Alabama legislative preview: April 4 – April 8, 2016
Legislators return to Montgomery this week after their spring break, with the House of Representatives convening at 1 p.m. and the Senate an hour later Tuesday. In the Senate, lawmakers are slated to take up SB342 from Sen. Vivian Figures (D-Mobile), which would make the transmission of an explicit message a Class A misdemeanor. The body will also take up SB347 from Sen. Paul Bussman (R-Cullman), which would legalize the manufacturing of industrial hemp in the state. The Senate will also take up SB14 from Sen. Gerald Allen (R-Tuscaloosa), which would allow citizens to carry a pistol in a vehicle without a permit. Over in the House, lawmakers will take up two alcohol-related bills: HB46 from Rep. Alan Boothe (R-Troy) would allow Alabama distilleries to sell their product for off-premise consumption and HB83 from Rep. David Faulkner (R-Birmingham) would allow state wineries to establish an off-site tasting room. On Wednesday, committee hearings will get underway. At 1 p.m. in room 325 of the state house, the Senate Judiciary Committee will take up the grandparent’s visitation rights bill, HB334 from Rep. Mike Jones (R-Andalusia), as well as HB115 from Rep. Paul Sanford (R-Huntsville), which would decriminalize possession of the marijuana-based, seizure-reducing medication CBD oil. At 1:30 p.m in room 727 at the state house, the Senate Rules Committee will take up SB97 from Sen Gerald Dial (R-Lineville), which would allow the Ten Commandments to be displayed on state property and at public schools. At 9 a.m. in room 429 of the state house, the House Health Committee will take up HB183 from Rep. Kerry Rich (R-Guntersville), which would require abortion providers to conduct a sonogram before providing an abortion. At 1:30 p.m. in room 418 of the state house, the House Committee on Education Policy will take up HB299 from Rep. Ed Henry (R-Decatur), which would prohibit local school boards from adopting or enforcing “zero tolerance” policies regarding drugs, alcohol, weapons or physical harm to another person. The bill would also require that the definition of firearm be “narrowly construed.”
Alabama legislative week in review: March 21 – March 25, 2016
Legislators briefly passed through Montgomery this week with an eye toward their spring break, which began Thursday and won’t have them back in the statehouse until April 5. Despite only two legislative action days this week, both bodies took up high-profile legislation. Tuesday, the 17th day of the legislative session, got under way with the Alabama House of Representatives clearing the long-contested bill to provide a path to visitation rights for grandparents. HB334 from Rep. Mike Jones (R-Andalusia) passed with an affirmative vote from 97 lawmakers, though debate came over the fact that the bill may circumvent the will of fit parents to make decisions regarding the welfare of their children. Over in the Senate, lawmakers passed SB260 from Sen. Clay Scofield (R-Guntersville). The bill would bar the state from taking money from the state’s park system to prop up the General Fund. The practice is a legitimate concern, as lawmakers have taken $15 million from state park coffers over the past five years to deposit into the General Fund. The Senate also cleared HB34 from Rep. Mac McCutcheon (R-Capshaw). The bill, which was carried by Sen. Greg Reed (R-Jasper), provides tax breaks for state ports in an effort to remain competitive among states with similar incentives. Supporters say the move will attract large businesses and bring jobs to the state. The Senate continued on its roll Wednesday with the passage of SB205 from Sen. Paul Sanford (R-Huntsville), which would prohibit the location of abortion clinics within 2,000 feet of a school and bar the Alabama Department of Public Health from reissuing licenses to any clinic in violation of the new law. The Senate also approved a General Fund budget, which lacks sufficient funding for Medicaid, despite a veto threat from Gov. Robert Bentley. The Senate’s session came to a halt when it stalled a vote on Bentley’s landmark prison transformation bill. In committee hearings this week, the Mobile delegation declined a bill along party lines that would allow county residents to vote on whether or not to raise the local minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. A house committee approved a bill that will put to a vote the notion that a person is a person from the time of fertilization, effectively outlawing abortion in the state. A Senate committee took up a bill that would decriminalize possession of the epilepsy-relieving drug cannabidiol (CBD), but did not vote on the measure. It will likely come up for discussion again when legislators return from spring break April 5.
