The Alabama Senate Education Policy Committee passed Senate Bill 5 Wednesday, legislation that would require Alabama public schools to broadcast the national anthem at least once a week during school hours.
The bill—brought before the legislature once again by State Senator Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, after last year’s version failed to pass into law—would propose a constitutional amendment mandating public schools broadcast or perform the first stanza of “The Star-Spangled Banner” on a weekly basis.
If passed into law this session, the proposed amendment would be added to a statewide election ballot for the public to vote on during a special election or the next general election. If a simple majority of voters approve the amendment, it would then be added to the state constitution and go into effect.
At Wednesday’s committee hearing, multiple lawmakers expressed concerns about the bill’s provisions being added to the Alabama State Constitution instead of merely going into effect as traditional statute.
“I’m concerned we’re making it a constitutional amendment and not a statute,” said Senator Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham.
Smitherman’s concerns were echoed by Senator Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, who asked if Allen would be open to amending the bill to remove the constitutional amendment component. Allen declined to agree to such an amendment.
SB5 went on to pass the committee by a vote of 6-3, and will now head to the Senate floor for further consideration.
