I backed out of my driveway at 5:45 AM and arrived in Montgomery just before we went into session at 9 AM – in time to get to the Senate floor for the opening prayer and pledge. I’m glad we still do that; sure helps me get in the right frame of mind!

In what is becoming a reoccurring theme – I start my day optimistic that we’ll get some work done but alas - we get off track. Today was somewhat different as today pitted Republican against Republican in a filibuster over Insurance reform.

A little “inside baseball” for readers – insurance reform has been an ongoing issue since hurricanes devastated the Gulf Coast a few years ago. Senators from the southern regions of our state have worked for years to improve insurance coverage for our state through a leveling of the playing field - so to speak.  I support most of these reforms as recent tornados have made this a state-wide issue rather than focused on the coast.  It is important to remember that various insurance companies supported various Senators (Rs and Ds) in the 2010 campaigns.  A Special Order Calendar – specific to insurance reform – was introduced this morning; a total of 6 bills. The first bill – opposed by the insurance industry as it requires insurance companies to disclose to policy holders that a discount is available for construction or improvements to property to withstand windstorm damage.  This is currently in law – the bill only required the companies to notify policy holders of this discount.  The bill was blocked procedurally from coming up for a vote…the stage was set. The second bill on the calendar, backed by the insurance industry as it allows them to expand where and how they are able to invest funds was also blocked procedurally from coming up for a vote – but this time it was blocked by those who supported the first bill…confusion mounts.  The third bill was then brought up, passed the procedural vote to enter debate and was promptly filibustered…who’s on first; anyone know?  After almost two hours of Republicans filibustering Republicans the Senate adjourned at 11:00 and I’m left wondering why I left Madison at 5:45 AM for this.

After a Caucus meeting lunch where we attempted to get everyone back on track I attended a rare Tuesday Education Policy meeting. This was a Public Hearing on SB 513, a bill I’ve co-sponsored with Sen Brewbaker for Education Options. This bill combines parts of the House version of the Charter Schools Bill and SB365, the Education Flexibility Bill I’ve previously introduced. I agreed to co-sponsor with Sen Brewbaker as a means to ensure some form of educational flexibility passes the legislature this year. We simply cannot afford to continue to do the same things the same way we’ve always done them.  As I’ve stated before, I support a limited application of Charter Schools so long as they follow defined metrics, allowing for us to accurately gauge whether or not they will work in Alabama.  They must be limited to areas where schools are chronically failing and enrollment must mirror local schools in socio economic as well as children with disabilities. The public hearing shed little light on this bill as I’ve followed the house version – AEA opposes, everyone else is open minded – the devils in the details and that is what is being worked out between the House and Senate versions as they make their way through the process.  I’m still working to move SB365, my School Flexibility bill out of committee as well, hoping to position it as a fail safe for education reform should all else on the table fail.

The Senate reconvened at 3 PM and continued the filibuster, err, I mean debate, on the insurance bills. Having not come to a compromise during lunch, leadership brought the filibuster to a close by carrying the bills over. We then scrapped the morning Special Order Calendar – having filibustered on 3 of the 6 bills – and introduced another Special Order Calendar with only one bill on it; HB276 by Rep Ball – this is the legislative pay compensation bill, a Constitutional Amendment (CA) that, should it pass, repeals the 2007 Democrat lead legislative pay increase and replaces it based on the median annual household income in Alabama.  Currently all legislators are reimbursed at the same rate regardless of distance traveled to Montgomery; under HB276, legislators living within 50 miles of Montgomery are not reimbursed for mileage or hotel.  I support this bill as it is a Constitutional Amendment (CA) and it lets the voters decide.

Several amendments were offered – it turned into a fiasco of who could amend what the most – led by democrats who were the architectures of the 2007 pay raise debacle.  I voted against all amendments offered for the simple reason that this bill passed the House in a 91 – 2 and I believe the bill is ready for the people to vote on.  The bill will now go to a conference committee with the House to work out a final version. 

The Senate adjourned just before 6:00 PM after having passed one bill today – the Legislative Compensation bill. Don’t get me wrong – I’m okay with not passing bills, fewer laws passed is better but I know of several good bills, supported by conservatives, that are backed up in the log jam, not to mention local legislation. We will reconvene on Thursday at 10:00. I have six committee meetings in the morning beginning at 8:30...it’s been a long day but I’ll return tomorrow, optimistic that well get something done!

