Alabama Politics in
Doc’s Political Parlor
& Home of Lawn Mower Repair

After the House Constitution and Elections Committee’s shameful vote to deny citizens the right to vote on whether to call a constitutional convention, supporters of reform put their faith in the Senate equivalent of the same committee. Tuesday, their trust was rewarded with a 10-0 vote to approve the plan and send it to the full Senate for debate.

We thank the 10 senators for their bold and principled stand on this issue. We urge their House counterparts, who were not so bold and principled, to profit from their example.

Of course, the fight for a new state Constitution is far from over. There are many, including Senate Majority Leader Zeb Little, D-Cullman, who are for the bill but doubt if it has enough support in the Senate to get it passed. Maybe not, but here is a chance for our increasingly influential Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston, to take a stand for reform and work to bring his fellow Republicans over to that side.

In the House, Republicans have almost universally opposed a convention, but in the Senate this opposition appears softer. Sen. Marsh could be the key to giving Alabamians a chance to vote on the issue and on their future.

Thus far, all the reasons for opposing a convention have been superficial and self-serving. If a constitutional convention will be dominated by special interests (as opponents claim), then why do the biggest special interests in the state oppose a convention?

A new Constitution will no more expand gambling than the current Constitution inhibits it — Alabamians are gambling all around us and will continue to do so. A new Constitution, written by modern Alabamians, is more likely to propose a reasonable solution to the problem.

As for taxation, a new Constitution is just as likely to lower taxes on the majority of citizens as it is to raise them.

And a new Constitution is no threat to the legal property rights of citizens.

These are scare tactics employed by those who like things the way they are and are afraid the people don’t.

The Alabama Senate has taken the first step to letting the people vote on this issue. Now is the time for lawmakers who trusted citizens to elect them to let those same citizens vote on a constitutional convention.

There is no good reason not to.

A bill working its way through the Alabama Senate would require lobbyists to reveal what they spend to entertain and inform lawmakers (including the governor) and entice them to do their bidding.

Today, a lobbyist can spend up to $250 a day on a legislator and not report a dime of it.

Nothing is inherently criminal with deep-pocketed special interests doing this, but if they do, the public who elects the lawmaker has every right to know.

If this bill passes, the public will.

But while we are at it, perhaps it is time to do more than reveal money spent. Perhaps it is time to limit the access lobbyists have to legislators, especially when a bill is being debated.

For some time, critics of the lobbying tactics of the Alabama Education Association have complained about executive secretary Dr. Paul Hubbert working the floor during committee meetings, making sure lawmakers know that he is there and that the AEA is watching.

More recently, in the House committee debate over whether the people of Alabama should decide for themselves if a constitutional convention should be called, The Huntsville Times reported how “Paul Pinyan, an Alfa lobbyist, continually whispered into the ears of members.”

How was it that a lobbyist could get so close to committee members during a meeting? And what was he whispering? And to whom?

Was he bending the ear of local representative Randy Wood? Telling him to forget that back in 2002 he told The Anniston Star, “If we’re going to ever grow in Alabama, we’ve got to have a new Constitution.”?

Was he telling Rep. Steve Hurst from Mumford that no one would remember that back in 2002 he told the Talladega Daily Home, “Yes, (the Constitution) should be changed. How should we do it? Let the people vote on how they want it done.”

If that was what Pinyan was doing, he did his work well, because both men decided to vote the lobbyist’s line.

Should Pinyan or Hubbert or any other lobbyist have that sort of access at such a critical time?

What do you think?

MONTGOMERY — August may be holiday-free, but House members are taking steps to change that.

The House Education Finance and Appropriations committee approved a bill Wednesday that would make the first full weekend in August a sales-tax holiday. The bill now will go to the House for a vote.

The proposed legislation would remove the 4 percent state sales tax during the holiday on purchases of clothing items costing less than $100, on school-supply items costing less than $50, and on electronic items (for example, computers and computer accessories) costing less than $750.

The first weekend in August usually is the busiest time for back-to-school shopping.

Cities and counties would have the option of removing local sales taxes from those items. Anniston charges a local rate of 4 percent, for a total sales tax of 8 percent.

In Oxford, which has one shopping mall operating and another scheduled to open in July, Mayor Leon Smith said he didn’t know enough about the bill to say definitively whether his city would consider suspending sales tax for a weekend.

“I don’t think three or four days (without a sales tax) is going to make or break anybody,” Smith said of the tax-free days.

Anniston Mayor Chip Howell said the issue has not come before the Anniston City Council.

“It would be a tough call to make,” he said. “We’re on a tight budget, and a weekend would cost $50,000 to $60,000.”

Local business leaders said the holiday would help the area retain shoppers who might cross the border to take advantage of sales-tax holidays in Georgia.

“Communities like ours that are closer to borders with other states see the greatest impact,” said Sherri Sumners, president of the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce. “I think it will be good news for our businesses, and certainly for the consumers.”

Rep. Mac Gipson, R-Prattville, said Georgia, Florida and Tennessee have sales-tax holidays that hurt retail sales in Alabama.

“Now we’re about surrounded with sales-tax holiday states,” he said.

The sales-tax holiday would cost the Education Trust Fund about $3.5 million. Paul Hubbert, executive secretary of the Alabama Education Association, who supported the bill, said the money would be made up in a bill sponsored by Rep. Terry Spicer, D-Opp, which would require entities that sell property to state agencies to collect sales taxes. That bill also passed out of committee yesterday.

If the sales-tax holiday bill is signed into law, the first such holiday would take place this year from Aug. 4-6.

Alabama Retail Association president Rick Brown, who strongly supported the measure, said the holiday would not lead to business declines before or after it takes place.

“(Georgia businesses) see a dramatic increase in business (over the holiday),” he said. “And the thing is, they don’t see a decrease in business on either side of the holiday.”

Sales-tax revenues go into the state’s Education Trust Fund; bills affecting collection of taxes generally go to the House Education Finance and Appropriations committee.

Items that would be covered
• Clothing purchases (apparel and footwear) at $100 or less per item;
• Single purchases of computers and computer electronics at $750 per item or less;
• School supply purchases (textbooks, notebooks, pencils, paper, writing instruments, crayons, art supplies, rulers, book bags, backpacks, handheld calculators, chalk, maps, globes, dictionaries and thesauruses) at $50 per item or less.

Items specifically excluded
• Skis
• Swim fins
• Roller blades and skates
• Accessories (jewelry, handbags, luggage, umbrellas, wallets, eyewear, watches, watchbands, belts)
• Computer furniture
• Computer devices, software or peripherals intended for recreational use
• Non-educational video games
• Radios
• Compact Disc players
• Headphones
• Sporting equipment
• Telephones
• Copiers
• Office equipment, furniture or fixtures.