A ‘yes’ vote for Alabama Amendment 14 will protect local laws and preserve our way of life

On Nov. 8, Alabamians not only will have the opportunity to help choose the next President of the United States, but they will also vote on 14 proposed state constitutional amendments. One of these, Amendment 14, is critical to helping protect Alabama families by validating hundreds of local laws that support our volunteer fire departments, EMTs, sheriffs, hospitals and schools.

Here’s what the amendment says:

“Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to amend Amendment 448 to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 71.01 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, to ratify, approve, validate, and confirm the application of any budget isolation resolution relating to a bill proposing a local law adopted by the Legislature before November 8, 2016, that conformed to the rules of either body of the Legislature at the time it was adopted.”

In layman’s terms, this means that a “yes” vote will validate nearly 700 local laws that have been passed since 1984 and that affect all 67 counties. Validating these laws creates no new taxes. By voting yes, voters will allow their communities to continue to protect their families, defend their way of life and secure the future of their children.

Currently, legal questions over “Budget Isolation Resolution” votes threaten a wide array of local laws. Amendment 14 seeks to protect the validity of these local laws that have passed between 1984 and 2016, as long as they were approved using proper legislative rules at the time of their passage.

According to the Alabama Policy Institute, “This amendment would add language to the Alabama Constitution prescribing that any bill passed by way of a budget isolation resolution that ‘conformed to the rules of either body at the time it was adopted’ should be rendered effective, if adopted before November 8, 2016.”

Numerous big-time conservative law-makers have come out in favor of the amendment, including State Senators Jabo Waggoner (R-Vestavia Hills) and Del Marsh (R-Anniston).

Waggoner said that unless the amendment is passed, it could have serious results all over the state.

“It has affected funding for the courts, funding for the schools, funding for fire departments,” Waggoner told ABC 33/40. “It’s really far reaching. It affects every county in Alabama.”

In the Anniston Star, Marsh also emphasized the numerous areas of policy that could be devastated without Amendment 14. “All across Alabama, these bills include local support for education, health care, public safety, jobs and many other worthwhile local projects and protections,” he wrote in an op-ed. “As you can see, if this happens, the impact would be disastrous.”

So, on Nov. 8, to protect all of the hard work that has been done to improve and protect the lives of Alabamians, vote “yes” on Amendment 14.