11 S Union St #719
Montgomery, AL 36130
Email: [email protected]
Website: legislature.state.al.us
Shelby, Jefferson, Chilton, Bibb, Hale
Confirmations, Finance and Taxation General Fund, Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development, Health and Human Services, Judiciary, Local Legislation Shelby County, Transportation & Energy, Constitution Ethics and Elections
Bio forthcoming.
As multiple recent state and national news stories have illustrated, overcrowded state prisons is one of the key challenges facing Alabama. While the State Legislature has made significant strides over the past few years in the area of criminal justice reform, Alabama’s prisons are still at about 166% of capacity. This creates a dangerous environment […]
The members of the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles aren’t doing their jobs. In July, Jimmy O’Neal Spencer was charged with the brutal killings of Martha Dell Reliford, 65, Marie Kitchens Martin, 74, and Martin’s 7-year-old great-grandson, Colton Ryan Lee, in Guntersville. Spencer, a man with a violent rap sheet going back to the […]
My oldest daughter just turned sixteen. She’s driving, and as a dad, it’s a thrilling, but scary moment in life — this week, she started the tenth grade, and the reality is that during the school year, she spends nearly as much time at school as she does around her mom and me. For young […]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama House of Representatives passed SB179 yesterday, a bill that establishes severe penalties for those found guilty of obstructing an investigation into human trafficking, which includes child sex trafficking The legislation, sponsored by Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) and a part of Senate Republicans’ “Fighting for Alabama” 2018 agenda, received bipartisan support. The bill […]
This week, the Alabama Senate passed Senate Bill 179, which establishes severe penalties for those found guilty of obstructing an investigation into child trafficking. This legislation enhances the penalties already in place, increasing the offense to a Class A felony, with a minimum jail sentence of ten years. Under current law, the obstruction of an […]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama State Senate passed SB179 today, a bill that establishes severe penalties for those found guilty of obstructing an investigation into child trafficking. The legislation, sponsored by Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) received bipartisan support, passing unanimously, and is part of the Senate Republicans’ “Fighting for Alabama” 2018 agenda. Ward’s proposal would […]
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Center for Legislative Energy and Environmental Research (CLEER) installed Alabama State Senator Cam Ward as its new chairman for 2017-2018 at its annual meeting on Sunday, September 17. Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson was on hand in Little Rock for the event with Sen. Ward. CLEER is an affiliate of The […]
Over the past few years, I have made it a point to visit elementary classrooms and high schools across Senate District 14. The passion of the teachers I meet never fails to inspire me: for many teachers, education is both a career and a calling to shape the lives of young people. Most educators […]
In 2016, more Americans died from drug overdoses than were killed in the entire Vietnam War. Two-thirds of those overdoses were linked to opioids, a class of drugs that includes illegal substances like heroin, but which is primarily composed of legal painkillers like oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methadone. Unfortunately, Alabama is center stage in the opioid […]
MONTGOMERY, Ala – On Tuesday, the Alabama Senate gave final approval to a proposal by Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) and Representative Chris England (D-Tuscaloosa) to lift a significant financial burden off local governments. Currently, when a person who is on Medicaid – a federally-mandated health insurance program for low-income and disabled persons – is […]
MONTGOMERY, Ala – On Thursday, the Alabama Senate approved a proposal by Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) to lift a significant financial burden off local sheriffs’ offices. Currently, when a person who is on Medicaid – a federally-mandated health insurance program for low-income and disabled persons – is arrested for a crime, their Medicaid benefits are […]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The State Senate took significant steps today to solve the long-standing crisis in Alabama’s prisons by passing a measure to build up to three new prison facilities. Currently, Alabama’s prisons house far more inmates than originally intended, with the prisons bursting to over 170% of capacity. The proposal passed today, sponsored […]
