Sen. Chambliss provides legislative update
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By Christa Jennings
Senior staff writer
Sen. Clyde Chambliss speaks to the Coosa County Republican Party crowd during its meeting to provide a legislative update and a look at what might come up in future legislative sessions. Photo by Christa Jennings
Sen. Clyde Chambliss was the key guest speaker at last Monday evening’s Coosa County Republican Party meeting, providing a legislative update and discussing other matters with the crowd.
Elected officials in attendance for the meeting were District Judge Carlton Teel, Circuit Judge David Law, Judge of Probate Richard Dean, Revenue Commissioner Debra Lamberth, District 4 County Commissioner Ronnie Joiner, and District 4 Board of Education member Sharon Coffman.
Chambliss reviewed information from the legislative session and called the session “quite productive.” He mentioned the potential being there to have to alter the session because of COVID-19, but said that “with proper protocols and the decline in the virus, we were fortunate to complete the full 105 calendar day session with only a handful of COVID-19 cases and no significant illness.”
He explained that initially the Alabama House, Senate and Gov. Kay Ivey agreed on three priority bulls and a plan to meet for two weeks, complete those priority bills and break for a week to adjust the COVID-19 protocols if necessary.
Those priority bills were to exclude federal COVID-19 stimulus payments from state income tax, reauthorize the economic development act that expired last year and protect businesses, churches and individuals from “frivolous COVID-19 related lawsuits.”
He explained that all three bills were debated and approved in the minimum of five legislative days as required for passage, and Ivey signed the three bills into law.
With no significant COVID-19 issues, they were able to return after the planned break and continued the session, working on more than 1,000 bills that were introduced during the session. He said that of those, 358 bills were passed by both chambers and sent to Ivey for her signature.
Chambliss said the Alabama Legislature fulfilled its primary constitutional duty in passing balanced budgets for the General Fund and Education Trust Fund.
“These budgets were financially sound during very volatile times due to past legislative action including the ETF Rolling Reserve, the Simplified Sellers Use Tax on internet sales and conservative budgeting in prior years,” Chambliss said.
He said that most states are not in as strong of a financial position, adding that he has read reports that list Alabama in the top 10 states in the nation for a “sound financial position and outlook.”
Chambliss also mentioned that the state has gone a full decade with no proration in either budget, “even through the Great Recession and COVID-19.”
He also took time to review and share information on other legislation he deemed significant that was passed and enacted during this past legislative session.
Those included the prohibition of government vaccine passports; package of bills to strengthen voter security, including a curbside voting ban; Alabama to remain on Daylight Saving Time, as allowed by Congress; signs notifying drivers that by law the left lane is for passing only; a package of bills to retain, safeguard and improve the military in Alabama; a bill to increase broadband internet access across the state, especially in rural area; and a constitutional amendment to fund capital improvements at state parks.
Chambliss also quickly touched on other bills that were enacted, including the Historic Tax Credit reauthorization, medical marijuana, sports participation by birth gender, electronic signature authorization for municipalities, and a 2% pay raise for education and state employees.
He added that notable proposals that did not pass during this legislative session included a constitutional amendment allowing the legislature to call itself into session during a pandemic, gambling and changes to the hiring of the state health officer.
In looking forward, Chambliss said that the topics of prisons, redistricting, gambling, and another round of federal money coming down that they have to appropriate are four potential reasons for special legislative sessions.
However, with gambling, he said he does not see that coming to a special session at all, adding that no one he knows of is “working on that consistently.”
He also reviewed the draft prison bill to build state-owned prisons on state-owned property. He said they are close to getting the bill negotiated and that his hope is to have a special session at the end of September or early October to deal with that draft bill.
“It is way past time for us to get this off our plate,” he said.
Following the U.S. Census data, he said Alabama did not lose a congressional seat. He added that they will be redistricting to ensure there is roughly the same number of people in each district – including the seven congressional districts, the Alabama State Board of Education districts, Alabama Senate districts, and Alabama House of Representatives’ districts.
Chambliss reported that his district has grown by about 2%, adding that he hopes to hold what he currently has with only minor adjustments with redistricting. He added that he believes and hopes that he will keep 100% of Coosa County in his district.
During public comment, when he was thanked for answering emails and calls from Coosa County in such a timely manner, Chambliss stated, “The way I look at it is I signed up to represent the entire district, and your calls are just as important as somebody else’s call. I do the best I can to respond.”
Another individual in the crowd asked Chambliss about the new forthcoming graphite mine and Westwater Resources.
“I have met with them,” Chambliss responded. “As a matter of fact, previously with Commissioner [Paul] Perrett I met with all of them that have tried. Commissioner Perrett kept me involved, and other commissioners do now. The ones before I was always hopeful. These guys are a different level than the ones we’ve dealt with before. They have the wherewithal to do it. I have met with them and talked with them in detail. Obviously that’s my belief. Our Department of Commerce has been heavily engaged in it, and they feel confident. I’m very optimistic about it right now.”
He went on to say, “They [Westwater Resources] basically changed the entire program to do their capital investment first with the processing plant. Fly-by-night people don’t do that. So that made a big difference to me, as well.”
Renee Powers, chair of District 6 for the Alabama Republican Party, was also a guest speaker for the meeting.
She reviewed various updates and programs at the state level and provided handouts and further information to attendees. One topic of interest that she touched on was Critical Race Theory.
“There’s been a lot of attention on this Critical Race Theory,” Powers said. “I’ve done a lot of research on it, and I have been going around trying to address this with a lot of my counties. It’s just an increasing concern, and we have a concern. We may not have a problem yet with it, but I just think it’s a matter of time before it comes.”
With her at the meeting she had a draft resolution that was a recommendation put together by the Alabama Policy Institute and Eagle Forum for the local school boards.
The recommended resolution ultimately states that they do not support Critical Race Theory. The resolution can be adopted and approved by local school boards to let their stance on the issue be known.
“I think those decisions are best made on the local level,” Powers said. “They don’t need to be made on the state level. I think we need to really get back to making your local system know what’s best for your local communities.”
As the meeting came to a close, attorney Tony Hamlin introduced himself and announced that he will be a Republican candidate on the ballot for district attorney of Coosa and Clay counties.
The next Coosa County Republican Party meeting is anticipated to be held September 27 at 6:30 p.m.