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Three Day Week of Legislature Proves to be Busy for SubAla Team

 Last week there were almost 400 bills were introduced, and many veterans of the process believe this was a record number for the first week of any session in the last thirty years. Several bills have surfaced as problematic, and we continued to address those bills this week. The legislature again met for three fast paced days but will resume a two-day week for the upcoming session prior to the March 10th scheduled Spring Break. 

Immigration Bills Emerge and Moving
As reported, both the Senate Republicans and the House Republicans touted immigration reform to bolster the Trump administration’s ambitious agenda as a top priority and several bills on that topic are already in the hopper. David Campbell continues to remain active in re-writes of those bills that could have unintended impact to members. Bills on immigration will include the following topics:
*Concealing and smuggling illegal aliens
*Human trafficking
*An international wire transfer tax of $7.50plus 1.5% of the amount exceeding $500
*Enhanced penalties for felonies committed by illegal aliens
*Fingerprinting and DNA collection of non- citizens in custody
*The identification required to obtain a hunting or fishing license
*Invalidating driver’s licenses issued by other states that do not require proof of citizenship

Just last week three bills advanced in the Senate County and Municipal Government Committee and are now ready for final passage.  Rest assured that your SubAla team will stay on top of the immigration legislation and other labor and construction issues that could affect members. As reported, Speaker of the House Ledbetter, said that he expects at least ten bills on immigration. The Senate said the key ones that will be addressed in the Senate include targeting immigrants who are felons and those lacking permanent legal status from using fraudulent documents to buy firearms.  

Ban the Box Added to SubAla List of Opposed Labor/employment bills
SubAla added the “so called ban the Box” bill that has surfaced in the Alabama legislature as a danger bill for employers. The bill makes it unlawful to inquire from job applicants' information relating to arrests or convictions, and criminal records. Similar or identical bills have surfaced in the past few sessions, but none have gotten traction for passage.  

As previously reported, SubAla also has two bills on the House side that are in the area of employment law. The bill that requires a business to provide a room and reasonable breaks for breast feeding and the bill that employers cannot evaluate weight, hair color and other subjective features when considering and evaluating job applicants are also dangerous precedent setting bills.   

Additional Requirements to Obtain Unemployment Compensation Passes House/Heads to the Senate    
This week the Alabama House gave a thumbs up to a bill SubAla supports. Sponsored by Rep. Oliver of Dadeville, the bill tightens the requirements for those who seek unemployment compensation. After a rigorous debate on the House floor the bill passed on party lines.  

The bill aims at raising the requirement from three to five inquiries from businesses to qualify for unemployment compensation, but an amendment was added prior to passage that leaves the existing number of three contacts per week for those that reside in counties with a population of less than 12,000 people. The bill also recognizes a practice called “ghosting” where a potential applicant fails to respond to a scheduled interview or call back. The bill does address job offers that can be turned down due to lack of skill set, distance of job and less money than the previous employment.   

The proponent of the bill cited statistics that there are around an estimated 127,000 available jobs but the state spends 1.5 million dollars on unemployment compensation this year.  

The bill now goes to the Senate and will need a favorable committee vote and a favorable floor vote before becoming law. As noted, a similar bill addressing the number of visits of five was rejected in the Senate in prior sessions and landed on the current amount of three visits per week. 

Bills by Elliott Could Benefit SubAla Members
SubAla supports two bills filed by Senator Chris Elliott that were discussed in public hearings this week in the Senate. The bill sponsor said the reason for the bill is the inaction by governmental entities in issuing permits and licenses. The first bill is SB 12, and if passed it states that state or local agencies cannot condition the issuance of a permit to operate businesses on having been granted a different permit or license from another agency. Elliott also filed a bill that requires a governmental agency to issue a license within 45 days or the license is deemed approved.  

Many SubAla members have justifiably complained of the length of time it has taken to receive a license or permit for no valid reason. Elliott believes government should be in the business of helping businesses not slowing down their efforts to operate due to unnecessary delays by governmental entities. He cited several examples in the Birmingham area from a book entitled “Barriers to Business.” Elliott gave an example of getting a license to operate a restaurant in Birmingham required 16 fees, 9 different agencies, 5 in person visits, 15 forms and 48 other steps.  

