Ivey defends use of virus funds for prisons, bills advance
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is defending her state’s plan to use pandemic relief funds to build new prisons.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is defending her state’s plan to use pandemic relief funds to build new prisons. Ivey said the expenditure is both allowed and needed. The Republican governor issued the statement in response to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman urging Treasury to block the expenditure. A committee on Tuesday advanced the $1.3 billion construction plan that uses $400 million of American Rescue Plan funds. Carla Crowder of Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice said during a public hearing that the proposal doesn’t address a staffing crisis or most of the issued identified by the U.S. Department of Justice in a lawsuit against Alabama.