Posted by If you enjoy political debate about some real issues that will bring some real meat and potatoes to the so far boring legislative process, then this is your week. We have multiple issues coming up in the House all at the same time and many of them will surely spark some controversy. So if you have been so bored with Montgomery so far this session that C-SPAN actually was considered entertaining, grab your popcorn and watch the news because here you go–
Medical Marijuana Act- by Rep. Laura Hall- D (Huntsville)- Laura has never been known to shy away from any issue. While I am probably the philosophical exact opposite of Laura I cannot help but respect her for tenacity and willingness to talk about tough issues. This one brings out some of the most spirited discussions on both sides of the debate. It has been in Judiciary before and I believe it will pass committee and likely get the floor of the House. It will be in House Judiciary on Wednesday.
Free the Hops- by Rep. Thomas Jackson- D (Clarke County)- This bill will allow for the sale of gourmet beer in Alabama. Nothing and I mean nothing in the House of Representatives creates stronger passion than alcohol or gambling related legislation. This beer uh I mean bill will surely create a good debate because both sides are already working their votes. On the House Floor as early as Tuesday.
Hate Crimes Bill- by Rep. Alvin Holmes- D (Montgomery)- This bill has also been up one time before. It would expand the hate crimes law already in place in Alabama to include sexual orientation. For record I have never received as much angry hate mail in my life as I did from this bill when it came up last year. Interesting proponents of legislation making hate a crime can call and write you letters telling you that they hate you. This one will be a fun one to watch because everyone usually gets in on the action. In House Judiciary on Wednesday.
Bingo for Medicaid- by Rep. Marcel Black- D (Colbert County)- Ah nothing like a good gambling bill to get the juices flowing for political junkies. This bill would actually restrict bingo gambling machines to places they already exist and provide a tax on them. It would also prohibit the future expansion of these machines to other locations in the state. Since I am not on the Tourism and Travel Committee I am not completely familiar with all the plus and minuses of this particular bill yet but it has been introduced before in the form of Bingo for Books. This issue will bring tons of debate and is the type of legislation that will stop the legislature cold in its tracks for a day or two. Should be fun. It will be in the House Tourism and Travel Committee on Wednesday.
I have several bills coming up this week myself but I have to confess they are not nearly as sexy as the ones mentioned above so I will not bore you in this space with their content.
One thing is for sure— this is going to be a fun week!!
I am also looking forward to a favorable vote on the “Free the Hops” bill. This common sense bill, after all, would only make beer available in strengths that are already available in wine, not to mention spirits. Beer connoisseurs across the state are hopeful Alabama will at last join 47 other states that allow sales of high-gravity beer, if only the facts and common sense are followed. And that is how the legislature always votes, right? Right?!
Cam, I hope that both you (my fellow GOP) and my Representative Randy (fellow LHS class of 78), vote for the beerlicious Free the Hops bill.
I join you in respect for Rep. Hall, who shows awareness of the human side of issues and I think the other title, Compassionate Care Act, reflects the spirit of this bill that would permit medical use of mariuana in certain circumstances.
We’re waaay past due on rethinking our approach to drug abuse and narcotrafficking–it’s been known for a long time that money spent on prevention and treatment costs 10 times less and is infinitely more effective than the failed interdiction and destruction efforts. {I neither use any illegal drugs, nor–fortunately, so far–have any personal interest, but know of others’ suffering that could be alleviated by this simple bill.)
Rep. Ward, I’m hearing some rumors about your vote on the BIR for the Gourmet Beer Bill. I hope you have time to write a post about it.
This is one of those circumstances that frustrates me to no end. Background– throughout the day on the House floor there are number of filibusters going on. Sometimes for hours at a time. During this time it is common for a member to get up from the chair and go to the bathroom, back to their office to return a call, get something to drink, etc. Sometimes when you do this a vote will be called very quickly and you do not have time to get back to your desk to vote. What most members will do is ask the person who sits next to them to vote them a particular way when the vote machines open up. In this case I got up to leave and asked Rep. Hill to vote my machine as a YES on the BIR vote if it even came up for a vote. At the time it looked like it might not come up at all or at least we had several hours before it would come up. I left and went back to my office to get some materials I would need for the debate. As I was on my way back the machines were unlocked and a vote was taken. Rep. Pat Moore voted my machine as a NO vote despite my wishes. Since this time I have talked to both the sponsor of the bill and opponents of the bill to let them all know that my position on this issue is I support the Free the Hops bill and will be voting YES on the BIR and YES on final passage when the bill brought back up. I believe it will be moved out of the Senate first and then come back to the House. It is one of those issues that can happen from time to time but I have never had happen to me since I was elected four and a half years ago. Very frustrating because I am actually in the minority for my party in supporting this bill so I am bucking the trend by being supportive and publicly being supportive. This vote was recorded in a way that contradicted my public support and I have since talked to Rep. Moore about her voting other people’s machines against their wishes.
Wow. Did you put it on the record that you intended to vote Yea?
I had some technical problems with the live audio that day and a recording someone got for me cuts off as soon as the BIR fails.
Yes it is in the Journal my intended vote. Of course it lost by three votes so it will not matter until we bring it back up for another vote. I talked to the sponsor today and they will be bringing it back up again in a couple of weeks.
[...] April 4, 2007 Cam Ward and the case of the voting machine Dan on 2007-04-04 @ 11:12 pm Cam Ward (R) officially voted against the BIR for the Gourmet BeerBill, which was very disappointing to me at first because he was on a short list of Republicans who had indicated support for the bill. Since then, he has spent quite a bit of time trying to explain what happened (even to me), so I wanted to make sure my audience was aware. [...]
[...] In our Posts from the Legislature, Rep. Cam Ward (R – Alabaster) tells us that in the House this will be the “kind of week that political junkies live for!” [...]