Skip to content

Rodger Smitherman

News / Legislature / State

State leaders unveil a major mental health legislative initiative

Wednesday, House Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter, R – Rainsville, Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth (R), Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon, R – Monrovia, Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R – Anniston, Alabama Department of Mental Health Commissioner Lynn Beshear, State Education Superintendent Eric Mackey, House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, as well as the … Continued
February 27, 2020

Committee considers bill requiring local school funding follow children to public charter schools

The Alabama Senate Education Policy Committee held a public hearing Wednesday on a bill that would require that more local public school funding follow children whose parents choose instead to enroll them in public charter schools instead of the local public school where the state has assigned them. Senate Bill 311 is sponsored by Senate … Continued
April 25, 2019

McClendon to introduce lottery legislation

State Sen. Jim McClendon, R-Springville, has announced that he will release the details of his lottery bill at a press conference today. The 2019 Alabama regular legislative session resumes today after it was interrupted by Gov. Kay Ivey’s call of a special session to pass her gas tax increase to pay for infrastructure. That passed … Continued
March 19, 2019

Sponsor says better House leadership could have saved racial profiling bill

A piece of legislation that would have implemented a method to track racial profiling data in police stops didn’t make it out of this year’s legislative session after House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, pronounced the bill dead on a radio show Thursday morning. Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, who sponsored the legislation, said better leadership in … Continued
March 30, 2018

McCutcheon blames failure of racial profiling bill on Senate

On Thursday Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon blamed the Senate for the failure of a controversial piece of legislation that would have forced law enforcement officers to record the race and age of everyone they interact with while on the job. Senate Bill 84 would have collected data on every traffic stop and police … Continued
March 30, 2018

Senate delays vote on economic developer bill after negotiations

A controversial bill that would exempt a class of “economic development professionals” from having to register with the state as lobbyists appears to have made it through a round of intense negotiations and sits in a position to pass. Those negotiations, which took the better part of the weekend and most of Tuesday, produced a … Continued
March 28, 2018

House may reconsider racial profiling bill

Senate Bill 84, dealing with racial profiling, is on the proposed special order calendar for Tuesday. If SB84 comes to the floor, this will be the second day in a row that the leadership has brought the highly controversial bill to the floor. Thursday, the Alabama House of Representatives rejected a bill that would require … Continued
March 26, 2018

Senate committee gives favorable report to economic developer bill HB317

The Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee gave a favorable report to a much-amended version of House Bill 317 after a lengthy discussion. House Bill 317 is sponsored by state Rep. Ken Johnson, R-Moulton, and is being carried by Senate Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston, in the Senate. The Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development … Continued
March 22, 2018

Senate vote on daycare bill postponed — again

By Chip Brownlee Alabama Political Reporter The Alabama Senate has again delayed a long-awaited vote on a bill to regulate church-affiliated daycares after some members of the caucus, concerned that the bill would intrude on faith-based daycares, appeared ready to fight the bill. The bill was up for a vote in the Senate on Thursday, … Continued
March 9, 2018

Bill to license some day cares passes Senate committee unanimously, goes to floor

By Samuel Mattison Alabama Political Reporter The day care bill, which would license certain day cares in the state, gained a favorable report Wednesday from the Senate Judiciary Committee after overwhelming approval on the House floor a couple weeks ago. In a release after its approval, the bill’s sponsor state Rep. Pebblin Warren, D-Tuskegee, said … Continued
February 22, 2018