May 16, 2007
Many of you seemed to enjoy my story about Miss Mittie last week and her legendary prowess as the oracle of Goat Hill. She was such a peculiar looking sight in her floor length black dress and hat, always knitting and never looking up. It was like she had eyes in the top of her head. Miss Mittie would hardly look at you, much less talk to you, unless you had won her trust. She almost whispered when telling you where a legislator was or what was going on in each legislative chamber.
May 09, 2007
Whenever I travel in Alabama I am always asked to retell the story of Miss Mittie. It has been two years since this column appeared but by popular demand, here goes the story of Miss Mittie.
As a youngster I spent my summers working as a Page in the State Legislature. It was an invaluable learning experience and a glimpse into the world of politics, but it was a lot simpler time. When I observe today’s Legislature the most striking difference is computerization. In the 1960s the telephone was our most advanced technology. However, I fondly remember a little lady named Miss Mittie who was far superior to any computer.
May 02, 2007
In observing the ebb and flow of the Legislature during this first session of this four-year cycle, it occurs to me that things are very much status quo and basically a mirror image of the previous quadrennium. It is pretty much the same song, second verse.
The House works in precision predictable form like a fine tuned luxury automobile. The undeterred Speaker Seth Hammett sits perched in the chair orchestrating the machinations of the House like a maestro conductor. Hammett in his 29th year in the House and his record 9th year as Speaker has his ship in order. Hammett is deliberate, methodical, and very organized.
April 25, 2007
This year’s Legislative Session is at the midway point and it was moving somewhat smoother than was originally anticipated. However, the partisan acrimony created by the organizational session’s war for control of the senate has crept into the picture and has cast a somber cloud over the process. The early harmony was inspired more by the State’s strongest economy in years, than a bipartisan laying down of the swords.
April 18, 2007
This week’s column is a continuation of the two-week series written by former Governor Albert Brewer who is a proponent of a new state constitution. This is the culmination of a four-week series regarding Alabama’s antiquated 1901 Constitution.
History has shown that the efforts of the 1901 Constitution to put constraints on local government in Alabama were twofold: (1) the prohibitions of the Constitution requiring amendment of the basic document to enable local governments to engage in some activity otherwise prohibited by the constitution and (2) the virtually absolute control of local governments, particularly counties, by the legislature. The consequences are well known. We talk about the entire state having to amend the constitution to permit Mobile County to engage in a mosquito control program, to authorize Limestone County to dispose of dead farm animals, to ban prostitution in unincorporated areas of Jefferson County, to permit Morgan County to build a jail, and the list goes on and on.
April 11, 2007
This week’s and next week’s columns are written by former Governor Albert Brewer who is a proponent of a new Alabama constitution.
For the past several years a citizens’ group, Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform, has been pressing the legislature to allow the people of Alabama to vote on the issue of calling a constitutional convention to revise the constitution. One might ask: why a revision movement? Why does Alabama’s constitution need rewriting? To answer these questions, one must look at a brief history of the present constitution and its impact on our state.
April 04, 2007
Our 1901 Alabama Constitution is criticized as being outdated and in need of overhaul. Proponents have longed for and worked for a constitutional convention to enact a new basic document for decades. More people would agree with them if they only knew the history of how our original Constitution was written and approved.
March 28, 2007
At the beginning of every quadrennium and the first regular legislative session year there goes out a hue and cry to revamp or rewrite our antiquated 1901 Constitution. Most proponents of a new state constitution want a constitutional convention to create a new state charter.
Governor Riley has not addressed this issue in his first four years in office and it is doubtful that he will propose any action during his second term. It will again be swept under the rug to be addressed maybe in the next quadrennium.
March 21, 2007
As we begin the 2007 Regular Session of the Legislature the perennial issues, such as the need for a new Constitution, campaign reform, and prison overcrowding, may rise to the surface. Usually if any tough issue is addressed it is tackled in the first year of the quadrennium. These issues have been swept under the rug continuously for years and may never be handled until a major crisis erupts.
March 14, 2007
The bell has run and the gavel has sounded and the first regular legislative session of the quadrennium has begun. There are monumental issues facing the new legislature. These are not new issues and as usual there are not many new faces. Incumbency retention has set up in the Alabama Statehouse almost to the same degree as on the national level. Most campaign special interest money is placed on incumbents. Therefore, it is very difficult to defeat a sitting House member or Senator.