Huntsville lawmaker moves to oust Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Representative Phil Williams (R-Huntsville) will challenge Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard (R-Auburn) for the legislature’s top post, according to a letter Williams sent to his colleagues Wednesday evening.

“After taking several days to reflect on our most recent Special Session and the process through which we produced a budget for our State,” Williams wrote, “I have decided to put my name forward to be the next Speaker of the House. I think that I share a sentiment with many members that we can no longer operate effectively with our current leadership. The unfortunate fact is that the status quo is not working and if we are to come together as an effective body for the people who elected us we must change direction and put forth real reforms on how we conduct business.”

Speaker Hubbard, who is awaiting trial on public corruption charges, has held his caucus together by sheer force of will in recent months. But internal strife reached a boiling point recently as a bloc of conservative legislators rebelled during tense budget negotiations that resulted in the passage of several tax increases.

Williams’ letter also comes the same day that two other Republican House members publicly called on Speaker Hubbard to step down. Representatives Jim Carns and Allen Treadaway said emails recently released by the prosecution in Hubbard’s case revealed conduct “unbecoming of an elected official.”

Hubbard dismissed the two Jefferson County lawmakers’ opposition to his leadership as nothing new.

“Representative Carns ran unsuccessfully for Speaker last December with Rep. Treadway’s support, so their opposition is not news in any sense,” Hubbard said in a statement. “The three legislative sessions that took place over the past six months have been trying ones for the House and for our Caucus. Obviously, not everyone was happy about the solutions we found to avert the state government shutdown that would have begun on Thursday, and I think today’s announcement is a lingering symptom of that. Sometimes showing leadership is difficult and I am proud of our efforts to continue providing the vital and essential services that many Alabamians depend upon.”

Hubbard’s tenacity and leadership abilities were key in propelling Republicans into the majority in 2010, and those traits ultimately made him one of the most effective legislators in recent memory. Williams’s open pursuit of the House gavel will present a new challenge for Hubbard, but it is too early to tell what impact it will have on the GOP caucus. The next legislative session is some five months away.

“The three legislative sessions that took place over the past six months have been trying ones for the House and for our Caucus,” Speaker Hubbard told Yellowhammer Thursday morning. “Obviously, not everyone was happy about the solutions we found to avert the state government shutdown that would have begun on October 1, and I think this announcement is a lingering symptom of that. Sometimes showing leadership is difficult and I am proud of our efforts to continue providing the vital and essential services that many Alabamians depend upon.”

The full text of Williams’s letter to his colleagues can be found below.

Honorable Members of the Alabama House of Representatives

Dear Representatives:

After taking several days to reflect on our most recent Special Session and the process through which we produced a budget for our State, I have decided to put my name forward to be the next Speaker of the House. I do not take such an undertaking lightly and I would like to share my vision as to why I am choosing to pursue this course of action.
I think that I share a sentiment with many members that we can no longer operate effectively with our current leadership. The unfortunate fact is that the status quo is not working and if we are to come together as an effective body for the people who elected us we must change direction and put forth real reforms on how we conduct business.
To accomplish this goal I will first establish that my actions as Speaker will always be guided by principles and public policy and not by politics – either personal or electoral. To demonstrate this and restore confidence in our Leadership I pledge the following to each of you:

During my time as Speaker, I will not accept any role as a paid consultant or employee for any individual, business or organization.

The House will vote to reorganize, and elect a new Speaker at the beginning of each session if our state Constitution allows – not once every four years. As Speaker, I serve the body and not my own agenda. You all should have the opportunity to decide if I stay in that position based on my actions and performance.

As Speaker I will work to instill openness and meet with all members on a regular basis and not just a select few. This will allow me to constantly survey all members for suggestions on how to improve our environment and performance.

As Speaker my personal re-election campaign will not accept PAC money from any source. My campaign will only accept contributions from individual donors that reside in my district.

After discussions with many members I believe we need to address how the House operates. Too often members with good ideas are shut out of the process. Too often we are presented with budgets or other complex legislation and asked to vote without adequate time to review or make substantive suggestions.

As Speaker, I will implement substantive changes in how we operate to make the process more open and more inclusive of new ideas that are driven by good policy and not politics.

I will work to accomplish this with several changes:

Empower all the members of the House by using talents that I feel are currently underutilized. We will manage the House through the use of teams and outside subject matter experts as needed and “downsize” the role of Speaker to a new role of “facilitator” that better organizes our limited session days. I will not use the position of Speaker to drive a personal agenda.

As Speaker I will work to ensure that our focus will first be on budgets and that all members will be included in the budgeting process. Budgets will begin early in our session so that all can have input. We will address the structural flaws in our budgets and not force last minute Band-Aid solutions.

To seek new ideas I will encourage the use of “pilot programs” to allow us to try new ideas on a limited basis. We will make reforming Alabama a priority and launch joint committees in an effort to focus on issues that are important to all of our citizens that have been ignored for far too long.

As Speaker of the House I will foster a better working relationship with the Senate. We will maintain a public record of House bills passed verses Senate bills passed in order to keep a better balance.

This decision is not a step I take lightly. There is much our current leadership has accomplished and I am proud of many things we have done during my time in the House. However, it has become abundantly clear that only fresh leadership can restore confidence in the Office of Speaker from both members of the Legislature and the people of Alabama.

So in closing, I humbly ask for your support. I look forward to discussing my campaign with you personally and I welcome your advice, input and ideas. Serving in the House of Representatives is a huge honor granted to me by the voters in my District. I will remember each day that the honor to serve as your Speaker comes from you and is a trust

I will have to earn each day.

Thanks so much!

Phil Williams House District 6
 

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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015