A bill to give political leaders control of appointees to the board of the Alabama Department of Archives and History died without a vote on the final day of the legislative session, despite advancing out of conference committee earlier in the day.
Senate Bill 5 by Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, made it through both houses during the session and appeared primed for passage into law until Senate Democrats filibustered last week to prevent the Senate from accepting changes made in the House. The House amended the bill to remove the need for appointees to be confirmed by the Senate.
Facing hours of filibuster, lawmakers moved to non-concur with the bill and create a conference committee to hash out differences between the two chambers.
That conference committee added back the Senate confirmation process before lawmakers gaveled in on Wednesday, and the House approved the changes. But the Senate, facing more filibusters from Democrats, couldn’t get back to the bill before the clock ran out.
Elliott has brought the bill before lawmakers numerous times after expressing outrage at the department for hosting a one-hour program concerning LGBTQ history in the state.
Lawmakers abandoned the bill last year after language was added requiring board members to be removable only “for cause,” which Elliott has vehemently fought against.
This year’s bill nearly passed without such language, giving appointing authorities the ability to remove board members at will.
The bill would have given the governor the authority to appoint eight of the 17 board members with the governor also having a vote, giving the governor control over a majority of votes. The other appointments would be split between the leaders of the House and Senate, both currently politically aligned with the governor.
If the board made a decision the appointing authorities disagreed with, these three lawmakers could effectively wipe the slate clean and add new appointees.
