Leg. Session - Week 2

The second of legislative sessions tend be some of the more boring. Everyone is glad to see each other again on the first week of the session and by week two that fun has worn off. Since only resolutions can be passed in the first week it makes for a somewhat more ceremonial time for everyone.

Week two in the House almost always consists of non-controversial legislation. The Speaker of the House uses this time to have bills placed on the calendar that have passed several years in a row and usually have little debate. This is a way to get the easy stuff out of the way early before getting to the more tough issues in February and March. Most of the bills this week have been around for a while but have never made through the Senate including Rep. Jeff McLaughlin’s ban on PAC-to-PAC transfers, my bill for an Independent Commission to oversee DOT, and other repeat offenders. Some bills like the “TVA money in lieu of taxes” bill have been around much longer than my tenure but for some reason keep getting hung up either in the upper chamber or in the Governor’s office.

The best way to describe the upcoming week is groundhog week because I could close my eyes and almost repeat the debate on these issues verbatim since some of them have been around for so long.

One thing you can count on though, as we get closer to election qualifying deadlines in April you will see more and more excitement in the Alabama Legislature. As sure as the sun rises and sets election year politics will eventually take over from ordinary rituals of the legislative process which we will see this week.