Rule Change Could Create Havoc or Good Dialogue
Local legislation is a quirky part of the Alabama legislative process. Due to some of the arcane provisions of the Alabama Constitution, bills that impact only one county are considered local bills. Of course by law the entire legislature must vote on these bills but there is an unspoken rule that you never get involved in someone else’s local legislation. When Jefferson County for example is having a big fight over local legislation the rest of us step back and let them vote on their own issue. It is just a common courtesy and the way things operate. Now a rule change is being proposed by Rep. Newton, who is also the Speaker Pro-Tempore about the composition of local legislative delegations. Under the current rules (Rule 65) if you represent any part of a county then you are a part of that local legislative delegation. Jefferson County has historically been evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans in their legislative delegation. This is something that began to evolve long before my time but has just become a fact since the districts have been redrawn over the years. It is sort of like a maintaining of the balance of power in that delegation. While I am not in that delegation apparently there have been a couple of legislative disagreements over the past couple of years that have led to some possible gridlock. In response to this Rep. Newton has come with a proposed Rule change that says a legislative district must have at least a third of its members in a county before it can serve on that local legislative delegation. What this means is that Rep. Thomas, and McClurkin will no longer serve in the Jefferson County Legislative Delegation. Normally this would be an issue that is just between the members of that delegation except for two problems. First, in order for the Rule to pass it must have a majority of the House membership vote for the change which means 53 members will have to vote to change the rule and therefore some people from outside the Jefferson County Delegation will have to vote for this change. The second problem, and this is a big one, is that the rule change would effect every local legislative delegation. So in Shelby County, Rep. Jimmy Martin, Rep. Jim McClendon, and Rep. Greg Canfield would all likely be kicked out of our delegation despite the fact that their combined population is 30% of Shelby County. So in essence 30% of Shelby County would no longer have a voice in local legislative issues that impacted them. This rule change could create havoc when it comes up or it could just provide for some interesting political dialogue to get the week started.