ATPRO Update – I’ve received several emails requesting status on SB51 – ATPRO. I’ve worked this bill behind the scenes for several months now. Earlier in the session I held a work session concerning the bill (reported in the 15 Feb blog).  Unfortunately things aren’t looking good for ATPRO this year, mostly based on the budgets.  The Legislative Fiscal note on SB51 shows a $10M plus hit to the budget, this in a year where we are short $400M in the General Fund and $100M in the Education Trust Fund.  I maintain this is factored wrong as it assumes everyone eligible to participate in ATPRO will be allowed to – that is not the case as unlike the DROP program, where everyone qualified, in ATPRO employees apply through their local board.  Local Boards are to make decisions based on the need for the employee to remain in service; not everyone applying will be nor should be allowed to participate.  Remember the purpose of this program (both DROP and ATPRO) – a management tool to incentivize an employee who has decided to retire to remain in service for a defined period of time, allowing the board to find a replacement…and then the employee retires. This is what killed the DROP program – everyone who applied was accepted and few retired.   For what it is worth, I talked with several state employees and have drafted a state employee version of ATPRO.  The projected fiscal note on that is MUCH larger than the $10M on ATPRO...it is not looking good for either of these to move this year.

Semper Fi - Bill
 
 
I'm a little behind on posting to the blog.  Last week was a long, busy week but all in all a good week.  The Senate reconvenes at 0900 tomorrow - meaning if I want to sleep at home tonight I'll be backing out of my driveway at 0545 (yawn) in the morning for the three hour drive south. We are nearing "crunch time" as the 2012 session winds down and several bills that have languished in the shadows will be in the spot-light in the coming days...Charter Schools, Budgets and Redistricting to name just a few. 

I'll resume the daily blog tomorrow but for today I wanted to share the following editorial:
 
                                    Why I Oppose A State-Wide School Calendar

There is no doubt that tourism is very important to Alabama and our state and local budgets—but should that be the driving factor in setting a school calendar? I have to ask myself, if this is such a great idea for our children, then why aren’t the local school boards already setting the calendars as such? I maintain this is a local issue and should be set locally, not in Montgomery. 

An analysis of the house vote on HB 360, a bill mandating a state-wide school calendar, reveals 63% of the yes votes cast (39 of 62) were by Republicans. What happened to the Republican agenda of less government; a smaller government that is accountable to the people at home?  Why is state government influencing local decisions?  Would we not be up-in-arms if the federal government attempted to impose a nation-wide school calendar? Why then do we think it is ok for Montgomery to dictate a state-wide school calendar?

This bill passed the House for one reason and one reason only—the almighty dollar. As the tourism industry lobbied for passage of House Bill 360 they touted millions of increased tourism dollars flowing into Alabama’s economy – albeit a good thing, especially in this troubling economy, but at what cost? Yes, what cost? School calendars are about the education of our children, not about tourism. While the tourism industry touts the idea of Alabama beaches being covered with families for an extra two weeks, others are examining the facts centered on our children’s education. Studies support the “brain-drain” that occurs when school breaks occur over extended periods. These long breaks result in teachers having to re-teach concepts when children return to school, causing our children to be set further and further behind. Classroom realities such as this are what school calendar decisions should be based on.

I will agree that local school leaders could do a better job of coordinating regional school system calendars. For example, it is often problematic when Huntsville City, Madison City and Madison County Schools schedule spring or fall breaks on different weeks. Yes, leadership can do better at coordination breaks, but in the end the decision should remain in their hands.

Will the tourism industry sway the votes to further move HB360 through the Senate? I will continue to oppose HB360 based on my belief in smaller, local government that is responsible to the people, locally.

The bottom line for me - if Bill Holtzclaw, the parent (not the State Senator) of a child attending public schools attends a school board meeting to voice concerns over the school calendar and the Board replied – “sorry, our hands are tied; the calendar is set by the folks in Montgomery” – then my voice is effectively silenced. I was not elected to go to Montgomery to silence the voice of the people I represent and I will not support this legislation.

Semper Fi - Bill
 
 
The Senate convened at 0900 this morning, making for an early morning start from Madison as I backed out of my driveway at 0545.  The drive to Montgomery was uneventful – down right peaceful for the most part – as the sun rose across the TN valley. I enjoyed a great Easter weekend and hope you did as well.

