Alabama
In a “Frank-tastic” op-ed appearing today at AL.com, Alabama initiative rights activist Frank Dillman calls for the adoption of statewide initiative and referendum for the citizens of the Yellowhammer state.
“Citizens in 26 states and thousands of cities have a greater voice than Alabamians,” argues Dillman, “because our legislative process permits trumping 9-5 working voices with well-funded special interest groups.”
Dillman is the creator of Let Bama Vote, a group dedicated to convincing legislators to propose a constitutional amendment establishing a system whereby citizens can initiate ballot measures or refer acts of the legislature to a public vote. Their website is LetBamaVote.org.
Citizens in 26 states and thousands of cities have a greater voice than Alabamians because our legislative process permits trumping 9-5 working voices with well-funded special interest groups. As a result, many citizens have apathetically surrendered their civic duty asking “Why vote, does it matter?”
It does matter. Moreover, that solution is rests with our legislature. The ability to create a “citizen friendly” state along with the “business friendly” state touted by Speaker Mike Hubbard is solely theirs. Their unwillingness to provide citizens a vote on Initiative and Referendum (I&R), the capability for citizens to be more involved in state government, is self-preservation.
Of the 45 states whose legislatures hold sessions in 2010, 27 of them have adjourned for the year, and 5 more will wrap up before the end of the month. Of the more than 80 bills dealing with the initiative and referendum process in various states, 51 of them would have reduced citizens’ initiative rights. Thanks to the work of activists in our coalitions, only 3 bills reducing citizen’s rights have passed and become law.
Alabama and Mississippi are among 11 states getting a grade of “F” on the first annual report card by the Citizens in Charge Foundation, a Virginia-based group that supports voters’ ability to change the law through statewide ballot initiatives and referendums. Out of a possible 11 points, for example, Alabama got only one on the grounds that some cities allow residents the right to local “initiative and referendum.”
An alcohol measure on Tuesday’s municipal election ballot will keep the status quo if approved by voters. It will not expand Sunday sales or allow beer or wine to be sold by convenience or grocery stores on Sunday. The proposed change in the alcohol law eliminates dual licenses for restaurants which already serve on Sunday.
State Representative Owen Drake of Leeds said today that he will introduce into the Alabama House of Representatives on March 10th a bill to reorganize the Jefferson County Government. The bill creates a separation of executive from legislative powers of the county. It provides for a Chief Executive…to establish agenda initiative and voter referendum provisions;… (READ MORE)
You have no statewide Initiative & Referendum rights.
Poll:
See the results of a poll on support for statewide initiative & referendum here.
Grade: F
Click here to view Alabama’s individual report in Of the People, By the People, For the People: A 2010 Report Card on Statewide Voter Initiative Rights.
The movement for direct democracy was not successful in Alabama
during the Populist/Progressive era. The only victory recorded by Equity, a
publication of the initiative and referendum movement, was a state law
giving voters the right of referendum on ordinances in major
municipalities, which was invoked by petition of 1,000 voters. It wasn’t
until the late 1990s that a state elected official advocated the adoption
of the initiative process in the state. When Fob James was elected
Article XVIII
Section 284. Manner of proposing amendments; submission of
amendments to electors; election on amendments; proclamation of result
of election; basis of representation in legislature not to be changed by
amendment.
Amendments may be proposed to this Constitution by the legislature in
the manner following: The proposed amendments shall be read in the
house in which they originate on three several days, and, if upon the third
reading three-fifths of all the members elected to that house shall vote in
There is currently no statewide initiative or referendum in Alabama. Join Citizens in Charge Foundation and volunteer to help organize your state.
State Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-51st, announced last week in a press release that he will file a bill prior to the 2009 legislative session that will provide for a recall process to remove elected officials at the state and county levels.
Under current Alabama law, only municipal officials are subject to recall.
“Accountability by elected officials to the taxpayers is the key to good government,” Treadaway said.
Gloucester County petitioners on the hook for $80,000 worth of fines took their civic battle to Richmond this week and scored key victories in the House of Delegates.
They also picked up the support of what could become a key ally, the American Civil Liberties Union.
State Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-51st, announced last week in a press release that he will file a bill prior to the 2009 legislative session that will provide for a recall process to remove elected officials at the state and county levels.
Under current Alabama law, only municipal officials are subject to recall.
“Accountability by elected officials to the taxpayers is the key to good government,” Treadaway said.
Regarding the editorial “To do (or not to do)” (The News, Oct. 27): The history of our Legislature makes it obvious that even if there were no squabble over rules in the Senate, much of the to-do list of needed legislation falls into the never-do category. A majority of legislators and their special-interest bosses prefer the status quo.