Despite months and even years of public discontent with the Constitution of Alabama, a House committee struck down a bill this week that would create a constitutional convention to modify the historic document.Instead, members of the local legislative delegation favor an article by article re-write, with each section going to voters for final approval.
"It’s a lot easier to digest one chapter at a time instead of trying to digest the whole book," said Rep. Steve Hurst, D-Munford, who served on the House Constitution and Election Committee, which failed the bill by a 7-7 vote. "… I very much believe the first thing that should happen is all the things in the constitution that do not exist anymore, those things should come out and let the people vote on them to get it out of the way. That in itself would condense the size of the constitution.
"… Then, I think you need to start working on the real meat of the constitution and try to separate that from the rest so you don’t get mass confusion."
Although the public is aware of the need to draft a new document, Hurst said, "there’s not enough information out there for people to know what all goes on from start to finish.
"It’d be like taking a test in college on a full book instead of one chapter at a time," he said.
But although the bill failed to gain support, legislators are aware of the intense need to rid the document of its antiquated language and content.
"We address one article at a time, then of course it would go to the people," said Sen. Jim Preuitt, D-Talladega. "When you go into giving local authorities full taxing authority, full zoning powers, it’s just something that’s going to be debated.
"… My thinking is it ought to be approached one article at a time, and that would be real thought out."
Because of sensitive issues such as property rights, Preuitt said, any effort to draft another constitution is simply going to take a long period of time.
"It’s argued that property taxes ought to be controlled by the Legislature," he said. "Anytime the county commission needs money or wants to raise taxes, they can introduce a bill.
"… Property owners don’t want to give their rights up and even the Legislature, they don’t want us having the authority to increase their taxes without their vote. … It’s something that’s dear to the heart."
In whatever way legislators decide to address the issue, they all agree something has to be done at some point.
"When we get in conversations on it, I say let’s work on it a portion at a time and not try to force-feed to people the massive size of it and try to get them to vote at one time on a full, new constitution," Hurst said. "… I want to throw out a contingent to try to educate the public for another year and come up with another plan. And surprisingly, a lot of people (on the committee) agreed with me."
The bill, which may still come up in the House, is still being addressed in a Senate committee.
In other business, a bill introduced by Hurst in the House regarding the optional placement of "God Bless America" on car tags passed by a vote of 99-1, but not without debate.
"There were some members of the Legislature that wanted to change it to ‘God Bless the USA,’ and I don’t know where they were coming from," said Rep. Ron Johnson, R-Sylacauga. "… They were wanting to amend it and all that, but it’s something that’s elected. You don’t have to have it; it’s not on every tag. It was just one of those things that if you want it, you could get it."
According to Johnson and Hurst, debate on the tags ensued for four to five hours.
"It’s a great bill," Johnson said. "It’s one of those things where people say, why do you do things like that. But, you do things to help people in your district. When people come to you and request things … you do your best to get it for them."
In the Senate, Preuitt worked to get Marion Military Institute reclassified as part of the two-year college system, which would help the struggling school with future funding.
The high school portion will eventually be phased out; students will continue to graduate from Marion Military Institute for the next three years, at which time the underclassmen will fall under the control of the local school system.
"The tuition is going to be much, much less for students," Preuitt said. "Funding is still OK for the military school, but a lot of people that graduated there 30 years ago, 20 years ago, they’re gradually giving less and less support and (the school is) having real problems."
Marion will not be fully funded by the two-year school system, which receives money through the Alabama State Department of Education.
The House also addressed the education budget, which Hurst said is "pretty much a done deal."
Regarding the surplus, he said, "I for one would like to see some money set aside to help us get through the (imminent) short year, because of proration.
"If we had two rainy day funds, that would give us some money to fall back on. I believe you need to put a little money back for needs that happen or crises that happen. I think everybody tries to live that way, set some aside for emergencies, but I don’t want to see this money used for anything else.
"I want to protect our children and provide the proper education."
