Yesterday took some surprising twists, which is not surprising when dealing with the Alabama Senate. Always expect the unexpected with that group.
You’ll recall from the newsletter you received and the blog post below that we expected a bill decreasing regulation on AT&T to take up most or all of the day. Well, that bill got bumped. The Rules Committee decided somewhat at the last minute not to bring it up. Instead, they proposed a special order calendar of about 30 “non-controversial” bills they hoped they could pass fairly quickly (bolstering the Senate’s claims that they are actually working this year, unlike the previous two years) and then move on to a calendar with some more controversial bills, including ours.
Instead of quickly processing a non-controversial calendar, they got a filibuster. It seems the Republican minority decided they’d had all they could take of the Rules Committee proposing surprise special order calendars at the last minute, not giving everyone sufficient time to read all the bills on the calendar and identify any issues they have with the proposed legislation. Without wading into Alabama partisan politics (FTH is strictly non-partisan), it seems like a legitimate complaint. What I don’t understand is why they chose yesterday to pitch their battle on this issue.
The Senate Rules Committee has been proposing special order calendars anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours before the Senate convenes for as long as I’ve been watching AL politics (since 2005). This is in stark contrast to the way the House operates, where they almost always have at least 24 hours to research the issues on an SO calendar before convening. Certainly, the House’s method seems more reasonable. But as I already said, the Senate has been operating in the same manner for at least the past few years. Why filibuster over this yesterday?
My guess is that there was some other underlying issue also at work in the shadows. There’s no point in speculating; all that matters is that instead of waiting out a legitimate debate on AT&T deregulation yesterday, we were treated to an all-day filibuster by the Republicans. Needless to say, they never got close to finishing the “non-controversial” calendar and thus were miles away from getting to the controversial calendar which would have featured our bill.
Because yesterday’s events were a surprise to us (and the Senate leadership), everything’s up in the air at the moment. It might be until late next week before we have any firm idea on whether the minority will return to their filibuster after the break.
If they get satisfaction and back down, then we will probably come up Tuesday after the break. If something does not get worked out, this could turn into the new bingo, sucking up the rest of the session into a black hole of filibustering.
Stay tuned.
11 Comments
Good luck, guys. We’re rooting for you.
I’m sure Jonathan is referring to FTH and not the senate. I check out the blog every Wednesday and Friday to see what is happening and I always hope for the best, but every time it’s been disappointing. Am I wrong in thinking that at some point things have to change?
Yes, FTH, not the Senate. Though I guess we’re simultaneously rooting for the Senate to get its act together too.
Nothing will change and we’ll continue to have a really crappy Senate until the people of Alabama start paying closer attention to what their Senators (do not) do for four months every year and vote pretty much all of them out of office and replace them with more competent public servants.
Don’t hold your breath.
I’ll speculate. All this “getting along” seems fishy to most members of the Senate and the Republican minority finally decided to bring things back to normal in the chamber. They took one for the team and went after the first thing they could mount a filibuster over. They thought it was going to be the AT&T dereg bill, but then Lowell Barron switched the calendar on them at the last second to avoid tension – “Hey we’ll filibuster that then!”
This is getting really frustrating. I am life long Republican but if the Republican party no longer stands for letting individuals make choices and be responsible for themselves then it might be time for me to vote for a candidate that believes in this fundamental political philosophy. I will support Mike Hill in the House though for his support.
I am a complete supporter of free the hops. Being a future bar owner here in Birmingham I feel a certain obligation to this bill. What my concern is that all of this will be done in vain due to the excessive bad mouthing of the senate. I’m not saying I agree with the senate, but these people are not gonna look at this amount of criticism lightly. I’m sure they have someone read these blogs. Just a thought. Best of luck.
1) You’ll pry my right to criticize the elected officials that are supposed to be working for me from my cold, dead hands.
b) The vast majority of them do not read blogs, and/or do not really care what is written on blogs.
iii) They are not going to collectively decide to vote against the FTH bill because our blog criticized them for not doing their jobs, which they know is a valid criticism.
IV) I’ve been highly critical for years, because they’ve been p!$$ing away every session for the past few years, yet we nevertheless have firm committments from a majority to support our bill. If it comes up for vote, it will pass.
Your concerns are unfounded.
I am very sorry sir if a greatly offended you by my comment. I just think you can catch more flies with honey, not relentless bad talking. After seeing your response to my comment, I do not think it warranted such an abrasive reply. Keep up the good work.
I was not being abrasive nor was I greatly offended. It’s hard to accurately convey tone in blog post comments.
I agree that you catch more flies with honey. And in one-on-one communications and any direct attempt at persuading specific legislators, i only use honey.
Also, you will not see me pick public fights with any particular Senator because of the risk such an action would pose to our bill.
But I firmly believe a more broad criticism of the Senate as a whole is entirely justified. They don’t do their jobs. They get paid your and my tax dollars to not do their jobs. That merits criticism, plain and simple.
All in all, you are right. Keep up the good work and hopefully we all can rejoice with a nice chimay sometime in the near future. You have support.
Ps. There is no tone in blogs, sorry I misread.