Democrats announce legislative agenda

Democrats in the Alabama Legislature rolled out their agenda on Wednesday, saying their platform is a handshake with working people and not with big corporations.
They were taking a dig at Republicans, who are pushing through bills from their Handshake with Alabama, a list of campaign promises from the 2010 election.
This is the first regular session in which Democrats will be trying to pass their agenda as a minority. About two dozen Democrats were in the House chamber on Wednesday to share their goals.
Their agenda includes online filing of campaign finance forms and creating a searchable database; trying to curb the purchase of medication used in making methamphetamines; fighting distracted driving; creating tax incentives for existing and potential industries using millions of dollars from revenue from offshore oil and gas; and eliminating tax loop holes for out-of-state corporations that Democrats believe are costing the state millions in revenue.
Some of their goals are ones they had difficulty passing while they were in the majority including removing the state portion of the sales tax off of groceries, and rewriting the state's 1901 constitution.
Senate Minority Leader Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, and House Minority Leader Craig Ford, D-Gadsden, acknowledged that Democrats have been run over in the Alabama Senate. During the special session and so far in this session, Senate Republicans have quickly shut down any effort by Democrats to debate issues and moved to quickly vote on issues.
Ford said they hope, like they did with one bill during the December special session, that they will be able in the House to peel away some Republicans to vote with them on some issues.
State Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery, said he is continuing his fight to remove the 4 percent state sales tax on groceries. He said he is open to talking to anyone with suggestions of how to replace that revenue.
Republicans oppose replacing the revenue by stopping Alabamians above a certain income level from deducting the federal income tax they pay from their state income tax.
Bedford is pushing a resolution that would allow people to vote in the June 2012 party primaries on whether they want the constitution rewritten by convention, which would be conducted later by a man and woman elected from each House district.
State Rep. Richard Lindsey, D-Centre, plans to introduce bills that he believes would close the loopholes for out-of-state corporations that compete with corporations headquartered here. Also, with the state needing revenue for education, Lindsey said the state is losing out on $100 million in revenue because of the loopholes.
Bedford and Rep. Napoleon Bracy, D-Prichard, said Sudafed is a main ingredient in methamphetamines and said people are crossing the border from Mississippi to purchase it so they want to make Sudafed a Class III drug, which would only allow it to be purchased by prescription.
Rep. Joe Hubbard, D-Montgomery, has introduced a bill that he believes would create greater transparency through online filing of campaign finance forms.

-- posted by Sebastian Kitchen

House narrowly passes bill that could hurt AEA

The Alabama House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill that could devastate unions representing state teachers and employees early Wednesday morning after about 15 hours of debate that spanned two days.
Democrats diligently delayed a vote on the bill, but they ran out of options and Republicans approved the bill 52-49 at almost 3 a.m.
The bill would stop the state from deducting dues from state pay checks for organizations that are politically active including the Alabama Education Association and the Alabama State Employees Association.
Republicans have said that state resources should not be used to collect dues for organizations that are politically active.
House Speaker Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, said it is not fair for taxpayers to pay for the costs to deduct those dues and deduct money for political action committees operated by those organizations.
Even though Democrat after Democrat asked state Rep. Lynn Greer, R-Rogersville, how much deducting the dues costs the state, he was never able to produce a figure for them.
"We know it cost something," Greer said. " ... It might be a large amount. It might be a small amount."
Democrats believe the bill is politically motivated and aimed to hurt the AEA, which typically supports Democratic candidates. The association is a force in state politics and the bill could hurt its financial resources.
House Minority Leader Craig Ford, D-Gadsden, said he feels the bill discriminates against teachers and state employees.
Hubbard said those are the talking points for Democrats. He said people can still be members of organizations and they can still pay their dues, but the state cannot deduct them from checks if the organization is politically active. The speaker said he is a member of the National Rifle Association, but those dues do not come out of his state check.
"That's the way everybody else does it," Hubbard said.
The Senate has already passed the bill, but the House amended it so the Senate would need to concur or a committee could be established to try to work out the differences.
The bill would allow state auditors to ensure the dues collected through state paychecks are not used for political purposes.
Rep. Richard Lindsey, D-Centre, said that would create additional bureaucracy and the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts would have to hire additional auditors and need additional office space.
Rep. Greg Wren, R-Montgomery, said saying the process on Tuesday and Wednesday was deliberative was an understatement. He said they were tough votes, but there was a "full and fair hearing."
Members voted on a variety of amendments and Democrats used the rules to talk for 10 minutes at a time to fill most of the 15 hours.
Republicans tried to shut off debate earlier Tuesday, but they did not have the necessary three-fifths vote to shut down the Democratic filibuster.
Wren said he supported the bill as part of an overall ethics package. Gov. Bob Riley called lawmakers into special session to address a variety of ethics reforms.
Hubbard said he expects lawmakers to pass the other ethics bills with most of them receiving bipartisan support.

--posted by Sebastian Kitchen

House Democrats elect leaders

Democrats in the Alabama House of Representatives selected state Rep. Craig Ford of Gadsden as their minority leader on Tuesday.
They also selected Rep. Thomas Jackson of Thomasville as chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.
Ford said they would share power.
Other officers elected during a Tuesday meeting at the Alabama Education Association include: Barbara Boyd of Anniston as vice chair of the caucus; Joe Hubbard of Montgomery as minority whip; Rod Scott of Fairfield and Chris England of Tuscaloosa as caucus whips; Richard Lindsey of Centre as secretary/treasurer; and A.J. McCampbell of Demopolis as policy member.
Each officer was elected to a two-year term, according to the new charter or rules drafted by the Democratic caucus on Tuesday.
Ford said all 39 Democrats in the House would be responsible for holding Republicans accountable. Republicans hold 66 seats in the 105-member House.
The leaders said the priorities for Democrats remain the same, removing the sales tax from groceries and protecting Medicaid and children's health insurance.

-- posted by Sebastian Kitchen