Inside baseball is a new tag on Yellowhammer Politics that will accompany posts that deal with issues that are probably of more concern to inside Montgomery types than they are to the public at large. Wikipedia says “the phrase ‘inside baseball’ refers to a detail-oriented approach to the minutiae of a subject, which in turn requires such a specific knowledge about what is being discussed that the nuances are not understood or appreciated by outsiders.” All of this of course is in keeping with our goal to bring Yellowhammer readers the best behind-the-scenes info on Alabama Politics.

A quick google search also revealed that “Inside Baseball” was an old school magazine about professional baseball. So we’ll use this as an opportunity to put Alabama politicians’ heads on old baseball magazine covers…mainly because we may never have another excuse to do that.

As we mentioned in our “What to Watch for This Week” post, Sen. Jimmy Holley (R – Elba) has a couple of bills set to come to the floor Tuesday that would restructure and consolidate the legislature’s operations. SB112 proposes to change the way the Legislature exercises its oversight function of the administrative rulemaking process. SB122 reorganizes the legislative branch and creates a 12-member Joint Committee on Legislative Operations. The Joint Committee would assume the powers of five committees that currently exist.

Monday evening Governor Bentley made his concerns known regarding the two bills in their current form. According the multiple members of the Senate, Governor Bentley opposes the bills for the following reasons:

1) Concentration of power into the hands of 12 legislators to make significant decisions regarding state government rule changes

2) Removal of accountability by taking away the Merit System protection of the Examiners of Public Accounts and putting them under the control of the 12 legislators

3) Reversal of the current Administrative Procedures Act – this will not only create significant burden for the legislative council but also pose problems for any state agency attempting to receive approval for a rule change

Proponents of the bills say they cut the current number of separate entities in half, and establish more centralized oversight and accountability.

“While we are asking other state agencies to reorganize and consolidate, it’s important for us to show that the Legislature is taking the same steps to reduce costs and operate more efficiently,” Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh said in a statement last week. “Senator Holley has put in countless hours of hard work on this issue during his tenure as a state lawmaker. I know it hasn’t been an easy task, but it’s vitally important in showing that we are leading by example.”

These two bills represent a major overhaul of legislative operations and Senate leadership expected the amendment process could possibly be lengthy. Governor Bentley’s opposition further ensures that the bills will see a healthy debate once they make it to the floor Tuesday. Yellowhammer spoke with several Senators Monday evening and it sounds like a good number of them have not yet decided where they’ll land on this one.

What else is going on?

1. Alabama Exports Hit New Record at $19.5 Billion
2. What to Watch for This Week
3. Alabama Policy Institute says Republican legislators are standing up for religious liberty
4. House Republicans had the best week in Montgomery…AEA, not so much.

And for you baseball fans, the above image is what Governor Bentley would have looked like as a young Mickey Mantle: