The first week of the 2013 legislative session saw the House Republicans walk away with “Best Week in Montgomery” honors due to their fast start in passing out of committee every one of the “We Dare Defend Our Rights” (WDDOR) agenda bills.
Democrats’ strategy, especially in the Senate, appears to be to just slow down the train as much as they possibly can. The only real uncertainty right now is how long it will take for Republicans to start cloturing to break the Democrat gridlock.
Here are a few things to look out for this week.
House:
The regular calendar in the House will be packed with WDDOR bills. Be on the lookout right out of the gate for Rep. Mike Jones’ HB8, the Alabama Firearms Protection Amendment. Not far behind that will be HB101, The Red Tape Reduction Act (Rep. Weaver), HB84, The Local Control School Flexibility Act (Rep. Fincher), and HB102, The 21st Century Workforce Act (Rep. Buttram). Check out the House Republicans’ online bill tracking tool to follow the progress of the WDDOR bills.
“The House is a well oiled machine right now,” one lobbyist told Yellowhammer Monday morning. “Last week was very reminiscent of the 2010 session right after the GOP majority was elected.”
Senate:
Look for the Senate to hit the ground running Tuesday with Sen. Bryan Taylor’s ATF repayment bill. They’ll likely come behind that with the Public Safety consolidation bill (SB108) that was the result of an agreement with Gov. Bentley to combine their dueling consolidation plans. Senator Phil Williams will be up after that with his bill to create a cabinet-level position of Secretary of IT and a second IT bill to create an IT authority under the Super Computer Authority. That’s not the sexiest issue of the session, but will be a very important step toward getting the state where it needs to be on IT issues. It looks like right now Sen. Holley’s legislature consolidation package will be up behind that. Tuesday is shaping up to be a productive day on the 7th floor.
Conclusion:
The AEA has cranked up the propaganda machine in an attempt to block the School Flex bill, so they’re actively working to derail progress. Other than that, we should be in for a workmanlike week in Montgomery.
Outside of Montgomery, the House District 11 Republican primary is Tuesday. The GOP winner will face Democrat Kelly Evans on May 7. Evans entered the race on the final day of qualifying and will likely have littler baring on the race. The HD 11 seat was vacated by Jeremy Oden when he was appointed to the PSC. We’ll have more on the race later this week if it goes to a runoff.
Finally, the Power & Influence 40 list is being pushed back to next week. We’ve gotten hundreds of nominations and tons of feedback this year. We’re delaying it a week to make sure it’s the best it can possibly be.
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