When voters go to the polls next month, they’ll be voting on a proposed constitutional amendment that some say has to pass or cities and towns could be thrown into legal chaos. Supporters of Amendment 14 say without its approval, hundreds of local laws across Alabama could be wiped out by legal challenges. The list includes laws related to schools to local taxes to law enforcement.
The reason’s very technical and comes out of legislative procedure.
When Alabama lawmakers meet in a regular session, the first thing they’re supposed to do is pass the budgets. But in real life, that doesn’t happen. Instead lawmakers can pass what’s called a Budget Isolation Resolution or BIR and that allows them to consider a measure before the budget is approved.
Now according to a 1984 amendment, the Alabama Constitution requires a BIR to be passed by 3/5ths of a quorum present. But Alabama House rules say these resolutions only have to be passed by 3/5ths of those voting, which is a lower threshold. So for more than 30 years, lawmakers have passed legislation based on those looser rules.
The distinction came to light after a judge ruled last year on a Jefferson County plan to refinance school construction debt and use the savings for other items. He ruled it was unconstitutional because its BIR was not passed with the higher vote requirement. The case is on appeal. But if upheld, some lawmakers worry that more than 600 laws passed in the same way could be overturned through similar lawsuits.
“You could easily challenge all of them and win pretty easily in challenging all these local acts,” says State Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster), who sponsored the measure that put Amendment 14 on the ballot. If passed, it would say these laws in question would be considered legitimate.
“You could still challenge the constitutionality of the local bill,” says Ward. “But you couldn’t do it just based upon how the BIR vote was counted in the legislature, which is just a procedural issue, nothing that deals with the policy substance of the bill.”
Many organizations from the Association of County Commissions to the Business Council of Alabama are encouraging a yes vote.
But Birmingham resident Bob Friedman says “no.” He’s filed a lawsuit in Montgomery to block the amendment from the ballot. He says it’s an attempt to do an end run around the courts in the Jefferson County case that’s on appeal and that violates the separation of powers. Plus, Friedman says, the constitution wasn’t followed.
“Many people have known that the quorum procedure has been violated for years,” says Friedman. “you shouldn’t go to the voters to bail you out.”
Friedman acknowledges a no vote could open up a legal avenue to challenge all these laws, but he thinks the threat is overblown. He says it takes a lot of time and money to win a lawsuit so there wouldn’t be a proliferation of cases.
Senator Cam Ward calls Friedman’s lawsuit a stunt. He argues, if there were a violation, it’s the court that interfered with lawmakers by focusing on a technicality. But it is a technicality that could have far reaching consequences for cities and towns across Alabama.
Friedman Complaint by WBHM News on Scribd