Latest news with #R-Cullman
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Four Republicans, one Democrat running in House District 12 special election
Members of the Alabama House of Representatives vote on a local bill on May 1, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The lights in each name represent how a member of the House voted. Green is for yes; blue is for abstention. Abstaining on local bills is common for representatives not from the area that will be affected by the bill. A special election will be held to fill the Cullman County area House District 12 seat on Oct. 28, with the primary on July 15.(Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Four Republicans and one Democratic candidate qualified for the Alabama House District 12 special election in Cullman County. Republican voters will have the choice between Heather Doyle, Clint Hollingsworth, Dan McWhorter and Cindy Myrex on July 15. The lone Democratic candidate, Matt Glover, will advance to the general election on Oct. 28 against the winner of the special election primary. If one Republican candidate does not receive 50% of votes, the special runoff election will take place on Aug. 12. Former Rep. Corey Harbison, R-Cullman, resigned in April after he was absent for much of the 2025 legislative session. All interviewed candidates said they are running for office for Cullman County representation in Montgomery. 'You didn't ask how anybody that lives there, how they felt about it,' Doyle said. 'This is our community, like we live there. This is going to affect us.' 'My plan is to represent the folks in this district like I have my constituents with the city,' Hollingsworth said. 'I'm gonna work hard for them, just like what I've done for the last 17 years on the city council, for the folks here that voted for me.' 'I didn't think we were getting much representation on the issues that I thought were important, so I figured I'd get involved,' McWhorter said. Efforts to schedule an interview with Myrex were not successful. Doyle, Glover and McWhorter also expressed opposition to SB 322, sponsored by Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills. It was signed by Gov. Kay Ivey on May 7 and allowed the City of Cullman to annex a resort on Smith Lake in Cullman County, a dry county, for the resort to serve alcohol. 'I mean, there's nothing I can do about that, even though I know that's the main concentration for the election. I just think it's wrong,' Doyle said. 'We're exploring what it would take to rescind the legislation,' McWhorter said. Glover's first priority in his campaign is giving the people more power, which he said was not present when the legislation passed. The Republican primary Doyle, 43, is a former teacher and realtor in the Smith Lake area of Cullman County. She wants to reform the court system, inspired by an ongoing custody battle in her personal life that she declined to explain because of potential implications in the litigation. 'I think we just need a better system, like something for inmates to even go to rehab,' she said in an interview Monday. 'I just think we need to do something better.' She also wants to reduce wasteful spending and government overreach by reviewing where state taxpayer dollars are going. 'I think we need to look closer at the budget and what we're spending and the programs,' she said. Finally, she wants to improve education in the state and be a voice for children in education and in custody battles. 'They don't get like issues that are going on with the court system, with kids, it's just not a man thing. They're not worried about kids, and they're not worried about women,' she said. 'And I just think we've got a lot of things going on with juveniles in the court system that I think just needs to be handled differently.' The first-time candidate said she is the best for the job because she will not rely on the politics of lawmaking to pass legislation. 'Nobody's going to be able to bribe me, I don't owe anybody a favor,' she said. 'I really think this is how politics work.' Hollingsworth, 47, owns a used car dealership in Cullman. He said in an interview on May 27 that he is prioritizing education and work force development. 'Investing in public education and job training programs is vital to prepare our students for future employment opportunities,' he said. He also said he wants the state to support volunteer fire departments more. There are 983 volunteer fire departments in the state, 23 of which are in Cullman County, according to the Alabama Forestry Commission. 'There's 17 in this district that I'm running for, and I want to help with funding and training and just trying to get people willing to serve and help their community,' Hollingsworth said. He also said he wants to improve transportation infrastructure. 'Reliable transportation is essential for employment, education and our health care,' he said. 'Not just the county roads, but even 65 and interstate highways just need upgrades for sure.' The former Cullman County City Councilman said he is the best candidate because of his tenure on city council, which he has served on since 2008. 'It's a new challenge for me, but it encompasses areas that I'm already kind of used to,' he said. 'I'm just looking forward to helping and serving more people.' McWhorter, 68, has been a sales manager for Innovative Analytical Solutions in Bremen, Alabama, for a decade. McWhorter said in an interview on May 21 that his main priority is to implement a property tax cap for property owners who are at least 65 years old. 