We passed a handful of bills once session started this morning. A couple I'll comment on include SB459 by Sen Blackwell, an initiative to streamline government created ONE SPOT – Optional Network Election for Single Point Online Transactions. This will be administered by the Alabama Department of Revenue and available for use by both taxpayers and Alabama municipalities and counties at no cost. The intent is to address instances where retailers have to file hundreds of returns and write hundreds of checks for different entities every month.

We also passed HB243 by Rep Collins, an economic development bill for the entertainment industry. This expands on existing law to encourage filming and documentaries in Alabama…Hollywood of the South? 

We also passed SB283 by Sen Ward, a bill providing for group insurance coverage of autism spectrum disorder in Alabama. 

SB388 by Sen Orr changing the state retirement system for new-hires only passed as well. This was a controversial bill to some but follows suit with other states who realize that we can no longer afford a broad defined benefit plan in these lean years.

The Senate adjourned about 1630. I met with several groups in my office before attending two receptions this evening. I rarely attend receptions but was happy to meet with the Realtors and the Tourism Industry; both supported by local organizations participating in state-wide efforts. It was great seeing so many faces from Limestone and Madison Counties. 

Tomorrow is Wednesday and that means committee day. I have four committee meetings, with a total of 12 Bills lined up for tomorrow – starting at 0800. I'm pitching two of the bills. I’ll finish out tonight studying all of these bills. 

I was glad to see the cooperation in the Senate today across both parties. We have a lot of work ahead of us – HB159/HB160 which continue to be worked on in committee, the charter schools bill, oh, and the budgets to name just a few. The General Fund budget passed the House late this evening in a 56 – 47 vote…yes, we have a lot of work ahead of us. At least we are finally working.

Semper Fi

Bill
 
 
I started this morning chairing the Joint Legislative Contract Review Committee meeting at 8:30 AM - it is now almost 8:30 PM and we are still going in the Senate. We finished the Contract Review agenda about 9:30 AM and the Senate went into session at 10:00 AM. I was very optimistic that we would actually complete some work today as I've previously shared my concern that time is running out on this session…my optimism didn’t last long.

One of the first items on our daily agenda in the Senate is the transmission of House messages – this is the process by which we receive bills from the House and gives the bill it's first reading before being assigned to a Senate committee.

The Democrats decided to slow things down again and began filibustering each of these bills. We patiently let this process go while leadership worked with the democrat leadership in an attempt to find out what had them upset. Turns out, we never really knew BUT we decided it was time to cloture the debate and move on with actual work, ending the delay tactics. 

As background - the cloture vote is Rule 20 of the Senate and follows: The Committee on Rules may report a special rule that debate on any measure shall cease at a certain hour and a vote be taken on the measure. The consideration of such special rule shall not exceed twenty minutes, when a vote shall be taken thereon; and if three-fifths of the members elected shall vote to limit debate, then said rule or petition shall have been adopted by the Senate.

Three-fifths of the members of the Senate requires 21 of the 35 members of the Senate…we were short with a 20 – 10 vote, 5 Senators either passed or were not on the floor. So, now that we had decided to invoke cloture when in reality, we didn’t have enough votes, we had to listen to hours of filibustering. The vote count is linked here; a yes vote supported closing debate and moving forward on the agenda. A no vote supported allowing the filibuster to continue.

I certainly can’t speak for why some voted (or didn’t vote at all) as each Senator answers for themselves…you’ll have to ask them but I'm left scratching my head. I'll be clear - I support full and open debate and will continue to work to encourage that time honored process. However, I will not stand for delay tactics.

After some soul searching leadership was able to pull the Senate Republican Majority back together in the early afternoon and get back on track. We had to continue to cloture (successfully this time) as the democrats employed every delay tactic at their disposal – reading the bills at length prior to final vote, having the titles read of each bill received from the House, etc. One of the bills read at length took over one hour to complete...productive? I think not.  

We finally passed three bills in the Senate…the Senate adjourned at 8:30 PM…ten and half hour day and we passed three bills.  I can’t wait to get to the heavy-lifting…the budgets and redistricting.

Sure wish our Republican majority would have shown up earlier in the day.

The Senate goes back into session on Tuesday at 9:00 AM.

While I've had better days in the Senate, no day is better than this Sunday, Easter Sunday - My prayer is that everyone enjoys a Happy Easter with family and friends, for He has risen.

Semper Fi - Bill
 
 
Short blog post tonight…busy day carried into the afternoon and evening.  I often catch myself saying “I know a little bit about a lot of things” and today was no exception. 

