Rural broadband access among top legislative issues
The Alabama Legislature convenes its 2021 session on Feb. 2, having adjourned last year after the pandemic interrupted business for lawmakers and much of the rest of the country. There had been talk of a special session, but that didn’t materialize, and both the House and Senate head to the state capital this month to tackle a number of important issues. The landscape inside the State House will be different this year, with lawmakers, staff and the public social distancing and observing other safety protocols. AREA’s Vice President for Public Affairs Sean Strickler and Alabama Living Editor Lenore Vickrey talked with incoming Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Greg Reed, R-Jasper, in December for his thoughts on this year’s session.
What do you foresee for the protocols for the Senate as the session opens?
We have a lot to do for the people of the state of Alabama. We had a lot of challenges in the last session in being able to navigate through the coronavirus. We know so much more now about dealing with and managing the virus. At the same time, we all recognize that things are really difficult in the state of Alabama. Our thoughts and prayers are with those dealing with coronavirus and the difficulties it has presented.
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Being transparent with what we do for the people is of utmost importance. The general public is going to be allowed to be in our building while we’re doing our work. The media is going to be here, they’re going to be stationed in different locations, in galleries and different places where we’re trying to keep folks safe. The House of Representatives is adopting some new technology to allow them to vote electronically, a requirement for them, and they’re expanding their chamber area. All those things are positives. There will be things specifically for House employees so they will stay in close communication with their supervisors so they are monitoring their health. You’re going to have temperature checks, screenings, different tools available at entrances to the State House at different levels, like on the seventh floor, recognizing that a lot of work is being done now to make provisions for that. For the public to be able to access the building is going to be very important, so that everyone is as safe as we can make it during this time. Also, we move forward, based on what I’m hearing from (State Health Officer) Dr. (Scott) Harris and the Department of Public Health and based on how the vaccines are going to roll out, the situation on Feb. 1 versus the situation on April 1 may be very different. We have to be very cognizant that we are putting together plans that can be modified or strengthened or maneuvered in a different way that allows this to be handled the best way it can be. It’s an attitude of all hands on deck looking for a way to be as responsive to members, staff and the public as we can be, while keeping in mind having folks safe is a top priority.
With this pandemic, has it shown the glaring deficiencies of the building the legislature meets in?
I don’t think there’s any doubt the building itself is not structured to be able to manage things with the pandemic. The House chamber is a perfect example of those challenges. At the same time, that’s a challenge at church, at school. It’s not ideal, and we’re in uncharted territory. One good thing is that innovation many times is born out of crisis. As we move to the end of this very difficult time, it will be incumbent on all of us to find a very specific methodology as we look backwards, to find what did we do right, what are the things we need to learn. It’s incumbent upon us as time moves forward to be better prepared. Learning from this situation is going to be important for Alabama, period, and certainly for state government.
This pandemic has proved us with our siren call for the need for broadband in rural areas. You’ve been a great proponent of rural broadband, so what do you see for the future as to how we can get more broadband to rural areas? If you had to categorize the top 5 important issues for the people of Alabama, broadband internet access across our state has to
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