Top 10 Most Memorable Moments of Session (Part Four)

Continued…

#3.

Democrats organize a Senate majority. Over a year ago, before the primary elections, the Political Parlor identified the number one question on people’s minds about this session to be “who will control the state Senate?” Last year, the Senate Republicans were just short of the 21 votes necessary to re-organize the Senate in the middle of the quadrennium, but barring big changes, they would have the 18 votes needed to claim a majority at the beginning of a new quadrennium with the help of Democrats like Gerald Dial, Jimmy Holley, and Jim Preuitt.

Even though long-time incumbent Gerald Dial surprisingly lost a Democratic primary battle with newcomer Kim Benefield (aided by a campaign funds from the Democratic majority), the Republicans were reporting that they would have seven Democrats caucus with them to provide a 19-16 majority. Even the morning of the organizational session, the news reported that the the Republicans’ coalition was holding. Jim Preuitt (D – Talladega) was expected to be the President pro tem for the coalition and appeared confident that he had the votes. Gov. Riley reportedly was telling people that he had the votes.

Democrats Phil Poole (D – Moundville) and Rodger Smitherman (D – Birmingham) were expected to be two of the seven Democrats to side with the Republican coalition, but in an unexpected surprise to many senators, they voted with the Democrats.

For the third straight quadrennium, Republican Senators hoped to have enough Senate Democrats join them to form a majority only to fall short.

Coming oh-so-close and falling short can be a bitter disapointment. When your favorite team is blown out in the big game, you can only think, “Oh well, get’em next time.” But when your team loses the big game in a surprise on a last minute play, the disappointment is all the more keen as you dwell on what might have happened differently. Sen. Lowell Barron (D – Fyffe) suggested in a recent interview that a similar dynamic may be at work with Senate Republicans, “They already were organized but when it didn’t happen, I think they’re struggling with they can’t let it go.” I cannot help but wonder if the Senate Republicans’ frustration at the Democrats’ operating rules has been exacerbated by their bitter disappointment at very nearly forming a majority coalition only to be denied at the last moment.

Regardless, the long anticipated question of who would control the Senate was answered by a surprising turn of events.

#2.

The pay raise. Legislators approved the first pay raise for themselves since 1991 on an unrecorded voice vote. The bill provides for annual adjustments for inflation in the future via the Consumer Price Index, so expect no more unseemly votes on the issue.

Many objected to the amount of the pay raise, from $30,410 to $49,250 or 62%, for part-time jobs. But almost everyone objected to the manner in which it was passed.

The House and then the Senate each approved the resolution on a voice vote in less than a minute, leaving little time for debate. Some senators said they wanted a written record of Wednesday’s vote but were denied one.

Sen. Ben Brooks was one of the senators who tried to protest.

Sen. Ben Brooks, R-Mobile, described the blinding pace of the legislative action: “I tried to yell ‘No’, but it was hard,” he said. “He may have gaveled before I got the word out of my mouth. It was that fast.”

However, Rep. Randy Hinshaw (D – Meridianville) reported here in the Parlor that every legislator and the Governor knew ahead of time the amount proposed for a pay raise and that a voice vote was coming. “Everyone knew it was coming. Very few seem to want to admit it.”

Editorials railed. Birmingham talk radio personality Matt Murphy organized a protest in Montgomery that was attended by 200 to 250 people, many of whom took off from work to express their objections at the rally.

The Governor’s veto meant that legislators would vote on the record. Both houses overrode the veto with votes to spare. Though some complained about the hurried pace of the original voice vote, there was no debate in the House and little in the Senate on the vote to override the veto. (Only two senators spoke against the pay raise.)

Some legislators have filled out paperwork to refuse the pay raise, and others have said they would give it to charity.

The unproductive legislative session due largely to the Senate shutdown has made the pay raise appear all the more undeserved.

Gary Palmer echoed the feeling many of irate Alabamians when he wrote, “One thing that voters will not forget is the 62 percent pay raise.” But three years in the political realm is a long time.