Alabama Legislative Preview: Pre-Filed Bills of Note

As of this morning, there were 95 pre-filed bills for the upcoming Alabama legislative session appearing in the online ALISON database:

68 House Bills

Bills of Note:

• HB 1 is Rep. John Knight’s proposal to remove the tax on groceries, once again.
• HB 4 is a proposal by Rep. Joseph Mitchell to have Supreme Court Justices and other lower level judges elected from districts, instead of statewide.
•  HB 8 and HB12 are also from Rep. Mitchell and would require the establishment of procedures to document floor debate and committee meetings in the legislature.
• HB19 is also from Rep. Mitchell and would require all legislative agencies to advertise employment opportunities.
• HB24 would increase the homestead exemption and is also being proposed by Rep. Mitchell (he was very busy in pre-filing).
• HB26 would allow a public official to solicit funds on behalf of a non-profit (a truly terrible idea)
• HB30 is the overseas absentee voting bill from Rep. Jimmy Martin
• HB35 is the ban on text messaging and use of GPS devices while operating a motor vehicle (from Rep. Jim McClendon)
• HB37 is from Rep. Chad Fincher and calls for the automatic revocation of any teacher’s license who is convicted of a felony or any sex offense involving a child
• HB39,40, and 41 are all from Rep. Bentley and all deal with abortion laws
• HB45 is Rep. Duwayne Bridges proposal to ban same sex partner benefits from being offered at state colleges and universities
• HB42 and 47 from Rep. Bentley and Rep. Mac Gipson, respectively, each call for a law that would stop anyone from being “mandated” from participating in a particularly healthcare plan
• HB49 is also from Rep. Gibson and would ban the tri-counties (Montgomery, Elmore, Autauga) from instituting an occupational tax
• HB53 is from Rep. Owen Drake and would call for a complete overhaul of the governing of Jefferson County
• HB54 and HB55 are competing proposals from Rep. Alvin Holmes and Rep. Cam Ward, respectively, to grant subpoena power to the state Ethics Commission (we are the only state that does not allow this)
• HB66 is a ban, proposed by Rep. Duwayne Bridges, on any state employee or public education employees from serving in elected office

27 Senate Bills

• SB4 is a proposal by Sen. Ben Brooks and Sen. Trip Pittman to substantially revise and reorganize the state ethics code
• SB11 is a proposal by Sen. Roger Smitherman to make changes to the unemployment compensation eligibility requirements
• SB12 is from Sen. Zeb Little and would require the state Department of Revenue to pay income tax refunds in a timely way or be forced to pay interest
• SB13, 14 and 15 would prohibit the counties in Sen. Zeb Little’s district (Lawrence, Winston and Cullman) from levying occupational taxes, SB17 is a similar proposal from Sen. Paul Sanford for Madison County
• SB20 is a proposal from Sen. Larry Means that all unallocated payments from class actionl lawsuits (payments that go unclaimed) be given to the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Department
• SB27 is from Sen. Hank Sanders and would create an Innocence Inquiry Commission in Alabama to investigate claims of innocence from those convicted of felonies

These were just the bills that caught my eye, and I’m certain many many more will flood in before next Tuesday and after the legislature comes into session.  Many proposals we know are coming, including bills related to gambling and charter schools are not yet filed.

If you find other bills of note or have other comments, please contribute them below.

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