'Property ownership is either a right or it's a privilege,' McWhorter said. 'So if it's a right, we don't tax free speech, right? So why are you taxing my property?' Aside from that, McWhorter also wants a 'clean lottery bill' that would fund two years of tuition at technical colleges. The legislature failed to pass a comprehensive gaming bill in 2024, and the House rejected any attempts at another from the Senate this year. 'The second one is a clean lottery bill that'll fund two-year college tuition, or two years of college tuition for any high school graduate with a C average,' he said. Lastly, McWhorter wants to completely eliminate the tax on overtime, which is set to expire on June 30. He also mentioned eliminating daylight savings time as a goal. House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, an original supporter of the bill, has said the exemption created a larger hole in the Education Trust Fund (ETF) than expected. President Donald Trump has advocated for a national exemption in his second term. The lone Democrat Glover, 40, served on the Good Hope City Council from 2012-2016. He wants to prioritize local power. 'Returning power to local communities, like just trying to wrestle away some of the power that the state government has taken from like local cities and towns, which plays in with SB 322,' Glover said in an interview on May 23. He also said he opposes HB 445, sponsored by Rep. Andy Whitt, R-Harvest, which was signed into law on May 14. The bill requires testing and labeling for all consumable hemp products and caps at 10 milligrams per individually wrapped product and 40 milligrams per package. It will require the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board to license retailers of these products, restrict retail establishments selling hemp products and impose an excise tax on consumable hemp products. 'With the amount of jobs that I think that's going to cost, and the amount of like, government overreach that is involved with it is pretty disgusting,' he said. Finally, Glover wants to advocate for direct ballot initiatives in order for Alabamians to have a say in a state lottery. Nineteen states have direct ballot initiatives, which allow citizens to propose constitutional amendments. 'A lot of that goes back to us not being able to get the lottery amendment on the ballot, like sports gambling, any number of things, but where they just won't pass it in Montgomery to allow the citizens to vote,' he said. Glover said he is running for office to show the people of the district that there are Democrats and that they deserve to be represented. 'We still exist. And I think there's just a lack of enthusiasm and motivation,' he said. 'When you see a statewide ballot with no Democrats running, it makes people less likely to turn out, and then it looks like that they're just not there.' Meet the Candidates Age: 43 Residence: Cullman Occupation: Realtor, former teacher Education: Associates degree, Accounting, Snead State Community College, 2006; Bachelor's degree, elementary education, Athens State University, 2010; Master's degree, instructional leadership, Athens State University, 2024 Party: Republican Previous political experience: first-time candidate Age: 47 Residence: Cullman Occupation: self-employed at a used car dealership Education: Bachelor's degree, K-12 physical education, Athens State University, 1999 Party: Republican Previous political experience: Cullman City Council since 2008 Age: 40 Residence: Cullman Occupation: Parts manager at a poultry plant Education: High school diploma, Good Hope High School, 2002 Party: Democrat Previous political experience: Good Hope City Council 2012-2016 Age: 68 Residence: Cold Springs Occupation: Sales manager at Innovative Analytical Solutions Education: Associates's degree, electronics, National Institute of Technology, 1984 Party: Republican Previous political experience: first-time candidate SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama House and Senate clash over local legislation as session nears end
Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro (left) looks at the phone of Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, on the floor of the Alabama Senate on May 7, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The Senate saw two filibusters on Wednesday: one from Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham that would have allowed the governor to appoint members of the governing board of the Alabama Department of Archives and History without Senate confirmation; the other from Singleton in protest of the House not taking up a bill he considered important for his district. The Alabama Legislature ground to a halt on Wednesday afternoon amid a dispute between the Alabama House and a senator over a gambling bill for Greene County. The stand-off on the next-to-last legislative day of the session punctuated a tense day in the chambers that saw another filibuster on a bill that would change the governance of the Alabama Department of Archives and History and two Republican representatives getting into a shouting match on the House floor. 