Clarke County Democrat

Amendment 14 would ratify 600-plus previous incorrectly passed laws





There are 14 constitutional amendments on the Nov. 8 General Election ballot.

Alabama’s 1901 constitution is the longest in the nation. It has 892 amendments. If all 14 of those on the ballot pass Nov. 8, there’ll be 906.

The amendments cover a number of issues from expanding the Auburn University Board of Trustees to protecting money for state parks.

Many state and local officials are lobbying hard for the last amendment on the ballot, Number 14. They say it needs to pass or hundreds of local laws affecting all 67 counties could be in jeopardy.

At issue is the manner in which the laws were originally passed by the Alabama Legislature.

Amendment 448 was approved in 1984 that required voters to pass the state budgets before other bills. Voters were tired of legislators passing dozens of bills and waiting until the last minute to pass the budgets, their main purpose for being in session.

Lawmakers used a “budget isolation resolution” for each bill that was voted on before the budgets were passed, which was allowed by Amendment 448.

It became routine to use the budget isolation route and the budgets continued to be the last thing approved at each session.

But a court ruling in December regarding a Jefferson County sales tax law said that law was invalid because the budget isolation resolution was passed without a three-fifths vote as required by Amendment 448. Lawmakers had apparently overlooked that important detail and so the Jefferson County sales law was declared invalid and the legality of a lot of bills passed are in question.

A House of Representatives rule says three-fifths of those voting is OK, not three-fifths of the total house

The Jefferson County law is on appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court.

And so legislators came up with Amendment 14 as a way to cover— and save — the 600 or so laws that have been improperly passed.

See the sample ballot on this page for a synopsis of all of the amendments.

Other amendments on the ballot will be reviewed prior to the Nov. 8 election.



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