MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Legislature on Tuesday met for the seventh day of its 2021 regular session, with the chambers working off of respective special order calendars.
The return to action came following a scheduled one-week break for the legislature as part of COVID-19 protocols.
Senate Pro Tem Greg Reed (R-Jasper) and Majority Leader Clay Scofield (R-Guntersville) have outlined some of the key priorities that the legislative leaders foresee for the remainder of the session.
Here is a breakdown of the day’s proceedings:
Alabama Senate
The Senate’s day was marked mostly by what did not happen, as Senator Del Marsh (R-Anniston) announced that he will not bring his comprehensive gaming proposal to floor consideration for another two weeks. Read more about that development here.
The Senate did make some progress working through a 24-bill special order calendar, however they quickly got off track when Senator Coleman-Madison’s (D-Birmingham) SB 118 came to the floor. Following an amendment offered by Senator Sam Givhan (R-Huntsville), Senator Rodger Smitherman (D-Birmingham) spoke at the podium for the better part of two hours before Reed successfully moved to adjourn for the day. Smitherman had just quipped that he was drinking his “10-hour energy,” otherwise known as Mountain Dew, so there was no end in sight before Reed shut the show down with over half of the calendar going untouched.
Before the train derailed, the Senate passed seven bills, all of which originated in the upper chamber and now head to the House.
This included Senator Arthur Orr’s (R-Decatur) SB 113, which passed as substituted. This bill would ensure that facial recognition software or other artificial intelligence technology results cannot be the sole basis for an arrest in Alabama.
Orr’s SB 1, related to contact tracing privacy protections, also passed as amended.
View the full list of the Senate’s floor activity from the day here.
Alabama House
The House also got into some spirited debate on Tuesday, ultimately passing over a dozen bills. Read more about the lower chamber’s nearly six-hour day here.
Looking ahead
Wednesday is set to be another busy committee day, especially on the House side of the equation.
The Senate committee day will begin with Judiciary at its normal 8:30 a.m. time slot. Tourism convenes at 10:00 a.m., with a much less anticipated agenda than its last gathering; Health is set to meet at noon; Confirmations will be at 2:00 p.m.; and Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development (FRED) wraps the Senate committee day up at 2:30 p.m.
The House’s committee schedule is jam-packed, starting with Ways and Means Education at 8:45 a.m. Three pro-military bills that originated in the Senate will be on that committee’s agenda, as will House Pro Tem Victor Gaston’s (R-Mobile) HB 281 to extend the Historic Preservation Income Tax Credit to 2029.
Two of the most-watched House committee meetings on the day will start at the same time, 1:30 p.m., when Education Policy and Judiciary commence.
Education Policy’s agenda includes: HB 246, Rep. Jeremy Gray’s (D-Opelika) annual bill allowing yoga in public schools; HB 391, Rep. Scott Stadthagen’s (R-Hartselle) bill mandating public school athletes can only compete in athletic competitions aligning with the gender on their birth certificates; and Rep. Kerry Rich’s (R-Albertville) HB 248 related to the broadcast of public K-12 school sporting events.
Meanwhile, House Judiciary will tackle an agenda that includes Rep. Ginny Shaver’s (R-Leesburg) HB 237, a bill to protect “born-alive” abortion survivors. Another hot-button bill the committee is scheduled to take up during its meeting is Rep. Wes Allen’s (R-Troy) HB 1, the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act.
Both chambers will also gavel in for the eighth legislative day of the session; the House gets in at 1:00 p.m. and the Senate should follow suit at 4:00 p.m.
Livestreams of legislative proceedings can be viewed on the legislature’s website here.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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