Week 8

March 2- March 5

There is a distinct possibility that today is Monday and not Friday. However, I was out of the office so much on Friday that I was not able to post the update. Frankly, I don’t even have a computer at home let alone the internet. So, in the end, you (yes, you - that one and only person that reads this update) had to wait over the weekend for what will inevitably be the biggest waste of 5 minutes you ever saw.

We waited through almost half the legislative session with great anticipation for the gambling bill to come up in the Senate. When it did early last week, it went thud with a somewhat anticlimactic denial. The bill, being a Constitutional Amendment requires 21 votes for passage which it could not muster. There is a chance the bill, known as the ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ bill will be dead for the remainder of the session. However, the roads bill that clogged up the Senate for the first several weeks has been rumored to be coming back up on the calendar soon. The Senate did pass Representative Cam Ward’s Uniform Limited Partnership Act this week.

With both houses headed into the home stretch the budgets are going to become more and more crucial. Being that there is a lack of funding for both budgets there is sure to be controversy and it might be to our benefit if the legislators get on the budgets soon.

The House is going to a 10 minute calendar for this coming week that is set up so that each legislator can pass a bill during the session. They will have 10 minutes to pass their bill or it will be carried over. These bills are usually non-controversial and usually have full support before being brought up. Look for updates on bills passed by our delegation members.

There is plenty happening around the county in the business community. I think I’ve been to about 5 Ribbon Cuttings around the county in the last week or so. That means new businesses are opening all over our county and we are continuing to grow.

I apologize for the late and somewhat generic update. Next week (later this week) will be better. I promise.

Stephen Frey
Legislative Director