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President's Message
- Legislative Wrap-Up Issue 2005
Last day of session proves big for counties
I hate to admit it, but I wasn't even there. Nope, I had already left Montgomery when our "self-governance" legislation was passed by the state Senate just minutes before midnight on May 16.
But I had left our fate in good hands; very good hands.
You see, there were a number of county officials still around late that night - your other two officers, Stanley Batemon and Rhondel Rhone, along with delegations from all over the state - when that historic vote came on the floor of both the House and Senate. Many thanks go to the officials who arrived in Montgomery that day about lunch and who made their presence felt late into the evening on May 16.
The hard work of county officials on the local level was the key to the passage of this new law. Few observers in Montgomery took us seriously when we began to focus our attention on the passage of this revised approach a couple of years ago. But county officials on the local level made this happen.
After more than seven hours of debate, the House passed the long-discussed legislation about 9:30 on the last night of this year's regular session. Because of many changes made on the House floor and in committee, the bill was returned to the Senate for consideration. The Senate began debate at about 10:15, taking a final passage vote somewhere near 11:45 p.m. - just 15 minutes short of the end of the regular session.
The passage of this legislation would be a significant accomplishment in any legislative session because the powers granted in the legislation have the opportunity to change county government in Alabama forever. But in this session -- when less than 20 general bills were passed into law -- the enactment of such important legislation makes an even stronger statement about the hard work of county officials and the change we are seeing around our state.
This legislation does not propose full "home rule" for Alabama counties, but establishes a procedure for giving county governments the power to address health and safety issues. We worked hard to make it clear that the bill would not give counties the power to levy taxes or to establish planning and zoning programs - two powers usually associated with "home rule". In fact, we also worked hard to make sure that the text of the legislation never used the term "home rule" and that always referred to the bill as "self-governance" or "local health and safety" powers.
Old habits die hard, however; and most of the individuals who opposed the bill consistently called it "home rule." And the use of that term had the effect of generating opposition from people who otherwise could benefit from the powers this legislation grants. The description of the bill that flashed on the huge information board on the floor of the House of Representatives actually used the term "home rule", even though that term was not used in the legislation at all. And most of those who spoke against the bill in the House or Senate referred to it as "that home rule bill."
And even the press release issued by the office of Gov. Bob Riley was headlined, "Governor Riley Signs Limited Home Rule Bill."
Now that it has been signed into law, the legislation will allow voters in rural Alabama to grant their county commissions the authority to abate a number of nuisances, including junkyards, weeds, animals, unsanitary sewage, pollution and other similar issues. This authority will be granted with one vote that will make the entire act apply in the county. This vote can come without any further legislative action and it can come as early as June of 2006.
Will there be a flood of counties working to put this issue on the ballot box next June? Only time will answer that question. But one can rest assured that many counties will move forward with this project next year and others will follow during the next election cycle.
The importance of the passage of this legislation should not be lost on anyone in county government and it should not be under estimated by those outside of county government. Decisions on local matters have long rested in the hands of the local legislative delegation.
The framers of our state constitution argued over this issue in 1901. Those who opposed local "self governance" (or home rule, if you prefer) won out on that occasion and for the last 103 years all power for local decisions has rested on the floor of the Alabama Legislature.
For this reason, counties have exercised little or no ability to address local problems.
Solutions to even the most simple of issues could not be offered without waiting until the next session of the Alabama Legislature.
This legislation does not completely reverse that trend, but it does give local voters the ability to put this matter on the ballot and to grant the local county commission the ability to deal with the most basic of issues - making the local community more healthy and safe.
May 16, 2005, was a very important day for county government in Alabama, even if your president wasn't there at the very end.
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