Grandparents visitation bill clears the Alabama House
The Alabama House of Representatives on Tuesday passed HB334 from Rep. Mike Jones (R-Andalusia), which would provide the criteria by which grandparents may petition for visitation with their grandchildren. Jones noted that Alabama is one of only a handful of states that don’t already have such a law on the books. The bill faced difficulties last year after it was ruled unconstitutional and the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year not to take up the bill seemed to stop it in its tracks. But significant work has been done since then by the Alabama Law Institute and others to ensure that the bill can withstand scrutiny. The bill went before committee in early March and drew the support of a wide array of Alabama parents and grandparents, though just as many showed up to oppose the measure. In today’s vote, which garnered an affirmative from 97 Representatives, only Rep. Juandalynn Givan (D-Birmingham) rose to voice concern over the legislation. Givan noted that she had opposed the legislation previously and wanted to ensure that the bill would not hamper Alabama parents from making decisions regarding the welfare of their children. Jones noted that changes were made to ensure the bill would be deemed constitutional, adding that the legislation was based off of a similar law passed in Arkansas. “We’re not reinventing the wheel,” Jones said. “We’re trying to learn from other states.” Jones noted that his bill creates a “narrow door” through which grandparents will have to pass to regain access to their grandchildren and said that Alabama’s law would be one of the most conservative in the country. He added that any decisions regarding reinstated visitation rights will start with the presumption that fit parents have made a decision in the best interest of their children – it will be up to grandparents to prove the opposite. With its passage in the House, the bill will go before a Senate committee before making it to the full Senate in the coming weeks.
Alabama legislative preview: Mar. 14 – Mar. 18, 2016
The Legislative Session resumes Tuesday when the Alabama House of Representatives reconvenes at 1 p.m and the Senate an hour later. The Senate is slated to take up a slew of measures this week, including SB89 from Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) which would require all Alabama public school students to pass a civics test to graduate. SB148 from Sen. Jim McClendon (R-Springville), which would require all passengers in a vehicle to wear a safety belt, will also come up this week. The measure met with opposition when last it appeared on the floor, as lawmakers questioned the need for furthering meddling in people’s private matters. The “Fantasy Contests Act,” SB114 from Sen. Paul Sanford (R-Huntsville), will also come up for discussion this week, as well as SB14 from Sen. Gerald Allen (R-Tuscaloosa), which would authorize carrying weapons in vehicles without a permit. Over in the House, lawmakers will take up their version of the “Fantasy Contests Act,” as well as the lottery bill from Rep. Alan Harper (R-Northport). HB13 would allow people to vote on whether or not a lottery is allowed in the state, though it provides no details on how profits from such a lottery would be allocated. The body will also take up three bills from Rep. Mike Jones (R-Andalusia): HB332 which would abolish common law marriages; HB333, which would change laws related to judge’s ruling in divorce cases; and HB334, which would provide a process for grandparents to petition for visitation rights with their grandchildren. A slew of alcohol-related legislation is also scheduled to go before the House. The House was scheduled to take on the General Fund budget this week, but the activity calendar makes no mention of the legislation coming before the body. The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry is set to take up a bill that would legalize industrial hemp in the state on Wednesday and the Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to take up SB97 from Sen. Gerald Dial (R-Lineville), which would allow the Ten Commandments to be displayed on state and public school property. The Alabama Prison Transformation Initiative Act will once again appear before the Senate Committee on General Fund Finance and Taxation, where a vote is scheduled to take place. The House Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security will take up HB98 from Rep. David Standridge (R-Hayden), which would provide a lifetime pistol permit to retired military veterans and the House Committee on Health will debate HB159 from Rep. Arnold Mooney (R-Birmingham), which would allow doctors to decline services that violates their conscience. The House Judiciary Committee will take up two marijuana-related bills: HB61, also known as “Leni’s Law,” from Rep. Mike Ball (R-Madison), which would decriminalize possession of the seizure-reducing medication cannabidiol, and HB257 from Rep. Patricia Todd (R-Birmingham), which would make possession of 1 ounce or less of marijuana punishable by only a fine.
