Alabama legislators continue working to get bills passed on a number of different issues before the legislative session wraps up in May.  Legislators are addressing issues surrounding education, public safety and illegal drug abuse.

The House passed a bill that will give Alabama public school teachers a two percent pay increase.  The vote was passed 86-13.

Along with the pay increase, teachers will also be given liability insurance.

“Our Education Trust Fund Budget has gone to the Senate now,” Rep. Randy Wood (R-Calhoun and St. Clair) said.  “This raise is for teachers as well as support staff.”

Rep. Wood has also worked to get two other bills passed with regard to burglary.  One bill now classifies all burglaries as a Class B felony.

“My house has been burglarized before, so I know how it feels,” Wood said.

The other bill Wood has worked to get passed by the House is a bill that now imposes a higher level of punishment for burglars wearing bulletproof vests.

“If someone is wearing a bullet-proof vest, that means they are ready for action when they go rob a house.  They anticipate trouble, so they feel need to protect themselves.”

Both bills are now going before the Senate.

A bill that came down from the Senate that is now being reviewed by the House is an open carry/concealed weapon bill allowing employees to have possession of a weapon in their car, even if the vehicle is parked on the business’ premises.

“The conflict here is between the business owner’s right to keep weapons off their property and the employee’s right as an individual to possess a weapon,” Rep. Dr. Jim McClendon (R- St. Clair and Shelby) said.  “Sheriffs are not happy with it, and there are still a lot of details to work out.”

A package of bills (House Bills 150, 151, 152) designed to combat illegal acquisition and use of prescription drugs has also been passed by the House and is now set to go before the Senate.

Rep. McClendon and Rep. April Weaver sponsored that package of bills.

“There is no question this is a serious problem in Alabama with all of the pain management clinics in this state,” McClendon said.

The measures are designed to better track prescriptions for opioids, painkillers and other commonly abused drugs, prevent instances of doctor shopping and provide the State Medicaid Agency with tools to combat drug abuse among the patients it serves.

House Bill 150, sponsored by McClendon, would allow physicians and up to two of their designated employees to access that Prescription Drug Monitoring Program database maintained by the Alabama Department of Public Health.  The State Medicaid Agency would be provided similar access, as well.  Since 2006, anyone prescribing controlled substances in Alabama has been required to report the dispensing of those drugs to the database and access to the system would allow doctors to track past prescriptions given to their patients.