I started the day with committee meetings at 8:30 AM; my last committee meeting was at 3 PM followed by an opportunity to speak at a legislative round-table with members of the Southern League of Credit Unions.  I enjoyed meeting with this group, discussing legislation as well as effective means to communicate with legislators through grass-roots efforts…from a legislator’s perspective!

Topics of the bills we debated in committee meetings ranged from regulations on sperm/egg donors to allowing home schooled children participation in school extracurricular activities (Tim Tebow Bill) to extending the number of years we can use the metal license plates on our cars.   Guess you could say I know a little more about a lot of things after today. 

The first cut of the 2013 General Fund Budget was debated in a House committee today. A substitute budget was offered replacing the one filed by the Governor’s office. An electronic version of the substitute is not available yet (it is 11:20 PM as I type this). I will post to the blog once available. Here is a link to a press report on the hearing. This was a House committee hearing and I was unable to attend as I was in Senate committee meetings.

I’m becoming ever more concerned with the log-jam of bills stacking up for debate in the full Senate (overall, not a bad thing as bad bills won’t be passed – but what about the good bills?) and the fact that we’ve yet to collectively work on the budgets and redistricting. Tick-Tock.

I will start tomorrow morning at 8:30, chairing the Legislative Contract Review Committee. Should you desire, you can review our agenda here. The Senate reconvenes at 10:00 am tomorrow.

 
 
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You’ve heard of Christmas in July - well, how about Veteran’s Day in March? That’s how I’ll remember the last week of March.  The Alabama Legislature took the last week of March off for Spring Break. I was able to attend several meetings and events across the district last week.  On Thursday I was both honored and humbled to participate in the Welcome Home Vietnam Veteran’s Ceremony at the Veteran’s Memorial in Huntsville. Several hundred attended this event.  On Saturday I attended the medal ceremony for Cpl Cleveland King. He was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals for actions in Vietnam in 1968…but never received them. Somehow or another they were lost in the mail and that was corrected 44 years later. The Marines of Rocket Battery K in Huntsville hosted the medal ceremony. It was an awesome event to witness.

Other meetings and events I attended over Spring Break included meetings with the Athens City and Limestone County School Boards, Senator Shelby’s town hall meeting in Athens, and the Monrovia Volunteer Fire Department awards banquet.  

The legislature reconvened today, but I left Madison a little after 11:00 on Monday morning, arriving in Montgomery to attend a couple of meetings that afternoon concerning legislation I’m working. I’ll be able to share a little more in the days ahead. We are now in the second half of the 2012 Legislative Session and have much work before us – budgets, redistricting among the biggest items we’ve yet to debate. The Senate went into session at 2 PM today. I spent the morning working on several bills and the Legislative Contract Review agenda; that committee holds its monthly meeting on Thursday. We were only able to pass one bill in the Senate today before the wheels came off; a bill dealing with the budgets and reallocation for the prison system based on the Governor’s recently announced proration to the General Fund…insight to the troubling times ahead regarding the 2013 budgets.

As I’ve discussed before, our state still has a spending problem and I see it every month in Contract Review. I get to see the funding allocated in the General Fund and get to see it obligated in Contract Review – similar to your household, budgeting money for things you’d like to purchase but, months later when it comes time to spend the money (i.e., obligate the funding) the “family” can’t seem to hold back – I often ask, “just because you were allocated these funds – do we really need to obligate them on this now? Can’t we wait a year or two and save the money.”

Tomorrow is committee day; as usual I have several committee meetings, back-to-back starting at 0830 and will spend the remainder of the evening reading bills in advance of those meetings.

Semper Fi - Bill
 
 
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My view of the "Red Wave" as I prepared to speak to the AFRW.
I arrived at the Capitol this morning just before 8 AM to attend the Alabama Federation of Republican Women’s (AFRW) meeting. It was great visiting with everyone and seeing members from the Limestone and Madison county clubs in attendance. I thank you for your support.  I was only able to visit for a few minutes as I had a Commerce, Transportation and Utilities (CTU) committee meeting at 8:30 across the street at the State House.

We passed three bills at CTU; two of which I will carry in the Senate for Rep. McCutcheon.  These bills address the structure of the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) and I thank him for his work on these bills. We believe these bills will enable ALDOT to more efficiently accomplish their mission by helping reduce the bureaucracy and red tape that have historically plagued the department, slowing road projects across the state. I also thank Director Cooper for his work with Rep. McCutcheon.