'The question about ending it today was the right decision, I believe, so that everyone stopped, we had a clean break, and then we're going into the last legislative day, knowing exactly what's in front of us,' said President Pro Tempore Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, after the Senate adjourned, adding that cloturing the Democratic filibuster would 'create a little bit of animosity towards each side of the aisle, and we don't want that.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The disputes left the fates of high-profile legislation and dozens of local bills for individual districts up in the air. The last day of the session is May 14. '[Next week] looks slow because I'm settled in They've got 40 more House bills,' said Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, who filibustered a Senate calendar for most of the afternoon. 'I'm willing to talk 40 more hours.' Singleton wanted the House to pass a SB 90, a bill for Greene County that would update the distribution of local gambling revenue in the county and change the appointing authority for Greene County Racing Commission members from the governor to the legislative delegation. Wednesday was the last day for lawmakers to get bills to the governor's desk before Gov. Kay Ivey can wield a pocket veto over legislation. Singleton said Ivey's staff said she wasn't going to sign his bill, and that a Senate agenda of 10 bills taken up by the chamber on Wednesday 'needed to get out' because 'she's not going to sign the bills.' 'The governor has said to leadership that there were certain bills that she was not going to sign … That's why you saw all those bills because they needed to get out today, so that therefore they could override the veto on the last day if she decided to veto them,' Singleton said. Gina Maiola, a spokesperson for the governor, wrote in a text message Wednesday 'that's not necessarily true regarding issues with local bills,' saying that the governor met with leadership to discuss the final days of the session and agree to a final schedule. Singleton filibustered the local calendar but allowed the first five local bills on it to pass. The House did not put Singleton's bill on a calendar on Wednesday, likely dooming it for the session. In the House, Rep. Curtis Travis, D-Tuscaloosa, requested to bring SB 90 to the floor out of order, a move that requires four-fifths of members present to approve. After an hour and 45 minutes of debate, Travis withdrew the motion. House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said after the House adjourned that all gaming bills must be brought to the floor on a special order calendar, regardless if they are local legislation or statewide bills. '(Singleton) was really adamant about getting on the floor, and gave a chance for Rep. Travis to have a conversation about it,' Ledbetter said after the House adjourned. 'And I think that's what he wanted to do. And unfortunately, our rules and rules in the Senate aren't the same. And anything that's got to do with gaming in the House, it's got to be general and going to the House floor.' Rep. Andy Whitt, R-Harvest, who co-sponsored a comprehensive gambling package last year, supported the motion saying Alabamians gamble anyway. 'I do feel that we failed our citizens last year by not voting on a comprehensive gaming package,' Whitt said. 'This is a great demonstration of what happens when we let this patchwork gaming happen all across the state, and it will continue to happen. If you don't think gambling and gaming is happening in your communities, you're all wrong.' The House had its own internal drama Wednesday when Reps. David Faulkner, R-Mountain Brook, and Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, had a heated discussion on the House floor over an amendment to SB 82, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur. The bill requires municipal court magistrates and circuit court clerks to annually audit and recall outstanding warrants for Class B and Class C misdemeanors and violations that have not been served within 10 years. Faulkner's amendment allowed the presiding judge to decide if a warrant would be recalled. Simpson asked Faulkner to change his amendment to also alert the prosecuting attorney. 'We're not amending the amendment,' Faulkner said. 'You can amend the bill.' Simpson argued Faulkner could not do that. 'I can have this debate with you right now because I'm asking to amend the amendment,' Simpson said. 'Let's let the body ask to amend the amendment.' The pair got heated, then the bill was carried over to the call of the chair. The pair continued their debate away from the podiums on the House floor, then moved to a side room for about an hour. They emerged, but the bill was not brought back up. Both chambers of the Legislature will return on Wednesday afternoon, but the battle between the chambers may not ease. Ledbetter said Singleton's bill will not be on the calendar when the House returns. But Singleton said after the Senate adjourned that he still wants his bill passed 'like all other local bills.' The Senate minority leader noted the Senate still had to pass about 50 local bills and approve confirmations, and warned that he was willing to filibuster most if not all of them. 'That's where we will be. If that's what game they want to play, I'm willing to play, and I think most of you know that I can play that game,' Singleton said. 'We probably have another 25 confirmations out there. Somebody's not going to get confirmed, and some local bills will die.' The impasse could also threaten high-profile state bills, including a bill broadening police immunity that Ivey called for in her State of the State address in February. A bill to change the governance of the Alabama Department of Archives and History also stalled after Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, objected to the bill removing Senate confirmation of board members. The bill will go to a conference committee. 'As of right now, the local legislation is my main priority because all politics is local. We want to make sure that we try to take care of our members here and the members in the House,' Gudger said after the Senate adjourned Wednesday. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
