What to watch for on the final day of the 2013 session

Monday is the final day of the 2013 legislative session. Both budgets have already passed, which would normally indicate there could be a lot of action Monday. But Senate Democrats have been using every dilatory tactic in the book lately. Whether or not much work actually gets done depends on whether or not Senate Republicans can reach an accord with the Democrats.

Local bills will be up first when the Senate goes into session at 9 a.m. There are 84 local bills on the calendar. The Senate will likely spend the entire morning up to lunch getting through them. After that everything is up in the air. The ensuing special order calendar would probably contain about 50 bills. But if Democrats stall, the Senate may only get to a couple of them.

Here are a few things to look out for in the Senate:

1. Campaign finance reform
Senator Bryan Taylor’s campaign finance reform bill (SB445) would implement numerous changes to make Alabama’s campaign finance laws clearer and more enforceable — including removing the $500 cap on donations a corporation can give to a candidate.

Governor Bentley has said he will veto the bill if it allows any form of PAC to PAC transfers. As of right now it looks like this bill will probably go to conference committee where they will tweak it to the point it would be acceptable to the Governor.

2. Religious Liberty Act
This bill was a part of the House Republicans’ “We Dare Defend Our Rights” agenda, and would allow religiously affiliated or motivated employers to opt out of the ObamaCare contraceptive mandate. This is a bill that Senate Democrats may go out of their way to kill.

3. Spay/neuter bill
Rep. Patricia Todd’s Veterinary Practice Act (HB188) passed the House in early April after an organized lobbying effort by animal rights activists.

According to AL.com, “Under current Alabama law, only licensed veterinarians may hire other veterinarians and only a licensed Alabama veterinarian may be the owner of a veterinary practice. [The Veterinary Practice Act] would add an exemption to allow the non-profit clinics to hire veterinarians.”

Word is that this is one of the bill’s Senate Republicans and Democrats have both agreed to bring to the floor for a vote.

4. Voter registration deadline
Rep. Wes Long’s bill to move the voter registration deadline from ten days before an election to seventeen days before an election has sparked the usual cries from Democrats that Republicans are working to suppress the votes of minorities. On the other side, the Alabama Association of the Boards of Registrars is on fire about this bill, and have been pushing hard for its passage. The changes would have to be approved by the Department of Justice under the Voting Rights Act. The bill passed the House in late April.

5. Confirmations
There are a pile of confirmations that the Senate has not yet been able to get to. If Democrats slow Senate business to a crawl on Monday, dozens of appointments could go unconfirmed. Some boards and commissions could potentially not have enough members to have a quorum. Governor Bentley has indicated that he would consider calling a special session if that was the case.

Down in the House, Governor Bentley’s executive amendment to the Accountability Act will be the main thing to watch. As of a little before midnight on Sunday, the vote count on the amendment was very close. Democrats are planning to vote with the Governor. Most Republicans — with a few, mostly expected exceptions — are sticking to their guns.

Here are a couple of other bills to lookout for:

1. Drug testing for welfare recipients
Senator Trip Pittman’s bill would require drug testing for welfare recipients with a history of drug abuse. The bill passed the Senate in late April and shouldn’t have any problems getting through the House.

2. Omnibus Gun Bill
After being debated, tweaked and sent to conference committee, the Senate passed the NRA-backed omnibus gun bill the first week in May. The House will be taking it up today and should pass it with no problem.

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