I then held several meetings in my office with various agencies and special interest groups (read lobbyist) concerning legislation I’m working on, or had questions on. This is always helpful as I become more informed to take a position on a bill…there are many sides to a story! My principal concern – how does this benefit the people of Alabama?

The Senate went into session at 10 AM and I’m proud to report that we were able to work through a very robust agenda in a bi-partisan manner on legislation ranging from sentencing changes for non-violent crimes to rules for fire suppression sprinkler systems in single family homes.   I hope we are able to continue in this manner in the days ahead. 

The legislature is on Spring Break next week (of course my children were on Spring Break last week…) and I look forward to catching up on several projects and visiting with constituents across the district. The pace will quicken when we return as we have much work in front of us; we’ve yet to take up the redistricting plan and the General Fund and Education budgets - both of which have significant shortfalls. I confirmed the substitute for SB159 will be back up for a committee vote when we return (I'll post a link to the bill once availalbe) and we’ll likely take up the School Flexibility and Education Options acts I linked to in yesterday’s blog.

Semper Fi - Bill
 
 
I arrived at the State House this morning a little after 7 AM to prepare for the day’s committee meetings. I finished reading and making notes on the bills we would debate and headed to my first meeting, Education Policy at 8:30. 

My School Flexibility bill, SB365 was first on the agenda. The Alabama Education Association (AEA) opposes the bill and had called a public hearing. Dr. Mabry, the new AEA Executive Director was the only opponent to speak. Several people spoke in favor of the bill including the Deputy State Superintendent, Dr. Pouncey and other school superintendents from around the state.  Of note, this is not the Education Options Act that was introduced last week that enables Charter Schools and local school flexibility (this bill was debated but not voted on in a House committee today). We did not vote on this bill today as it is the Chair's policy to not vote on the same day as a public hearing.  I encourage readers to review both bills and become informed on what they offer our state, and our children.

My next meeting was Children and Youth Affairs followed by the General Fund committee. We debated a total of 5 bills, the most controversial being one that begins to reform the State Employee Retirement Plan – for new hires only. Anyone currently working for the state is not affected. This bill was amended in committee and I will post a link once an updated version is available. I supported the bill as amended.

The next meeting was Senate Health – I pitched my Direct Access to Physical Therapy bill today…my first loss of the season.  The vote count was 3 – 3 with Sen Reed, Sen Coleman and Sen Marsh voting for the bill, Sen Bussman, Sen Beasley and Sen Whatley voting against the bill. Several committee members were not present…a tie on paper but a tough loss nonetheless.  I’m somewhat frustrated as this bill is about the availability and affordability of health care. Alabama is one of 2 states that requires us to visit a Doctor, obtaining a referral before visiting a PT. Who are we protecting?   Good news, the House version of the bill passed in an 8 – 6 vote. We will continue to work our strategy on this one. The fight is far from over.

My next meeting was Constitution, Campaign Finance, Ethics, and Elections Committee (that’s a mouth full). I pitched my third and final bill for the day here. SB243, should it pass is a Constitutional Amendment that the people of Alabama will vote on.  This bill prevents an elected body such as the legislature from raising their compensation while in office. In other words, they can increase compensation during their term but it cannot go into effect until after the next election. This way the people will decide if those elected deserve the pay increase.  This already exists, to a degree – but only applies to salary. My bill covers all legislative compensation such as expense accounts. This is how the 2007 legislative pay was increased – they didn’t increase the salary – that would be against the law - rather they increased the expense account. The bill passed committee unanimously.

Another important bill that passed committee, SB295 concerning legislative pay, ties the rate to the medium household income in Alabama, adjusted annually. As important, it compensates expenses based on actual expenses. I’ve previously mentioned this on my blog – legislators living within 10 miles of the capitol are paid the same rate as those living 100 or 200 miles away. Obviously gas and lodging expenses are different for those living further from the capital but we all are paid on a flat rate.  This bill passed committee unanimously as well.

I look forward to support both of these bills as they come to vote on the Senate floor.

