Push for greater equality: Adline Clarke proposes ‘gender pay gap’ bill
It’s a fact: women earn less than men. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, women who worked full-time, year-round in 2014 earned on average, 79% of men’s median annual earnings. That’s not sitting well with one Alabama lawmaker who’s hoping her gender pay gap legislation makes it across the finish line as the 2018 legislative session nears its close. HB368, sponsored by Mobile-Democrat State Rep. Adline Clarke, would prohibit employers from paying their employees less than the wage they would pay a member of the opposite sex for a similar job or responsibilities when viewed as a composite of skill, effort, and responsibility, as specified. Alabama is one of only two states, along with Mississippi, without an equal pay law. “Nearly every state has a law prohibiting employers differently based solely on gender. I’m disappointed. I would have thought we would have passed a long long before now,” Clarke told AL.com “Timing is everything.” However, HB368, also known as the “Gender Pay Gap,” would not just make wage inequality illegal, but would also add several provisions to the law including: Requires an employer to affirmatively demonstrate that a wage differential is based upon one or more specified factors Prohibits an employer from discharging, or in any manner discriminating against. or retaliating against an employee for the enforcement of these provisions Provides for enforcement of the bill Provides that an employer may not prohibit an employee from disclosing the employee’s own wages, discussing the wages of others, inquiring about another employee’s wages, or aiding or encouraging any other employee to exercise his or her rights under these provisions And requires an employer to maintain a record of wages paid to his 15 or her employee for a certain amount of time. The proposal, filed on Feb. 1, is scheduled to appear before the Alabama House State Government Committee on March 21. Alexander City-Republican State Rep. Mark Tuggle, the committee’s chairman, hopes to have Clarke’s proposal on the committee agenda next week. The bill currently has 26 co-sponsors, both Republicans and Democrats: Autauga County-Democrat Kelvin Lawrence Mobile County-Democrat Barbara Drummond Barbour County-Democrat Barry Forte Perry County-Democrat Prince Chestnut Jefferson County-Democrat Rolanda Hollis Madison County-Democrat Anthony Daniels Jefferson County-Democrat Rod Scott Tallapoosa County-Democrat Pebblin Warren Choctaw County-Democrat Elaine Beech Madison County-Democrat Laura Hall Jefferson County-Democrat Merika Coleman Jefferson County-Democrat Mary Moore Mobile County-Democrat Napolean Bracy Blount County-Republican Connie Rowe Shelby County-Republican April Weaver Talladega County-Democrat Barbara Boyd Jefferson County-Democrat Juandalynn Givan Etowah County-Republican Becky Nordgren Morgan County-Republican Terri Collins Montgomery County-Democrat John F. Knight Montgomery County-Democrat Thad McClammy Tuscaloosa County-Democrat Artis McCampbell Mobile County-Democrat James Buskey Bibb County-Democrat Ralph Howard Lauderdale County-Democrat Marcel Black Houston County-Democrat Dexter Grimsley
House committee approves two bills to loosen Alabama alcohol restrictions
The House Committee on Economic Development and Tourism approved two measures Thursday aimed at loosening alcohol restrictions in the state. SB219 from Sen. William Beasley (D-Clayton) would allow state and retail liquor stores to conduct liquor and wine tastings on premise. The measure would allow 10 percent of stores to do so in the first year and eventually move up to 28 percent within three years. The bill allows for two quarter-ounce tastings of liquor and four one-ounce tastings of wine. Joe Godfrey, Executive Director of the Alabama Citizens Action Program, was on hand to oppose the legislation, urging lawmakers to make it more difficult to get alcohol. “Alcohol is an addictive and mind-altering drug,” Godfrey said. “It destroys homes, it destroys families.” Gina Dearborn, who represented the Distilled Spirits Council, was in favor of the measure. Dearborn noted that 40 states already allow such tastings, and Alabama’s laws would be stricter than most – tastings must begin before 6 p.m. and manufacturers would oversee the tastings at no cost to consumers or retailers. The committee gave the legislation a favorable report by a unanimous vote. HB325 from Rep. James Buskey (D-Mobile) addressed a specific issue concerning Lake Patti Sue in Slocomb. The 160-acre property straddles a wet and dry county and the owner is hoping to sell alcohol at the recreational spot. Buskey’s legislation would allow him to do so, even on portions that sit within the dry county. The bill would make the lake a “commercial development district” and have no bearing on the parts of the county outside of the property. Similar bills have already passed. Again Godfrey objected, asking whether such a move is constitutional. “You’re imposing something on people who have not voted to go wet,” Godfrey said. “We keep inching and, eventually, the plan is for the whole state to be wet. I don’t believe that’s fair to the citizens of that dry county.” Rep. Tommy Hanes (R-Scottsboro), who lives in a dry county, concurred with Godfrey’s reasoning. “It goes against your people if they don’t want it to be wet,” Hanes said. The bill was given a favorable report with Hanes the only one to vote against it.
