health care providers that have been hard hit during the pandemic.
“You’re going to be looking at projects that are going be for individual communities,” Reed said adding that would likely be done by establishing a grant or application process.
He said they are also considering line-item expenditures for “major projects that are going to be regional projects” as well as tasking the Department of Finance with managing additional reimbursement to health care providers. “There would be potentially additional dollars in healthcare that would need to go over and above the resources that we’ve already given that would go for reimbursement with hospitals, nursing homes, others.”