Lastly, I was honored to stand with Vietnam Veterans today as Governor Bentley signed a proclamation for Welcome Home Vietnam Veteran’s Day. As a retired Marine and Chair of the State Military and Veteran’s Affairs Committee, it was great to stand with these veteran’s on behalf of all Vietnam Veterans in the state. I will never forget the Vietnam Veterans that greeted my unit upon return from the Gulf War in 1991 - these guys and gals did it right as they had been treated so wrong. We owe them so much and must never let that happen again. Please join us for a special ceremony at 2 PM on Thursday, March 29th at the Veteran’s Memorial in downtown Huntsville. Semper Fi - Bill 
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Well, I’m behind on my blog a couple of days now. I’ll admit it; I enjoyed time with my family and some of this incredible spring (summer?) weather this weekend rather than sitting behind a computer.  I’ll attempt to briefly get caught up on activities since last week.

On Thursday the Senate passed 10 of the Sunset bills. This is important as we’ve now passed all of the Sunset bills making room for other bills to be placed on the calendar.  Hopefully readers will recall from past blog updates that due to filibustering by the Democrats we passed a total of 2 Sunset bills in one week and 20 the following week; amazing process here in Montgomery.

I was able to attend several events across the District while at home.  On Friday I met briefly with Rep. McCutcheon and Rep. Williams in Athens. We then met with the Superintendent and School Board President of Athens City Schools along with members of their staff. Later we met with the Chair of the Limestone County Commission concerning tornado debris cleanup. The delegation committed to help fund some of the cleanup. Look for more details on this from the media. On Saturday morning I attended the Madison County Republican Men’s Club breakfast where Governor Bentley spoke to a large crowd of over 200. Saturday evening I enjoyed time with my daughter Abby and members of our Corvette Club, Vets with Vettes and Corvette Owners as we hosted a Corvette Club from Memphis visiting the area over the weekend. This club had hosted our club on Beale Street last year.  Sunday after church Pam and I attended the quarterly club meeting and a nice drive on some back roads in north Madison and Limestone Counties...life's troubles never seem to keep up with my Corvette!  On Monday I attended Senator Shelby’s Washington update breakfast in Huntsville, followed by the Athens Limestone United Way Annual Luncheon in Athens.  Later that evening I attended the Madison County Republican Executive Committee meeting in Huntsville.

On Tuesday I headed to Montgomery, arriving in time for a Commerce, Transportation and Utilities Committee meeting. The Senate went into session later in the afternoon where we debated and passed several bills. I was able to pass a bill today concerning campaign finance reporting.  This change takes into consideration an instance where a candidate may live in a city that crosses two counties.  Under current law a candidate must file campaign reports in both county seats – very time consuming. This bill allows for a candidate to file in one county, and the report to be emailed to the other county for public access. Yet another common sense approach to government!

Tomorrow I have 7 committee meetings lined up with a total of 17 bills to read tonight...I wonder how many of those are 5 page bills as opposed to 20 page bills…could be a long night as I read each bill.   

Now that I think about it, I'm pitching a triple header tomorrow - my Physical Therapy Bill, SB223 in Health Committee, my School Flexibility Bill SB365 in Education Policy, and my Legislative Compensation, SB243 in Constitution, Campaign Finance, Ethics, and Elections.

For those wondering or communicating with me about supporting or not supporting HB159 and HB160 – these bills continue to be amended in advance of committee meetings. I support the concept proposed by these bills but have some concerns with them as written. I’ll continue to hold my final thoughts on these bills until they are moved out of the Finance and Taxation Education Committee…a committee I do not sit on.  I’ve quickly learned; a bill may look quite different once it moves out of committee. 

Semper Fi - Bill
 
 
The legislature did not meet on Tuesday, allowing the Senators and Representatives to stay home in our districts to vote in the primary election and meet with constituents. It was nice to enjoy an extended day with family as well! I attended several of the election victory parties last night and wish everyone in a run-off well as they prepare for round two.

I headed to Montgomery early this morning, backing out of my driveway at 6 AM  – in the dark – like most, I don’t adjust very well to the day-light-savings changes. I arrived in Montgomery at 9 AM and prepped for several committee meetings; I had five of my bills in three committee meetings making for a very busy day.  My first meeting was in Health Committee where I had two bills up…I pitched a double header.  My first bill was SB344; this is the pseudoephedrine bill …sometims known as the Stop Meth, Not Meds.  The bill works to further tighten the ability to obtain over the counter medication containing pseudoephedrine – such as Sudafed, without making the medicine prescription only. This bill was a collaborative effort between several entities ranging from retail association, to law enforcement, and district attorneys. While rare, it is still legal to purchase medication containing pseudoephedrine from retail establishments. This bill makes these medications available only through a pharmacy. It is important to note that this bill does so much more than address the medication – it also makes identification requirements more stringent (you can currently use a library card...) and enables law enforcement to make a bust on a meth lab based on drug paraphernalia being present. 