16 days down, 14 to go: What's left for the 2025 Alabama legislative session
Left to right: Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman; Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey applaud during a press conference at the Alabama State Capitol on Feb. 12, 2025 promoting a law enforcement package in the Legislature. Ivey mentioned the package as a top priority in her February State of the State address. What's left of her priorities for the 2025 Legislative Session?(Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama Legislature is just over halfway through the 2024 Legislative Session with Tuesday marking the 17th day of session. Gov. Kay Ivey laid out her priorities for the session in her State of the State address in February. Some have already been signed into law, like the What is a Woman Act and the Glock switch ban. But what is still moving through the legislative process? • SB 97, sponsored by Sen. April Weaver, R-Alabaster, also known as the What is a Woman Act, was one of the first pieces of legislation to make it to Ivey's desk this session. Critics say the law is discriminatory and that passage was rushed. It received final passage on the fifth legislative day, which is the minimum number of days it takes to pass a bill. The law defines 'sex' as the 'state of being male or female as observed or clinically verified at birth' and provides further definitions for male, female, man, woman, boy, girl, mother and father. It also prohibits males, as defined by the law, from being in female spaces, as defined by the law, and vice versa. • Ivey signed a ban on Glock switches, which turn semi-automatic firearms into automatic firearms, on March 19. SB 116, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, makes it a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $15,000 fine, for a person to own or sell the combination of parts that create a Glock switch. The bill was the first firearm restriction legislation to pass the Legislature since 2010. Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery, carried the legislation in the House and had done so for the past two sessions. • The Legislature also passed a bill altering the Veterans Affairs Board to give Ivey control over its commissioner and policies. SB 67, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, the board will retain its current size of 17 members, but the governor will appoint the commissioner. The bill also removes the board's ability to enact policies and rules on veterans' issues, reducing them to an advisory role in the governor's office. Ivey appointed Jeffrey Newton, a retired brigadier general, as commissioner of the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs last week. 'We will use this new structure to focus on what matters most — serving those who sacrificed so much for our freedoms — our veterans and their families,' Ivey said in a statement after signing the bill. • Ivey supported paid parental leave for educators in her February speech. Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, tried to pass the legislation last year, but it did not get a House vote. This year, Figures and Rep. Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg, teamed up to pass SB 199 on March 20. The law allows women who give birth, have a stillbirth, or a miscarriage after 12 weeks to receive eight weeks of paid leave. It also allows a father to take two weeks of paid leave under those circumstances. If a couple adopts a child under 3 years old, either parent may have eight weeks of leave. It awaits a signature from Ivey, which she said last week in a social media post she would sign it. 'Thank you to Rep. Ginny Shaver and Sen. Vivian Figures for carrying this important legislation. I look forward to receiving the bill and getting my signature on it,' she wrote. • On the education front, Ivey called for a ban on cell phones in classrooms. HB 166, sponsored by Rep. Leigh Hulsey, R-Helena, and SB 92, sponsored by Sen. Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva, bans cell phone use in public schools from bell-to-bell with few exceptions. According to the legislation, cell phones could be used in emergency situations, by students with Individualized Education Plans and Section 504 plans, and when necessary for instructional purposes. Both bills are waiting on floor votes in their respective chambers of origin. • SB 55, sponsored by Sen. Chris Elliot, R-Josephine, attempts to invalidate out-of-state driver's licenses issued without legal presence verification. It passed the Senate in February and the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee in early March. It awaits a vote on the House floor. • HB 297, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Fidler, R-Silverhill, would impose a 4% fee on international transfers, often used by immigrants to support family overseas. It is similar to SB 77, sponsored by April Weaver, R-Alabaster, but the House version does not impose as much of a fee that Weaver's bill proposed. It passed a House committee last week and awaits a vote from the full House. • HB 7, sponsored by Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, would give sheriff's deputies and police officers authority to arrest and detain people without citizenship and to transfer them to the custody of federal law enforcement. It passed a House committee in February and awaits a floor vote in the House. It is not on the agenda for April 1, when the Legislature returns from a weeklong break. • A bill that would allow felons convicted under the Habitual Offender Act before 2000 to have their sentences reviewed passed the Alabama Senate last week and moves to the House Judiciary Committee. As of Wednesday afternoon, that committee has not posted its agenda. SB 156, sponsored by Barfoot, also known as the Second Chance Act, got support from Ivey. The criminal justice reform measure is designed to ensure state prison space is used for the most serious offenders. • SB 63, sponsored by Sen. Lance Bell, R-Pell City, would require fingerprinting and DNA collection from non-citizens in custody. The bill passed the Senate in February and is awaiting a vote in the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee. • SB 53, sponsored by Sen. Wes Kitchens, R-Arab, establishes a process to determine immigration status detained by law enforcement and creates a new crime of harboring or concealing a person without legal immigration status. The bill received a lot of criticism for containing language that mirrored the Fugitive Slave Act. That language has been removed from the bill. It passed the Senate in February and is awaiting approval from the House Judiciary Committee. • HB 3, sponsored by Rep. Chip Brown, R-Hollingers Island, enhances penalties for people without legal status when they are charged with a felony where the victim is a minor. It passed the House last week and awaits approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee, which does not have its agenda published yet. Studies have repeatedly found that immigrants without legal status commit significantly less crime than the U.S. population as a whole. • HB 302, sponsored by Rep. Ben Robbins, R-Sylacauga, requires companies that hire people without legal status to register their employees with the Department of Workforce. The sponsor said the bill aims to cut down on human trafficking. It passed the House last week and awaits consideration from the Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee, which does not have its agenda published yet. • Ivey also called for the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public schools, including colleges and universities, despite a federal court ruling on a similar Louisiana law deeming the display unconstitutional. SB 166, sponsored by Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, received opposition and support in a March committee meeting. Opposition primarily came from religious leaders from across the state, while support stemmed from Western civilization's foundation. The legislation has yet to be moved out of the Senate Education Policy Committee, and it is not on the committee's agenda for next week. • On public educator benefits, a bill giving public educators workmen's compensation was stalled last week in the House Ways and Means Education Committee. SB 1, sponsored by Sen. Sam Givhan, was carried over without a vote due to Republican committee members' concerns about how the legislation mirrors the benefit given to state employees. • HB 202, sponsored by Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville, raises the bar for prosecuting law enforcement by creating a round of hearings on a law enforcement officer's immunity prior to trials or hearings. The bill passed the House along party lines in early March and awaits approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee. • A bipartisan supported public safety bill, HB 287, sponsored by Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, requires law enforcement agencies to report their staff numbers annually. It passed the House in February and awaits a vote from the Senate Judiciary Committee. • The House Judiciary Committee last week approved a constitutional amendment expanding Aniah's Law, which was approved by voters in 2022. The expansion would make more charges subject to bond denial, including having a firearm or firing a gun into places with people, or soliciting, attempting or engaging in a conspiracy to commit murder. SB 118, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, awaits a vote from the full House. • The General Fund and Education Trust Fund (ETF) budgets are not usually considered until the back half of the session. This year is no different. Ivey submitted her recommendations for the ETF and General Fund, which total at $9.2 billion and $3.4 billion, respectively. House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter supports an overhaul on the funding formula for the ETF. Legislators approved a hybrid model in February. 'It's time to get something different,' Ledbetter said on Feb. 4. 