The County Line - Pre-Convention Issue
2003
Home Rule Legislation Is Making Progress
Each Year
Somewhere toward the end of
the 2003 Regular Legislative Session, this year's attempt
at securing a statewide vote on county home rule powers
came to a quiet, hardly-noticed conclusion.
Because there was little fanfare,
one might assume that little effort was expended on this
year's effort and that there was little support for the
legislation. However, the quiet defeat of the legislation
doesn't mean that Alabama is not moving - perhaps more
slowly than we would like - toward the day when counties
will have more power.
This year's legislation would
have called for a statewide referendum on granting counties
the power to call local votes on the shifting of decision-making
power from Montgomery to the local courthouses. A product
of the constitutional reform commission created by Gov.
Bob Riley, this new approach was designed to remove the
fear that voters in one part of the state would impose
home rule powers on those counties that wish to leave
the decision-making authority in the hands of legislators.
As introduced by Senator Gary
Tanner and Representative Jack Venable, the legislation
called for a statewide vote to approve a constitutional
amendment giving counties local referendum power on the
three major categories of home rule power - taxation,
land use regulation and the exercise of administrative
and police powers.
Certainly county officials
would have preferred legislation that granted this authority
outright, without the need for further local votes. And
those completely opposed to such home rule powers would
have preferred no vote at all. The two-phased approach
was viewed as somewhat of a compromise, although some
in the Legislature were not too interested in embracing
the idea.
But in truth, the Special Session
on tax reform and the session-long filibuster in the state
Senate because of the disagreement on nursing home reform,
had more to do with the death of the legislation than
any work of those who opposed its passage. But that's
not to say that every member of the Legislature is excited
about the idea of shifting power back to the county level.
It is fair to say that there
is more support for this concept today than at any other
time in anyone's memory. The top leaders in the Senate,
President Pro Tem Lowell Barron and Majority Leader Jeff
Enfinger worked hard in support of this legislation. House
Speaker Seth Hammet is a long-time supporter of home rule
and this year's legislation was sponsored in the House
by Rules Committee Chairman Jack Venable. So there is
considerable "muscle" behind the legislation.
During the 2002 Regular Legislative
Session, a similar home rule bill was introduced in the
Senate and - after some hard lobbying - gained committee
approval. Last year's vote was the first time that home
rule legislation had been endorsed by a legislative committee.
This year, the home rule legislation
was approved by committees in BOTH the House and Senate.
So progress is being made.
Before the 2004 Regular Legislative
Session, the Association must devote some time and energy
to addressing many of the concerns expressed by members
of both the House and Senate. Some concerns are rooted
in an opposition to the entire concept. But other members
are willing to consider changes that could remove enough
objections to gain passage and move this matter to a statewide
vote.
As an Association, we must
evaluate the proposed legislation and determine if the
proposal is better than the current law in Alabama. Today
counties can be granted taxing power, for example, through
the passage of local legislation. And even though this
seldom happens, the legislature does have such authority.
The passage of the bill considered
in this year's session would almost certainly eliminate
the possibility of such taxation without a local referendum.
Is that change a step forward for county governments in
Alabama? The question must be answered in the coming months.
Such decisions are very important
and could shape the future of county government in our
state because one year very soon, those who wish to defeat
home rule legislation will not accomplish their goal in
such a quiet and uneventful manner.
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