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Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Shroud Award given to bill updating vehicle safety guidelines for children
Rep. Ron Bolton, R-Northport, smiles as he holds up The Shroud Award in the Alabama House of Representatives on May 14, 2025. Bolton received the award, given to "the deadest bill of the session," for legislation that would have revised weight and height standards for children's safety seats. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The House of Representatives' annual Shroud Award Wednesday went to a bill that died on the House floor in February. HB 18, sponsored by Rep. Ron Bolton, R-Northport, would have updated safety regulations for children in vehicles for the first time in almost 20 years. The award is given to the 'deadest bill of the session.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'There's no question of Rep. Bolton's good intentions, but to say his bill was complicated is being just a little bit kind,' Clay Redden, the House public information officer, said as he read a resolution presenting the Shroud. 'Representative Bolton's bill read like chapters from a pediatrician's anatomy book or an instruction manual and manual of how to operate a nuclear reactor.' The bill failed a procedural motion known as a budget isolation resolution (BIR) on Feb. 27 amid pushback from both Democrats and Republicans. 'And let's not forget what Rep. Marcus Paramore pointed out just before the BIR failed, this bill would have made it nearly impossible for him, Rep. Leigh Hulsey and Rep. Susan DuBose to drive themselves to work,' Redden read from the resolution Wednesday. Bolton signed the back of the Earl Mitchell Memorial Plaque, joining an 'illustrious group of people' who have received the Shroud Award. Bolton's bill won the award over HB 489, sponsored by Rep. Jeremy Gray, D-Opelika, HB 277, sponsored by Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, and an unnumbered bill by Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Range. HB 489 would have brought name, image and likeness to high school athletics. It was not voted on in the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee. HB 277 would have created a sales tax exemption for firearms, ammunition and hunting supplies on Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. It was not voted on in the House Ways and Means Education Committee. Albritton's nonexistent bill would have been another attempt at legalizing gambling in the state. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Bill to update vehicle safety guidelines for children fails on House floor
Rep. Ron Bolton, R-Northport, sits on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on May 9, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. His bill to update car seat regulations failed on the House floor on Feb. 27, 2025. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) A bill that would update safety regulations for children in vehicles for the first time in almost 20 years failed on the House floor on Thursday. HB 18, sponsored by Rep. Ron Bolton, R-Northport, requires 2-year-old children who are 35 pounds and lighter to be in rear-facing car seats, which is an increase from 20 pounds. The bill received bipartisan pushback. Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, expressed concern about a 2-year-old fitting in a rear-facing car seat. 'Their legs may not fit in the car seat,' she said. 'A 2-year-old, usually, if they can look around, distract and learn, there's a really good thing about learning from that environment and just looking out. Facing the back of that seat … I just have concerns with this bill.' Rep. Adline Clarke, D-Mobile, read a text from a constituent that expressed similar concerns. ''One- and 2-year-olds do not want to be staring at a seat,'' she read. ''They look out the windows when riding forward and observe everything, which is part of their learning.'' The legislation also requires children under five who weigh 65 pounds or less to be in convertible car seats, which is an increase from 40 pounds. Rep. Rolanda Hollis, D-Birmingham, talked about her 4-year-old nephew that has long legs and would not fit in a convertible car seat. 'Facing the seat could be a problem,' Hollis said. Bolton said the American Academy of Pediatrics expressed concern about Alabama's outdated regulations because the average weight of children has increased in the last 20 years. He said the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, Children's Hospital, VOICES of Alabama Children and Safe Kids Alabama advocated for the legislation in order to comply with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration standards. 'They're seeing an increase in the weight of the children, and that's what prompted NHTSA to actually change their standards and update them,' Bolton said. Request for comment from the Alabama Department of Public Health and ALEA was sent Thursday afternoon. Bolton said he'd try to compromise with the members opposed to the bill, but it is unlikely the legislation will come back this session. 'I'm gonna try to work with them, see if we can find some kind of accommodation,' Bolton said in an interview.
