Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed (R-Jasper) addressed a group of business leaders Tuesday morning highlighting the challenges, achievements and opportunities facing state lawmakers as they enter the third week of the 2024 legislative session. shared about.

She builds on the approach of her colleagues to date on key legislative priorities, including Senate-led efforts to protect elections, strengthen state board accountability, and expand transparency into the classroom on behalf of parents. praised.

Sen. Reed turned to Alabama's economy, which, although boosted by last year's comprehensive efforts, still faces the challenge of weak labor force participation across the state. Mr. Reid said that once lawmakers return in early April, they will be “zealously focused” on addressing workforce challenges.

Reed began his remarks to workers by repeating his concerns about Alabama's ranking of 44th in labor force participation.

“There's a lot of work related to the workforce. The lieutenant governor has done an exceptional job working with the task force, the speaker has done work related to that on the floor, and the governor has done some work to move forward. . And what I'm going to add here is we're going to get these important packages through the legislative process,” Reed said.

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Building primarily on recommendations from the Lieutenant Governor's 21st Century Workforce Commission, Reed will align workforce development with the urgent needs of key industries by fostering closer relationships between state education agencies and the government. It described a whole-of-government strategy featuring a concerted effort to align. Fields that produce talented workers.

That starts with Cabinet-level officials tasked with overall oversight and streamlining state employee efforts, Reed said.

“We have great things happening in Huntsville, we have great things happening in Mobile, we have great things happening in Jasper, we have great things happening in Dothan. There’s not a lot of cooperation,” Reed said. “We have to focus on the fact that all of our efforts are moving in the right direction. You'll hear more about that as we move forward.”

A top priority for addressing an inclusive workforce is also developing a strategic plan that gives both business and government leaders a common vocabulary to define the issues facing the state's workforce. . Reed said a “benchmark” would be needed because he only has 38 workers available for every 100 open jobs in Alabama.

Another element includes workforce diploma opportunities to expand career paths for high school students.

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“Workforce Diploma – Career Tech Ideas for High Schools – Helping Kids Who Want to Focus on the Job Opportunities We Sorely Need in Our Community and Economy Focus on Their Future Graduation Path” “It's going to give you a diploma, and it's going to give you what you need to get a job right away and make a good income,” Reed said.

Thanks to several important laws enacted over the past few years, state leaders can now focus on workforce challenges. Innovation Alabama, which Reed has remained closely involved with from its earliest concepts to the current strong form it exists in today, will continue to attract high-tech industries, startups, and the careers of tomorrow.

“We're ahead of Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas and Kentucky in terms of state-defined innovators, so we're moving in the right direction,” Reed said. “And lo and behold, we just started the Innovate Alabama effort.”

Another cornerstone of the future-oriented efforts of the Alabama Legislature is a revolution in broadband expansion across the state.

“One of the things that Leader Schofield was at the forefront of at the time was that rural Alabama has to address the growth of this opportunity, which I describe as it relates to the workforce. “This is an essential topic: broadband,” Reid said.

“Alabama has spent $2 billion on broadband internet access in many of the rural areas of the state. We're increasing broadband infrastructure from 47 locations nationwide to 24 locations. That's what we want. That's great news.”

Grayson Everett is the state and politics editor for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @Grayson270