An amendment was added to both bills that provided for an exception if there were other state or federal laws that require a permit or license prior to obtaining approval from another licensing entity.  

The primary opponent of the bills was the Alabama League of Municipalities. The other two entities testifying against the proposals were the Alabama Beverage Control Board and the Alabama Board of Pharmacy. Elliott believes the amendments should satisfy their concerns although some committee members seemed to continue to have doubts about the bills.

The National Federation of Independent Businesses and the AGC also support the legislation just as SubAla supports cutting the time to get approval for no apparent reason and some streamlining of the process in order to begin a job. The bills are now eligible for consideration on the Senate floor. 

Other SubAla Issues Addressed in Committees This week
Competitive bid issues also topped the agenda in the Senate on Tuesday. SB36 by Senator Kitchens revises the timelines and procedures when bidding on projects. The bill limits the time to file an intent to protest a bid to 5 calendar days. The bill provides for 14 days to actual file the protest. While the bill was given a favorable report, a committee member questioned the 5 calendar days in the bill instead of 5 business days. The thought was a bid might be opened on a Friday and the time to file the intent to protest included weekends and a holiday. l 

Public contracts advertising procedures will also be revised if SB121 by Elliott is approved. Current law requires sealed competitive bids for all public works contracts over $100,000 with certain exceptions. The advertising for an invitation to bid is expanded in this bill to include the current method of advertising in the newspaper of general circulation in the city or county where the work will occur for three consecutive weeks but adds the option of advertising a minimum of three weeks on an internet website or digital platform maintained by the Department of Finance. 

Elliott said that the paper method has proven to be flawed in the past and that most contractors track an invitation to bid on a website or digital platform. He said the current method has required a rebid of the work after the bid opening resulting in higher costs for the projects since parties would then have an understanding of the bid of a competitor. He referenced bids by the Department of Transportation.  
There is another Senate bill by Albritton that also addresses advertising that was debated in committee on Wednesday and both of the versions were given a favorable report.  

In addition, the bill outlined in the SubAla Legislative Update last week was on the committee agenda. The bill seeks to standardize non-residential building codes and expanded the role of an architect. Campbell outlined some language that needed to be amended in the version introduced. SubAla is working with AGC and other interested parties and the bill sponsor to address the issues.  

The bills are sponsored by Representative Lipscomb of Gadsden and Senator Livingston of Scottsboro. SubAla was on hand when the Livingston version was slated for consideration in the Senate County and Municipal Government committee, but it was Carried over at the request of the bill sponsor. When a bill is Carried Over it is not voted on in the committee.  

Electrical Contractor Board Continuation Bill Passes House
The House Boards and Commissions met on Wednesday and voted to continue the Board of Electrical Contractors for two years, which was then passed by the House. The bill now goes to the Senate. If the bill passes, the Board would be reviewed in two years instead of the usual four years. The committee applauded the addition of board members and other changes made by them after some rough patches in the past.  Many boards have been under scrutiny due to poor audits from the Examiner of Public Accounts and only allowed to continue for one or two years without additional review, so it appears that the Electrical Board has avoided that problem.  

In addition, a bill by Senator Kelly has already passed the Senate that will require all board members of Boards that come before the Sunset committee to receive particular training. Kelly serves as a member of the Legislative sunset committee that evaluates boards and commissions and many board members that come before the committee seemed to be unaware and uninvolved and abdicate all responsibility to staff. If this bill becomes law board member training by the State Examiners of Public Accounts should curb that problem and ensure that board members have the knowledge and expertise to shepherd the board that they are appointed to oversee.  

Competitive Bid for Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squads Passes the Senate
A bill that failed to pass last year is on the fast track as this session is just in its second week. Sponsored by Senator Kitchens, the legislation makes volunteer fire and rescue squads under local competitive bid laws. It passed the Senate this week and now heads to the House for consideration.