A longstanding House tradition made its return on Tuesday as lawmakers brought back the Shroud Award for the “deadest bill” of the session.
The award had been presented for 41 years but has not made an appearance since the start of the pandemic.
The award went to House President Pro Temper Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, for a substitute to House Bill 339.
The bill, which ultimately passed, changes the date of next year’s primary elections due to a conflict with the Easter holiday.
The substitute, however, would have made the change permanent for all elections.
“That substitute would have turned a simple, easy-to-understand, half-page bill into a convoluted two-and-a-half page bill that permanently extended all runoff elections from four to six weeks after the primary, and touched on everything for state primaries to special primaries to Presidential primaries,” said House Clerk John Treadwell, to laughter from the chamber. “The way it was written, we were surprised it didn’t include Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.”
The substitute was unanimously voted down by the body.
Pringle took the award in stride.
“I’m looking at my colleagues, and I see a lot of smiling faces and happy people. And I want you to know how much I appreciate this,” Pringle said. “And I want you to know something because we haven’t done this in a number of years, but I get to pick next year’s winner.”
