Democratic state lawmakers representing the Mobile area will gather with constituents Thursday evening for a town hall meeting, part of a statewide listening tour the party’s caucus has organized ahead of the upcoming legislative session in Montgomery.
The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, at Williamson High School, located at 1567 E. Dublin Street in Mobile. It will be hosted by state Reps. Adline Clarke, Napoleon Bracy Jr., Sam Jones and Barbara Drummond, along with state Sen. Vivian Figures, all of whom represent portions of Mobile and the surrounding area in the Alabama Legislature.
Organizers say residents are welcome to raise any topic of concern during the session, though promotional materials for the event have highlighted a handful of legislative priorities Democratic lawmakers plan to push during the upcoming session, including job creation, public education funding, criminal justice and prison reform, environmental justice issues and expanding access to healthcare.
Thursday’s gathering is the latest stop in a series of town hall meetings members of the Alabama House Democratic Caucus have held in communities across the state as they prepare for the 2019 legislative session, which convenes in Montgomery on Tuesday, March 5. Lawmakers have used the meetings to hear directly from voters about local concerns before bills are filed and committee work begins.
Town halls like Thursday’s give residents a rare chance to speak face-to-face with the legislators who represent them, rather than relying solely on phone calls, letters or social media to make their views known in Montgomery. Local political observers say such meetings can shape which issues lawmakers prioritize once the session gets underway, particularly on matters like education funding and healthcare access that routinely draw significant public interest in the Mobile area.
Additional information about Thursday’s town hall and other events hosted by the Alabama House Democratic Caucus is available through the caucus’s social media accounts, including on Twitter at @AlHouseDems and on Facebook at facebook.com/ALHouseDems.