What I like best about this bill is that it does not penalize the law abiding citizen who, under alternative bills filed would have required everyone to take time off work, visit a doctor, pay a co-pay, get a prescription, go to the pharmacy, pay another co-pay, to get their allergy medication.  Imagine how congested doctor’s offices would become. I appreciate everyone working together to pass this legislation and look forward to either this bill or an identical House version passing in the coming days.

My next bill up was SB223, a bill removing the requirement for a doctor to refer you to a Physical Therapists (PT). I view this bill as expanding the availability and affordability of health care…not to mention that Alabama is one of two states remaining that require a doctor to refer a patient to a PT.

There is significant push back on this bill from the medical community, claiming that misdiagnosis by PT’s will actually increase the cost of health care…if that were the case, do you think 48 states would allow direct access to a PT?

We still have some work to do on this bill before moving it out of committee – hopefully it will come up for a vote next week.  I encourage readers to contact their PT and Dr to voice their concerns or support. My goal, again – increase the affordability and accessibility of health care. Bottom line, if I know my elbow hurts, patient rights should allow me to visit a PT before going to the Dr’s office if I so choose. In the current law, I must visit a Dr to get a referral to visit a PT…unless of course I live in one of the border states such as TN where I can simply stop at the PT first. 

My next committee hearing was in Senate Judiciary where I pitched the state-wide pre-trial diversion bill. This bill is sponsored by the state District Attorneys Assoc; over 30 of the 67 counties in Alabama currently have a local bill like this in place. This bill would bring this option, state-wide, without impacting those counties that already have a program in place.

What is pre-trial diversion? In short, assume there are 20 cases in line for the local court, of those five are people with no prior offense and likely were caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time. These five may be given the opportunity by the DA to follow another track where they plead guilty but must agree to a program addressing their offense – drug or alcohol rehab, counseling, etc. They may also need to attend a program such as completing a GED. Had they remained in the court line, statistics show they likely would’ve ended up as a repeat offender as they would pay the fine/do the time but not receive help needed to correct the root problem...and remain in the same general conditions or peer group.  

Pre-trial diversion programs also help reduce the backlog in our local courts and in our jails. Important to note that this is not a “get soft on criminals” program – I would not support that. This is a “someone made a mistake, first time offender, non-violent case where no one was hurt and we’ll give you another chance” program. The bill passed committee unanimously and moves to the Senate floor.

We simply ran out of time for my remaining bills to come up before committee later in the day. One of the bills, addressing trafficking of controlled substances and possession with intent to distribute, had been carried over at the call of the chair last week. We’ll be ready to move this in committee next week.

I’m disappointed that my final bill of the day didn’t make it to debate today as I’ve carried this bill for two years now. This bill addresses legislative compensation – essentially preventing the legislature from giving themselves any pay increase (travel, per diem, salary, etc) that becomes effective during their current term. This is what happened in the 2007 legislative pay debacle that ended up with the annual cost of living increase that I decline each year. The election was in Nov 2006 and the next session, in the spring of 2007, the legislature increased their expense allowances.  My bill is one of three that begins to address legislative compensation. The other two set up pay commissions to establish a baseline pay such as medium household income - I support these. My bill is designed to prevent future abuse, regardless the success of the pay commission bills.

The Senate went into session at 3 PM and – to my and a few other’s surprise; we passed 10 of the sunset bills that I spoke of in last weeks blog. Amazing how suddenly there are no more problems with these bills. We hope to pass the remaining ones tomorrow without any games. 

Unfortunately, the committee meetings of the day prevented me from visiting with several groups from North Alabama, the United Way Leadership Group and the Autism Awareness Group. Thank you for coming to Montgomery and supporting your cause. 

One final note about today, Gov Bentley, Speaker Hubbard and Pro Temp Marsh, along with Sen Brewbaker and Rep Phil Williams, held a press conference to introduce a school flexibility and charter school bill. You can read the article here.  I also encourage everyone to read the bill – HB541 and then let’s discuss facts. As most readers know, I’ve previously introduced HB365, a standalone school flexibility bill that we may move, depending upon the successes of HB541.