This Information Pertains To The 2024 Alabama Legislative Session
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WEEK 8 (April 9-11)
Captions: Top pic-EF members and friends celebrate with Rep. Debbie Wood (center) after the passage of her election audit bill. Bottom left pic: On Thursday in room 807, EF Executive Director Becky Gerritson taught “Legislature 101” to homeschoolers. They had a great time roll-playing how a bill becomes a law in Alabama. Bottom right pic: Greg Davis (ALCAP) and Becky Gerritson congratulate Rep. DuBose on the passage of HB111 which defines male and female in law using biological definitions.
BILLS THAT MOVED THIS WEEK: Defining "Male"/"Female" in Law
HB111 (Rep. DuBose) Alabama law does not define the words, “male”, “female”, “man”, “woman”, “boy”, “girl”, “mother”, “father”. For purposes of state law, HB11 clearly defines these sex-based words based on biology.
BILL STATUS: We support HB111. It passed the House and is headed to the Senate.
Post Election Audit
HB259 (Rep. Wood) to require the judge of probate of each county to conduct a post-election audit after every county and statewide general election to determine the accuracy of the originally reported results of the election.
BILL STATUS: We support this bill. It passed the House and is headed to the Senate.
No AI Generated Child Porn
HB168 (Rep. Woods) We support this bill. It passed the Senate this week and is headed to the governor for her signature! See 1 pager here.
Climate Change Bill
WHY WE DON’T LIKE THE BILL: We love fossil fuels, but don’t like this bill. The Biden administration is promoting the climate change agenda which promotes electric vehicles and demands Americans reduce their carbon emissions and reliance on fossil fuels. (Read EF’s article, “You Can’t Drive the Car”, Mar. 21, 2024) Biden’s actions have certainly hurt the oil and gas industry. HB327 submits to the Biden administration’s climate change agenda by proposing to take carbon dioxide from the air and store it in the ground to reduce carbon emissions. Carbon dioxide storage is not a viable option for cutting greenhouse emissions as more emissions are released than removed. And the carbon “storage” methods are unproven and unpredictable. Billions of taxpayer funds are being used to promote Biden’s agenda. Promoting the climate change agenda is not the best way to boost the oil and gas industry.
BILL STATUS: It passed the full house 98-2 and is headed to the Senate.
Marijuana
HB390 (Rep. Crawford) In a nutshell, this bill removes the Department of Agriculture from the licensure and regulation of medical cannabis. Those decisions will be made by the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission. However, the commission can seek advice or cooperation from the Dept. of Agriculture when needed.
BILL STATUS: We support this bill. It passed out of committee and is headed to the House floor.
Higher Ed Required To Disclose Foreign Donations
HB330 (Rep. Woods) This bill would require the governing body of each public institution of higher education to provide annual reports to the Governor and certain legislators regarding funding received from foreign countries of concern and certain entities and individuals associated with those countries. This bill would also define foreign countries of concern to mean the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Cuba, the Venezuelan regime of Nicolás Maduro, and the Syrian Arab Republic.
BILL STATUS: We support this bill. It passed out of the House (101-0) and is headed to the Senate.
Limiting The Jurisdiction Of The WHO
SB303 (Sen. Carnley) HB424 (Rep. Mooney) This bill would provide that the World Health Organization and the World Economic Forum shall have no jurisdiction or power within the State of Alabama. This bill would further provide that no rules, regulations, fees, taxes, policies, or mandates of any kind, which are passed by any of the aforementioned entities, shall be enforced or implemented by the State of Alabama or any political subdivision thereof.
BILL STATUS: We support these companion bills. These bills passed out of their respective committees and are headed to the House and Senate floors.
Resolution To Defund The WHO
HJR113 (Rep. Butler) (WHO Resolution) This resolution supports defunding the World Health Organization and rejects any international health regulations regarding pandemic preparedness. BILL STATUS: We support this resolution. HJR113 was debated with much controversy on the House floor and carried over but later in the day it was brought back up and ultimately passed. See 1819 News coverage. Watch here from 19:40-1:20:28.
Gambling
BILL STATUS: We are still awaiting the Senate’s announcement of their 3 conferees that will be appointed to the Conference Committee to work out details between the House and Senate versions of the gambling bills. Read our open letter to the Senate here. Use this smartlink to send a message to your Representative and Senator to vote “NO” on all gambling bills.
NEW BILLS ON THE RADAR
No Public Funds Invested In Communist China
SB251 (Sen. Jones) This bill would enforce the prohibition placed on investment activities by certain Presidential Executive Orders addressing an identified national emergency regarding the threat from securities investments that finance Communist Chinese military companies. This bill would prohibit the purchase or sale of any publicly traded securities to or from certain entities affiliated with Communist Chinese military companies or any publicly traded securities that are derivatives of such securities or are designed to provide investment exposure to such securities.
BILL STATUS: We support this bill. It passed the Senate and is headed to the House.
National Anthem In K-12 Public Schools
SB2 (Sen. Allen) This bill is a Constitutional Amendment that would require the broadcasting of the 1st stanza of the National Anthem once a week in K-12 Schools. This is an important act to keep American history alive.
STATUS: SB2 passed out of committee but has not been added to the Senate Special Order Calendar for debate.
Open Comment Period For Changes To Al Public Library System Policy
Please use this smartlink to send a letter to Director Nancy Pack to show your support for Gov. Ivey’s proposed changes to the AL Public Library System policies to help protect children from obscene material. The last day comments can be made is April 29th.
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