The County Line
- Volume 53, Number 4 - 2009
Funding for forensics demonstrates need for local “voices” in Montgomery.
The Association will need all members renew your lines of communication with your legislators for this to be a successful year. Every county has a voice, and every voice should be heard! Be involved!
At first blush, the ruckus over $620,000 or so might seem a bit misplaced. Statewide, this doesn’t seem like enough money to justify an enormous amount of time and effort or a big donnybrook between state and county government. But, its importance goes well beyond a question of whether the Alabama Department of Forensics Science is going to continue to provide transport services for the conducting of autopsies.
It really goes to the heart of a century-old question about the proper relationship between state government and its legislatively created local arm at the county level. And, that question (or actually the answer to that question) is why this issue is much more than the dollars and cents associated with the transportation of 2,000 or so bodies each year.
Back in January, the Department decided it would stop providing transportation services, pointing out that nothing in Alabama law seemed to “require” such services to be provided by the state agency. The Department did not try to “assign” this duty to a specific local entity, but everyone involved (including the director of the agency) realized that everything in government rolls downhill. The buck always stops at the lowest desk in the pecking order. In Alabama, that’s the county commission.
Almost before the memo had reached all 67 counties, local district attorneys and coroners were knocking on the county commissions’ door in an effort to secure two commitments. First, they wanted to be sure they would not be required to pay for the cost of the transportation; and second, they wanted to be sure the county commission would write the checks necessary to keep this function of government flowing.
The Association’s advice to counties was clear and consistent. There is nothing in Alabama’s law that makes the transportation cost the responsibility of the counties. No state department head can assign the responsibility to county government. Honestly, that is the reason so much fuss has been made about this issue.
As the financial situation at all levels of government worsens, the obvious approach is to be like the kids in the old Quaker® Life® Cereal commercial who didn’t want to eat the flakes in their bowl so they screamed, “Let’s get Mikey!” Except, in this case, the idea isn’t to pass off a bowl full of cardboard-flavored cereal; it is to shift as many expenses as possible down to the local level.
We’ve seen this before. Really, it isn’t a novel or original idea. It is not one that can be laid at the doorstep of the Department of Forensic Sciences. But, it is one that should serve as a reminder of why counties must be so focused on continuing their presence in the Alabama Legislature.
This year’s Regular Session of the Alabama Legislature promises to be an especially difficult one. The legislative elections are just around the corner and money is tight. Most predict the partisan conflict in Montgomery will be at an all time high – because the balance of power in both the House and Senate hangs on just a few legislative seats scattered throughout the state.
Everyone will be especially nervous. The word “tax” will not be uttered by anyone hoping to be re-elected, unless of course, it is followed by the word “cut.” There’s no question that state revenues are being hit by the economic challenges facing not only our nation, but the global economy.
Balancing the state’s general fund and education trust fund budgets will be as difficult this year as any time in anyone’s memory. Some very tough decisions will be made by Alabama’s legislators who will then leave Montgomery and almost immediately hit the campaign trail.
All this adds up to a Legislative Session during which counties must be especially sensitive to the goings-on in Montgomery. As ACCA begins its process of preparing for this year’s challenges, it is most important that county officials renew their commitment to educating themselves on the activities in and around the Alabama Legislature. Additionally, lines of communication with local delegations must be opened, reopened and improved upon between now and early January.
ACCA’s steering committees, legislative committee and board of directors will be working during the next two months to develop a legislative program recognizing the needs of county governments and attempting to anticipate legislative attacks that may come from those who are not sensitive to the role and financial condition of county governments in Alabama.
This issue with the Department of Forensics Sciences will be resolved – we hope in a way that ensures those who request an autopsy do so with the knowledge that they will be responsible for the cost of transporting the body the lab. But once this matter is resolved, we cannot forget it isn’t really the disease – it is only an outward symptom.
As the 2010 elections near, it is important that counties begin to ask candidates a consistent and important question, and that counties react appropriately to the responses they receive.
It’s the question that hits at the heart of the relationship between counties and the state. It’s the question we don’t ask often enough: “Do you see county government as a partner with the state, or do you believe the state can balance its budget by passing responsibilities down to the local level?”
Listen carefully to the response you receive. It’s a question that even Mikey should be able to answer.
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