ALABAMA'S LEGISLATIVE PROCESS

by
McDowell Lee, Secretary of the Senate

Senate Document No. 3,Revised 2003

In order to understand the legislative process, it is necessary first of all to know something about the nature of the lawmaking body itself. There are 140 members of the Legislature: 105 members of the House of Representatives and 35 Senators whose districts are based on population. The current districts were realigned based on the 2000 census.

The salary of legislators is fixed by the Constitution at $10.00 per day, plus expenses in an amount fixed by the Legislature. A travel allowance of $.10 per mile from the member's home to the Capitol and return is paid once for each legislative session. The current allowance for expenses is $50.00 per diem for three days during each week that the Legislature actually meets during any regular session, special session or organizational session, and $2,280.00 per month expenses year round. Each member is also paid $50.00 per diem for the performance of his or her duties as a member of any duly authorized interim legislative committee or subcommittee thereof, conditional upon actual attendance. Standing Committees may meet between legislative sessions and are paid for these meetings in the same manner as state employees are reimbursed for travel. Legislators are not paid a salary year round, contrary to what many people think; they are paid a salary only during a legislative session.

To be eligible for the office of state Senator, a person must be at least 25 years of age; for the office of Representative, at least 21 years of age. Both Senators and Representatives must be qualified voters and must have been resident citizens of Alabama for three years. They must have lived in their respective counties or districts at least one year immediately preceding their election. They must continue to reside in their respective counties or districts during their terms of office. No person convicted of embezzlement of public money, bribery, perjury, or other infamous crimes is eligible for membership in the Legislature. Each house has the power to punish its members, and with the concurrence of two-thirds of the Chambers, a member may be expelled. A member who is expelled for corruption is not thereafter eligible for membership in the legislature.Members of the Legislature are privileged from arrest and service of civil process while attending or going to or from a legislative session, except in cases of treason, felony, violation of their oath of office, or breach of peace. Any remarks made in a speech or debate on the floor of either house by a member cannot be questioned in any other place.

Members of the Legislature serve for terms of four years. They are elected on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in the years 2002, 2006, 2010, and so on. The office of legislator is unique in that the term begins on the day after the election and expires on the day after the election four years later. The terms of Constitutional Officers such as Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, etc. begin and end in the month of January.

Because the terms of all members of the Legislature begin and end at the same time, the newly elected and reelected members must reorganize the Legislature every four years soon after their election. This is done in what is known as "organizational" sessions. These sessions begin on the second Tuesday in January following the election of members of the Legislature, and are limited to ten consecutive calendar days. No business can be transacted at this session except the organization of the Legislature, the election of officers, the appointment of standing and interim committees, the determination of contested elections, and the canvassing of election returns.

At these organizational sessions, each house of the Legislature chooses its officers and adopts its rules of procedure; appoints the members of the various "standing" committees, or committees of the Legislature established to perform certain duties for the entire four-year term of the Legislature. The Lieutenant Governor is the President and Presiding Officer of the Senate. The Senate selects one of its members to preside in the event the Lieutenant Governor is absent at any time. This member is called the "President Pro Tempore", or temporary president. Other officers and employees are elected and appointed for each house; in the Senate, they are Secretary of the Senate, Assistant Secretary of the Senate, and other personnel as deemed necessary.

The Legislature convenes in regular annual sessions on the first Tuesday in February, except (1) in the first year of the four-year term, when the session will begin on the first Tuesday in March, and (2) in the last year of a four-year term, when the session will begin on the second Tuesday in January. The length of the regular session is limited to 30 meeting days within a period of 105 calendar days. There are usually two meeting or "legislative" days per week, with other days devoted to committee meetings. Special sessions of the Legislature may be called by the Governor, with the Proclamation listing the subjects which the Governor wishes considered. These sessions are limited to 12 legislative days within a 30 calendar day . In a regular session, bills may be enacted on any subject. In a special session, legislation must be enacted only on those subjects which the Governor announces in his proclamation or "call." Anything not in the "call" requires a two-thirds vote of each house to be enacted.

The Constitution provides that no law shall be passed except by a bill, which is a proposed law written out in the proper form. When approved by the legislative body and the Governor, the bill becomes an act. The lawmaking process begins with the introduction of the bill in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. Bills may be introduced in either house, with one limitation---bills which increase or decrease revenue must originate in the House of Representatives.

The order of business in each house provides a time for the introduction of bills. In order to give the people of a particular locality advance notice of the intent to introduce a bill affecting that locality, the Constitution provides that local and special bills (that is, those bills which apply to a particular named locality) must be advertised in a newspaper published in the county affected (or posted if there is no newspaper) for four consecutive weeks before introduction. Documentary proof that this notice has been provided is required before a local or special bill may be introduced. This process is known as Notice and Proof.

Bills are assigned consecutive numbers, as introduced, to facilitate identification. No bill can become an act until it has been read on three separate days in each house. Upon introduction, a bill is usually read by title only, constituting the first reading of the bill. Because a bill is usually read by title only, it is important that the title give the members notice of the subject matter contained in the bill.

All legislative bodies operate mainly through committees in doing their work of considering bills. Committee action is probably the most important phase of the legislative process. The framers of the present Constitution of Alabama were conscious of the importance of the committee system, and inserted a provision in the Constitution stipulating that no bill may be enacted into law until it has been referred to, acted upon by, and returned from, a standing committee in each house. Reference to committee immediately follows the first reading of the bill. Bills are referred to committees by the Lieutenant Governor and the President Pro Tempore in the Senate, and by the Speaker in the House of Representatives.