General Information

TERMS OF OFFICE: Alabama’s 105 State Representatives and 35 Senators serve for four years – a quadrennium. 2006 is an election year, and 2010 will be the next. Elected at the same time are the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state auditor, treasurer, secretary of state and the commissioner of agriculture. They are also elected to a four year term of office.

Each Representative represents approximately 43,000 citizens, and a senator represents three times that number.

Mayors and city/town councils are elected during the presidential election year. That election is midway between, the last in 2004, the next in 2008. They also are elected to a four year term.

Judges are elected for a six year term, some during the presidential election year, and some two years later.

LEGISLATING: A Regular session lasts for 15 weeks, beginning in January, February, or March. The most common weekly schedule is legislative session days on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and committee meetings on Wednesdays. The sessions are very intense, with a lot of activity going on simultaneously. It is a several steps busier than a three ring circus. During a session is when I am more likely to get behind responding to letters, while phone calls and emails can be dealt with more expeditiously.

The legislative process is a Type A personality’s dream come true. Things are happening in an unrelenting rapid fire sequence. From the galley, activity on the House floor appears to be a disorganized gathering of ne’er do wells with no interest in what the person at the mike has to say. Small groups have their heads together as if swapping fishing stories. Actually, business is being done. Politics is the art of compromise, and comprise greases the wheels of progress on the house floor. If you snooze, you lose.

Who is In Charge, Anyhow?

What a good question, and the fact is most folks don’t know.

The answer is simple: for 136 years the democrats have been in the majority in both the Alabama House and the Alabama Senate.

When folks ask me what is wrong with the Alabama House of Representatives, I suggest they look at the leadership. The Speaker of the House is a Democrat, and he is the top dog in the House. EVERY committee chairman is a Democrat. Every committee is dominated by Democrats, and the debate on the house floor is dominated by Democrats. Does that answer your question? The problem is the leadership.

This is a misrepresentation of our citizens. Through redistricting and gerrymandering, the Democratic control has been fostered. Our state is split equally between parties, with arguably a nod to the republicans if you look at statewide and national races. Maybe the 2010 elections will produce a more reflective picture of our citizens. I sure hope so.