Alabama Legislature's 2025 session ends in lengthy Senate filibuster

Yahoo

15-05-2025

Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro (center) speaks to Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, on the floor of the Alabama Senate on May 14, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
The Alabama Legislature's 2025 session ended Wednesday with the passage of a handful of bills and a lengthy Senate filibuster that doomed many more.
Senate Democrats, upset after a dispute between the House and a senator over a gambling bill for Greene County, managed to slow consideration of an agenda of 50 local House bills in the chamber, which Senate President Pro Tempore Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, said last week would be his priority for the last day of session.
'We're going to use the tools we have to make happen what we need to make happen,' said Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, whose criticism of the House's handling of a local gambling bill led to the slowdown.
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Republicans repeatedly clotured Singleton and Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, the other major figure in the filibuster, limiting debate to 20 minutes. But Democrats asked for each bill to be read in its entirety and for a roll call vote on each motion. After about six hours, the Senate had only passed about 11 of the bills on its calendar.
Smitherman later said that he felt locked out of the political process after discussing lawmakers from the same region working together to address local issues. Not being afforded the same luxury, he said the tools to represent his constituents effectively were taken away.
'I just couldn't do what I needed to do. That's all … when you've got no tools, you can build nothing. My tools were put in the toolshed, and they locked the door,' Smitherman said, saying he's 'trying to knock on the door.'
The Republican-led chambers managed to pass HB 202, sponsored by Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville, which extends police immunity protections. The legislation, a priority for GOP lawmakers and Gov. Kay Ivey, in the waning minutes of the session on Wednesday. In the House, the chamber concurred with Senate changes on HB 199, sponsored by Rep. Travis Hedrix, D-Birmingham, that allows the Board of Pardons and parole to electronically monitor a juvenile delinquent before their court hearing.
But the Senate filibuster dominated most of the day. After the Shroud Award was presented to Rep. Ron Bolton, R-Northport, early Wednesday afternoon,
House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said a farewell and thanked the chamber for all their work this session.
'You guys are like family to me. I love each one of you, and we pray every night for success throughout the districts,' Ledbetter said. 'And I can't be more proud of a group of men and women that serve the people of Alabama.'
The House then recessed for nine hours to wait for the Senate to pass the police immunity bill. The slow grind Wednesday brought an end to a session that saw several notable pieces of legislation passed.
Lawmakers approved a bill banning firearm modifications known as 'Glock switches,' which convert semi-automatic handguns into fully automatic weapons. The bill was the first gun restriction to pass the Alabama House since 2010, and passed after Rep. Philip Ensler, D-Montgomery, introduced similar legislation the year before.
The Legislature also passed legislation to change the state's public school funding formula to help address the needs of underserved students through a new funding system. But Republican lawmakers also pumped $180 million into the CHOOSE Act, a voucher-like program in which families can claim tax credits for nonpublic education expenses, including private school tuition. The allocation far exceeded the $100 million lawmakers originally put into the bill.
Lawmakers rushed through the 'What is a Woman Act' early in the session, provides definitions for sex, male, female, man, woman, boy, girl, mother and father. Critics said the bill attempted to erase trans and intersex identities. Lawmakers also passed bills targeting immigrants.
Ledbetter highlighted the a bill regulating pharmacy benefit managers, a cut on the grocery tax and a bill allowing the state's dominant agricultural organization to offer its members health benefit plans.
'I think we got a lot to be proud of, lots to hang our hat on,' he said.
Ledbetter said he was surprised HB 188, sponsored by Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, did not receive final passage. The bill would have created a scholarship program for dependents of law enforcement, which passed the House in February.
'I really don't even understand that one,' Ledbetter said. 'It's pretty simple to me, because we give everybody else scholarships. If we're really trying to protect the police officers and in this state, and back the blue then, to me, that's a no brainer.'
Gudger said after the Senate adjourned that despite the partisan tensions of the last day, he felt like there was cooperation. He said that they could have concluded the debate sooner, but he wanted to make sure members 'were treated as fairly as possible.'
'You heard some people tonight saying they didn't treat them fairly tonight, but if you look back into how many minutes they've had at the mic, I think they've had more movements than anybody else on the floor. You've got to be able to balance that, and so you can't look at just one night,' he said.
Gudger signaled the Senate might work on potential rule changes to improve efficiency before the next legislative session, particularly in handling local legislation.
'It would be, how do we handle local legislation and it be fair so that one person can't hold up the whole legislature,' he said. 'In the Senate, you're able to do that, but I think there needs to be more of a group that needs to say, 'this is something we don't want as a delegation' before you hold up everyone's local bills,' Gudger said.
Smitherman, shortly before the Senate adjourned, asked the lawmakers to reassess how they'll conduct business when they return next year.
'All of us want to take something home. You all want to take something home. We want to take something home. And where it is now, it's not working out like that, so I hope you all reassess when we come back,' Smitherman said.
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