Alabama wants people to go back to work, here’s how the state plans to help
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Alabama has one of the nation’s lowest unemployment rates, but it also has poor workforce participation, something the state is working to change.
The Alabama House of Representatives passed a series of bills intended to help people go back to work. The five bills, part of the “Working for Alabama” legislation package, passed unopposed on Thursday.
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HB 358, sponsored by House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, would offer businesses tax credits to encourage them to pay for childcare for their employees.
Daycare often costs hundreds of dollars a week, and some parents find it cheaper to stay home with their children rather than pay for childcare. If those costs can be lowered, Daniels said he believes parents will want to come back to work and stay with companies offering this benefit.
“Too many working parents have struggled with the issue of child care and this is a big
step in the right direction,” Daniels said in a statement Thursday. “This will also have the added benefit of improving educational achievement and outcomes for children throughout Alabama.”
A bill sponsored by Rep. Cynthia Almond would lower an additional financial burden on many in the state: rent. HB 346 aims to decrease housing costs for people entering and returning to the workforce.
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The bill gives tax credits for the construction of affordable multi-family housing and for offering lower rent to people transitioning back to work.
On the House floor Thursday, Almond said the bill closes a gap. She gave the example of a single mother living in government-subsidized housing. Currently, if she got a job, she would lose that housing because her income rose. The program would give her family access to affordable housing.
One bill, SB253, is designed to help the state’s future workers. The legislation will give students more options to choose what kind of job they would like to pursue after graduation.
Because college is not a part of every student’s plans after high school, state lawmakers said they want to give those students more time to pursue career and technical education courses.
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The new course of study, named the “Workforce Pathways Diploma,” would replace two math and two science credits with career and technical courses. Currently, the specific curriculum differs at high schools across the state, but many have classes in welding, agricultural sciences, automotive repair, marketing and business.
The bill encourages the Alabama Board of Education to apply to the state legislature for money to fund the construction of new and upgraded career and technical education centers so every high school in the state will have access to the necessary courses.
Students with a Workforce Pathways Diploma will be eligible to attend public universities in the state. The Alabama Board of Education will be in charge of designing the program’s curriculum.
The House passed SB247 which renames the Alabama Department of Labor to the Alabama Department of Workforce. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Steve Livingston.
The final bill, SB252, would create a public corporation called the Alabama Growth Alliance that would work with the state’s Department of Commerce to develop a yearly economic plan for the state.
The Alabama Growth Alliance would be run by a board made up of the governor, state lawmakers and people working in the public sector.
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