The 2017 session of the Alabama Legislature is in full swing, and as of this writing, 692 bills (and counting!) have been filed. As the State Senator for District 14, one of my responsibilities is to represent your interests in Montgomery. I also believe that I have a responsibility to update you from time-to-time on […]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Today the Senate Judiciary Committee gave favorable report to a bill that will dramatically strengthen penalties for the possession and trafficking of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, a substance that is about fifty times stronger than heroin. Currently, the possession of fentanyl can only be charged as the unlawful possession of a controlled […]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) was presented last week with the Foundation for Government Accountability’s 2016 “Friend of Government Accountability Award” for sponsoring the Alabama Right to Shop Act to reward patients who utilize high-value health care options. Leaders like Ward want to help American patients play a larger role in the health […]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – State Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) is working with federal and state lawmakers on a new, major criminal justice reform initiative. On Wednesday, Prison Fellowship, the nation’s largest outreach program to prisoners and their families, announced the launch of the Faith & Justice Fellowship, a bi-partisan coalition of state and federal lawmakers motivated […]
Our prison population overwhelms our facilities and is currently at almost double capacity. It consumes nearly one-third of the General Fund Budget, stressing all other state agencies that are funded from the same source. One of the most difficult challenges in my political service has been trying to bring sanity back to the way we […]
Despite recent political distractions, the Alabama Legislature has worked hard this session to enact policies to move our state forward. This session, the Legislature unanimously passed a $6.3 billion Education Trust Fund for fiscal year 2017 (FY17), the largest education budget since the recession, and it gives a much-deserved pay raise to teachers and support […]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – On Tuesday in the Alabama Senate, Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) passed legislation to protect children from online predators. Under current law, it is illegal to disseminate or knowingly possess obscene material of persons less than seventeen years of age where monetary consideration is exchanged. Ward’s proposal clarifies the existing law by removing the […]
The Alabama Legislature is nearly two-thirds of the way through the 2016 regular session. While the Legislature is considering a number of bills related to everything from payday lending to the allocation of the BP settlement, the only constitutionally required duty of the Legislature is to pass budgets for both the Education Trust Fund and […]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Yesterday in the Alabama Senate, the Education & Youth Affairs Committee passed legislation by Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) and Representative Mack Butler (R-Rainbow City) requiring all K-12 teachers and administrators receive annual training on appropriate behavior towards students, especially in the context of social media. The bill is strongly supported by […]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) today passed legislation to protect the property of Alabama businesses by increasing the penalty for criminal trespass of critical infrastructure, a term that includes chemical manufacturing facilities, electrical tower substations, railroad switching yards, trucking terminals, and water treatment facilities. Criminal trespass of such critical sites would now be […]
For decades, Alabama was known as “tort hell.” The legal environment was tilted toward plaintiffs and businesses were taking it hard on the chin. This made some trial lawyers very wealthy, but it cost Alabama untold thousands of jobs as businesses and doctors went elsewhere. During the 1990s, voters flipped the appellate and Supreme […]
Budget cuts. Tax increases. Agency restructurings. We’ve heard and seen it all over the past several months since the Legislature first came to order in early March. Since that time, there has been a regular session and two special sessions. Throughout each, a lot of ideas were bounced off the wall – some stuck, […]
The biggest threat to public safety looms over our great state of Alabama like a storm cloud. Our prison system is grossly over capacity, doesn’t rehabilitate those who need it the most, and places a burden on our parole officers and other officials who can’t handle the unnecessarily high-intake volume. The good news is that […]
They say all politics is local, and in Alabama, the adage rings true. As part of the 1901 Alabama Constitution, counties and municipalities have to petition the legislature to make many changes affecting their operations. That means of the more than 1,000 bills introduced each year many only have local application, including various constitutional amendments. […]
The Alabama Senate today passed landmark legislation to alleviate overcrowding in state prisons. Senate Bill 67 by Sen. Cam Ward (R-Alabaster), a key piece of the Senate Republican “Paving a Path for the Future” agenda, will address the state’s failing prison system through reformed felony classifications, alternative sentencing, and additional probation and parole officers. The […]