'They're looking at a weighted funding which, you know, the areas which are more poverty stricken, it certainly would help them, as well as ESL students. I certainly believe it's positive.' Lawmakers previously outlined three options: maintaining the existing system, which allocates money based on daily attendance; overhauling it entirely, or adopting a hybrid with additional funding for specific student populations, such as special education and English language learners. Members decided to go with the hybrid approach, which would maintain the current foundation program while introducing additional funding based on student needs. As of Wednesday, no bills had been filed to make the change. • The House passed five tax cuts that mostly affect the ETF. The cuts take $205 million from the ETF, which is less than the $230 million hole left by the overtime tax exemption that is set to expire this summer. Ledbetter said he likes the overtime tax exemption, but the five bill package would impact more Alabamians. 'I think those are the largest tax cuts that's ever been passed in this state, and it affects everybody, not just a small segment of the population,' Ledbetter said last week. House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, filed a bill that would extend the overtime tax exemption and commission a study on its economic impact. There is not a fiscal note attached to HB 467. • Lawmakers said in February they are prioritizing essential services as federal COVID funds disappear. COVID funding and historically high income and sales tax revenues left state coffers flush over the last several years, allowing legislators to pass supplemental funding bills near the start of the legislative sessions. Alabama Medicaid requested $1.2 billion in state funding at its budget hearing in February. While that is a $229 million increase from last year, Medicaid gets $8.9 billion from the federal government. The General Fund will start in the House this year and the ETF will start in the Senate. Ledbetter said last week that he expects to see the budgets in committee next week. 'We'll probably see them the first week of April, but a lot of work's already been done behind the scenes going into that,' Ledbetter said last week. 'Committees have met, they've met with agencies, and so I think we're in a place where we start moving those through.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama legislative committees give mixed reception to gun violence bills
Left to right: Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman; Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey applaud during a press conference at the Alabama State Capitol on Feb. 12, 2025 promoting a law enforcement package in the Legislature. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) A handful of bills targeting gun violence made it through Alabama House and Senate committees Wednesday as Gov. Kay Ivey held a press conference with mayors, legislators and law enforcement officials urging the passage of a public safety package. The House and Senate Judiciary Committees approved a bill that would make it a state crime to possess devices that can enable semi-automatic firearms to fire like automatic ones; a bill to expand the number of people who can be denied a gun license, and a bill allowing people to voluntarily surrender firearms. Ivey and legislators said they plan to make the package — which also includes legislation expanding immunity for police officers and attempts to improve police officer recruitment — a priority in the current session. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'Clearly, Alabama is committed to combating public safety threats,' Ivey said at a press conference on Wednesday to urge passage of the bills. She also said that the package of bills that were proposed before the start of the session is 'a prudent step to accomplish the goals.' However, some firearm bills before the committees were delayed, in part due to protests from gun rights groups. The Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday morning approved SB 116, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, that would make it a state crime to possess or distribute firearm conversion devices, commonly referred to as 'Glock switches,' which enable semi-automatic pistols to fire as fully automatic weapons. The Judiciary Committee approved the bill in a bipartisan vote, following testimony from Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, who urged lawmakers to take action against the devices. Birmingham police say Glock switches were used in a mass shooting in Birmingham's Five Points neighborhood last September that left at least four people dead and 17 injured. 'There are too many grieving mothers who have lost their child because of the use of these machine gun devices. Too many children have lost parents because of these machine gun conversion devices,' Woodfin said to the committee. Glock switches are already illegal under federal law. The bill would allow state and local law enforcement to bring charges under Alabama statutes rather than relying on federal prosecution. Committee members said the change would give local authorities greater enforcement power against violent crime. Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, spoke in support of the bill, saying that it's time to 'move our laws into the 2025 year' and adapt to changing technology. 