The state of Alabama is kind of open for business right now. With that, many people who didn’t want to go back to work ended up going back to work.
Maybe they felt unsafe, or maybe they thought the unemployment money plus $600 was better than working at all and wanted to ride that out.
Guess what? It doesn’t matter.
Alabama lawmakers apparently have other options.
Alabama House Democrats, except for one legislator, have decided that they aren’t going to return to the legislature.
House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels (D-Huntsville) has given two reasonable explanations for this: health and bad policymaking.
As of now, the House appears to be taking a lot of precautions to address social distancing, but lawmakers still need to travel to Montgomery, get lodging (although many are commuting daily), get meals and interact with various staffers and others to make this possible.
The less reasonable of the two reasons given by Daniels was his concern over budgeting without a complete picture of what the state’s finances will look like.
In reality, budgeting professionals estimate every year, and the state has other options if they miss by a big margin.
Daniels and Democrats have a seat at the table, and they should use it as he has in the past to affect legislation in a way that far outweighs the power his party should have based on the numbers of legislators they have in the legislature.
That’s a compliment to him and his team.
Daniels is not alone.
Alabama Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon (R-Monrovia) is leading Alabama Republicans in the House, but he has made it clear that the bills the Alabama State Senate are working on are non-starters in his body.
Two important pieces of legislation could impact the state’s recovery moving forward.
State Senator Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) looks to head off frivolous lawsuits by people who get the coronavirus and will claim they contracted it at a local business.
State Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) has a bill that would redirect gas tax dollars to small business relief to soften the blow of the economic calamity we are experiencing.
Both bills have merit, but both bills have potential pitfalls.
McCutcheon says those bills are already dead. He will only focus on local bills and budgets.
My takeaway:
Like it or not, lawmakers were elected to do more than just pass budgets.
Now, McCutcheon is well within his power to say, “Budget only,” but there is other worthwhile legislation on the table right now. Bills should be considered if they are of value.
The Alabama Department of Labor made it clear that workers needed to return to work or be denied unemployment when local businesses opened up (or when they open up).
Now, we have various lawmakers making different proclamations about what they aren’t going to do as part of their elected positions.
This is wrong. They need to get back to work. They need to do the people’s business. Lawmakers need to slog it out, fight for what they want to see passed or fight to stop bad pieces of legislation from being bad.
The guy who works at a chicken processing plant doesn’t have the ability to tell his boss, “Nah, I will just stay home,” or, “We aren’t going to do anything except process chicken thighs.” The legislature shouldn’t appear to be making such proclamations, even if they can.
Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 AM weekdays on WVNN.
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