Alabama House to vote on confederate monuments bill
A bill to block historic monuments from being altered or removed without lawmaker approval is getting a vote in the Alabama House. SB60, otherwise known as the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, was introduced by Tuscaloosa-Republican state Sen. Gerald Allen and was approved by the state Senate in late March and passed the State Government Committee in the House of Representatives earlier this month. Now, the bill is scheduled for a Thursday vote by the full House, which would “prohibit the relocation, removal, alteration, renaming, or other disturbance of monuments located on public property which have been in place for 20 or more years.” Similar legislation has been introduced since 2015, when then-Gov. Robert Bentley removed Confederate flags from Capitol grounds. The vote was fast-tracked, coming days after a Confederate statue in New Orleans was taken down. There are currently more than a dozen Confederate memorials sprinkled across the Yellowhammer State.
Controversial monument preservation bill delayed in Alabama Senate
The Alabama Senate has delayed a vote on a bill that would prohibit the relocation, removal, alteration, renaming, or other disturbance of monuments located on public property. On Thursday, senators said they needed more time to review SB60: the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017, given the ongoing regional debate over the appropriateness of monuments, street names and buildings with visible links to slavery. Introduced by Sen. Gerald Allen, the bill would apply only to monuments that are more than 50 years old. “I am concerned about politically-correct efforts to erase entire portions of American history, and oftentimes these efforts to remove a statue or a monument are done in haste and without public knowledge,” Allen said in a news release. “I believe our children and grandchildren should remember history as it happened – the good and the bad.” Allen introduced a similar bill in 2015 — after Gov. Robert Bentley removed Confederate flags from the state Capitol grounds following backlash over the flag’s symbolism after the horrific shootings in a South Carolina church — but it failed to gain enough support in the Alabama House of Representatives to make it to a vote before the end of session.
Alabama legislative agenda preview: Feb. 2 – Feb. 5, 2016
With the first day of Alabama’s Legislative Session about to get under way, legislators have a slew of hefty proposals before them, including bills concerning a state lottery, gun laws, a teacher pay raise, and the always daunting task of balancing the state budget. Legislators will hear from the Alabama Community College System Tuesday for another round of Education Trust Fund Budget concerns. Legislators will also hear from the Legislative Fiscal Office and Finance Department before the start of Tuesday’s 2016 Session. Legislators will hear from a variety of committees on Wednesday, starting with the Senate Judiciary Committee at 9 a.m. Later that day, legislators will hear from the Agriculture, Forestry and Conservation Committee to discuss Senate Bill 58, sponsored by Sen. Tom Whatley (R-Auburn). The bill would specify that the regulation of seeds would be overseen by the Board of Agriculture and Industries and the Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries. The committee would also discuss Senate Bill 62, also sponsored by Whatley, which would authorize the use of bait in the hunting of whitetail deer and feral swine. The Education Policy Committee will also address legislators on Wednesday to discuss Senate Bill 60, sponsored by Sen. Rusty Glover (R-Mobile), which would terminate Common Core curriculum and have the state revert back to “prior courses of study.” Legislators are also scheduled to hear from the Senate Committee on Finance and Taxation Education on Wednesday, though the topics of discussion were unavailable.