'That's the number one thing we've got to do, get control of our communities, get control of our streets, and get control of these situations,' he said. Sen. Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville, said he is concerned the bill's wording is confusing, particularly language stating that a firearm 'can be readily restored' to fire automatically. 'What I don't want is everybody that owns a Glock that is… you know, this thing can be twisted to make that criminal,' Givhan said. 'And so I think what we need to do is, I don't know how the exact language [should be], but we need to clarify that being readily restored does not mean just simply adding the Glock switch.' Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, said that the bill was needed after the state eliminated the requirement for concealed carry permits in 2022. Singleton said that weakened law enforcement's ability to combat gun violence. 'We just can't stop and ask them about their guns. If the police had that tool in that toolbox, maybe along with that, we will have a better tool to be able to stop them before they get to that point,' Singleton said. The committee also approved SB 119, also sponsored by Barfoot, that expands the categories of those prohibited from having firearms. State law prohibits firearm possession by those convicted of a violent crime, domestic violence or a violent offense, or are the target of a valid protection order because of domestic abuse or suffer from a mental illness. The bill would expand that prohibition to people charged with a crime of violence; a misdemeanor domestic violence offense; or a violent offense and was released pending trial. It also enhances the penalty for people convicted of firing into a building with people. Currently, those convicted of that offense face a Class B felony, punishable by up to 20 years in jail and a fine of up to $30,000. The bill would make it a Class A felony, punishable by a life sentence in prison. Both measures head to the full Senate for consideration. The House Judiciary Committee approved HB 216, sponsored by Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster, that allows individuals to enter into an agreement with people who have a federal firearm license to take possession of their firearms for a specified time if they believe they are a threat to themselves. It also provides civil immunity for local law enforcement and people with a federal firearm license when they take ownership of people's firearms. Bedsole said his legislation will eventually be part of a program called the Safer Together Program that will be formalized in the future. 'This program is designed to target any of those individuals who are experiencing suicidal ideations and who feel it is in their best interest, if they surrender their weapon, that it can be secured in a secure facility set up under the guise of this program,' Bedsole said. 'They can surrender it and get it back whenever they want.' The bill allows license holders, particularly those who have stores that sell guns, to go into the community and discuss the program that allows people to surrender their firearms. 'What this bill does is pave the way,' he said. 'It offers some liability protection, specifically related to the returning of the firearm to that individual who has voluntarily surrendered it when they come to get it back.' Two firearms bills were scheduled for discussion in the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee but not debated. HB 150, sponsored by Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery, prohibits people from giving a 'deadly weapon' and ammunition to those they believe are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Those who do could be convicted of a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $6,000 fine. HB 103, sponsored by Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, would effectively require firearm owners with children living in their home to safely store their weapons. A child who brought an unsecured weapon to a school could lead to Class A misdemeanor charges for the parent, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $6,000 fine. The House Judiciary Committee also delayed a vote on HB 58, sponsored by Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, that would make it a Class A misdemeanor to not tell a police officer a person was in possession of a firearm during a stop. The bill that ended concealed carry permit requirements in 2022 included a provision that requires people to inform law enforcement when they are carrying a firearm. But the Alabama Attorney General's Office said in a May 2023 opinion that that part of the law is unenforceable because the requirement did not have an accompanying penalty. Gun rights groups protested the proposal. 'We believe that people should not be compelled to provide potentially self-incriminating information to law enforcement, and in situations where a person is carrying a concealed firearm and is pulled over and asked the question, they may be reluctant to share information out of fear that it could lead to unnecessary scrutiny or lead to criminal charges, even if they are legally carrying a firearm,' said Kelby Seanor, state director for the National Rifle Association. He also said the NRA also had concerns that the bill infringes on the Second Amendment because it creates a criminal penalty for people who are legally carrying a firearm. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