Alabama legislative agenda preview: March 7 – March 11, 2016
Alabama lawmakers will return to Montgomery Tuesday as the legislative session resumes, with the House convening at 1 p.m. and the Senate an hour later. Both chambers are still planning to tackle the General Fund and Education Trust Fund budgets before spring break, as well as a host of issues slated to be taken up this week. The Senate will debate SB89 from Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), which would require all Alabama public school students to pass a civics test to graduate – private schools could opt-in if they chose to. Also on the Senate’s agenda is SB148 from Sen. Jim McClendon (R-Springville), which would require all passengers in a vehicle to wear a safety belt. The legislation came up in last week’s session but was stalled due to opposition regarding further legislation on people’s car-riding habits. The Senate will also take up SB114 from Sen. Paul Sanford (R-Sanford), which would regulate “fantasy contests” in the state, and SB14 from Sen. Gerald Allen (R-Tuscaloosa), which would allow people to carry a firearm in their vehicle without a permit. Allen’s legislation was hotly contested in a recent committee hearing, when state law enforcement officers argued that the bill would make their jobs more difficult and dangerous. The House will also take up a bill aimed at regulating so-called “fantasy contests,” as well HB2 from Rep. Tommy Hanes (R-Scottboro), which would require wireless communications providers to supply law enforcement agencies with location information upon request. Perhaps the bills with highest interest to be taken up in the House this week are HB46 from Rep. Alan Boothe (R-Troy), which would allow Alabama distilleries to begin selling bottles for off-premise consumption, and HB13 from Rep. Alan Harper (R-Northport), which would allow the public to vote on whether or not to institute a state lottery. Committee hearings will get underway Tuesday morning before the start of session, though the majority will take place on Wednesday. The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services will hear discussion on two bills that will likely attract the outrage of Democrats – HB45 from Rep. April Weaver (R-Alabaster), which would outlaw the already-illegal practice of selling fetal tissue, and SB9 from Allen, which would prohibit abortions if providers don’t first determine a fetal heartbeat. The Senate Committee on General Fund Finance and Taxation will hear from Sen. Vivian Figures (D-Mobile) regarding SB136, a bill which would put forth a constitutional amendment to add an additional 5-mill tax to state properties, with the proceeds going to help Medicaid. The House Economic Development and Tourism Committee will hold public hearings regarding two alcohol-related bills – SB219 from Sen. William Beasley (R-Clayton), which would allow retail licensees and state liquor stores to conduct liquor and wine tastings, and HB325 from Rep. James Buskey (D-Mobile), which would allow businesses with a building split between wet and dry counties to serve alcohol. The House Committee on General Fund Ways and Means will take up the General Fund via SB125, which has already passed the Senate,
Hillary Clinton names Terri Sewell, legislative Dems to state campaign committee
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton named a slew of progressive Alabamians to her state campaign committee on Friday, which she is calling the “Alabama Leadership Council.” Among the most powerful members of the 60-member council of supporters is U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, a Democratic congresswoman and the first black woman to represent Alabama in Congress. A number of state lawmakers in Montgomery also made the list, including Sen. Vivian Davis Figure, Rep. Napolean Bracy, and Rep. James Buskey. Longtime supporter and former state co-chair Pat Edington also made the list, as did Vivian Beckerle and Timothy Bolden. The list of Hillary-supporting Yellowhammer State Democrats also includes several party insiders who also cast a vote in the party’s nominating convention. Observers say her path to victory includes running an extensive behind-the-scenes campaign for her party’s delegates, of whom reports say she has racked already secured half. Clinton made a handful of campaign stops in Alabama last week, ahead of her designation of campaign committee members. She weighed in on the closure of several state driver’s license offices – an issue championed by Sewell – last month as well, calling the move “a blast from the Jim Crow past.” Democrats’ chances of winning carrying Alabama’s are slim to none. The last time the state voted for a Democratic president was in 1976, when then-Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter captured the state’s support.
