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The Senate Ethics Committee met privately today to discuss what position to take regarding the punch that Sen. Charles Bishop (R – Arley) landed on Sen. Lowell Barron (D – Fyffe) on the floor of the Senate last year.
Helen Hammons* tells the Political Parlor that the Committee adopted new operational rules regarding complaints which will take effect after this matter is resolved. Sen. Zeb Little (D – Cullman) said that he believes this matter will be resolved before the session begins on February 5. Sen. Scott Beason (R – Gardendale) said there would be a decision next week.
Charles Bishop is hopeful the matter will be concluded next week, according to Hammons. He adds that we can’t have what happened happening again but also that something has to be done about verbal as well as physical abuse.
Hammons added, “There was a lot going on behind the scenes but they all tried to appear bipartisan. I think they’re feeling pressure to do something. The Democrats are not going to get what they want, but there are a lot of different feelings as to what should be done.” Three votes are necessary to warn Bishop; four votes would be necessary for any stronger recommendation.
The Committee will meet again on Thursday, January 31.
Besides Beason and Little, members of the committee are Kim Benefield (D – Woodland), Jim Preuitt (D – Talladega), and Bobby Singleton (D – Greensboro). Preuitt is one of the so-called dissident Democrats who caucuses with Senate Republicans.
*Readers may remember Helen Hammons fondly from when she blogged about political matters at the Goat Hill Gazette for WSFA-TV.
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I wish Helen Hammonds had told us what Democrats want that they aren’t going to get.
Is this the same Sen. Singleton who’s involved in an absentee vote investigation in Hale Co? So much for the ethics committee.
Yes, it is.
I am never surprised at what takes place in our legislature. Just imagine Senator Singleton being on the Ethics Commission. He does not even know what that word means.
what’s Hammons doing these days?
bhamhomeboy it is well known that most Senate Dems would like action to be taken against Bishop on the floor of the Senate. The referral to the full Senate for strong punishment in all likelihood will not happen simply because it takes four of the five committee votes to do it and the numbers are not there. As they have said publicly in the past, Senate Rs of course would like some type of action taken against Senator Lowell Barron,but he is not the subject of the complaint under consideration, which is the one against Bishop.
They all publicly sang Kumbaya yesterday and all said they were confident something would be done next week. But we’ll just have to wait and see as the behind the scenes back and forth no doubt will continue not to mention pressures from outside the committee. The committee members all seem to want to finalize something, but what that something will be is still anyone’s guess at this point and my crystal ball’s broken.
The new rules for handling future complaints were not available from Senator Little’s office by the end of the day yesterday, they may or may not be interesting reading.
Interesting question and one for discussion – who benefits most if nothing is decided before the start of the session?
OldCloverdale, I’m doing some work for a client over in Atlanta at the moment but get back to Montgomery on ocassion and as the session gets closer to starting I can’t resist the opportunity to stick my nose into things at the State House and chat with folks. Thanks for asking. Feel free to drop me a line at hh12writer@gmail.com.
JD – yes, but it’s all still allegations at this point as far as I can find out. Someone else may know more.
As to who would benefit most if this is not resolved, I’d say those who want to quietly kill any or all of the reform bills out there, those who see this as a way to tar the other, in short those who profit from the current setup and lastly cynical minimal government types.
Thanks for the clarification Helen. I don’t think the request by the Democrats to have a referral to the full Senate for strong actions is unreasonable. The incident happened before the full Senate (and the world) and involves the full Senate. It’s a shame the votes aren’t there to do the right thing.
The votes have never been in the Senate to do the right thing. Just look, they never even get to vote on the ethics reforms passed year after year by the House.