aubiecat
Well-Known Member
Easy there big fella.
I'm just joking,
So was I.
Easy there big fella.
I'm just joking,
...
I lived in Vermont for a while and I joke that I was considered to be an ultra-conservative when I lived there and when I moved to Alabama I became a bleeding heart liberal. The strange thing about that is my political views haven't changed...
As a lifelong fan of both the Auburn Tigers and the Chicago Cubs, "wait 'till next year" is singularly unsatisfying for me.
Also, there are dumb people in every single state. Only a fool would label a redneck stupid just because they're rednecks. The problem working against Alabama as I see it are the dumb people that get noticed are terribly rough and *some* of the people who are looked at as not supposed to be dumb (even tho I think that's the biggest misnomer of all of them) would give your average rock a run for their money... Alvin Holmes is a prime example related to our current topic. The man's resume looks impressive on paper but hearing the man talk makes me wish I was talking to 6 year old. They're about even honestly.Tell that to NASA... or maybe the pioneering cardiologists and oncologists at UAB...
Hi Alabama friends. Just a word of solidarity for you. A couple of months ago, I was visiting our state legislature in Springfield and was astounded by the lack of seriousness and the buffoonery of individual legislators. I've done a lot of advocacy work in DC and was always pleased to say that the members of Congress and their staffs were serious and thoughtful (even those I disagreed with). Not true at the state level. The chair of a committee we were trying to visit with went around the room and kissed every woman in our group. Yikes.
For the record, Alabama isn't the only state with ridiculous alcohol laws... check this link and read them all.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alcohol_laws_of_the_United_States_by_state
I'm sure doesn't have everything, but you can see that practically every state has something stupid... 3.2% beer laws, strange hours for sales, Massachusetts not recognizing out of valid state ID as sufficient proof of age (??!! that may be #1 for stupidity), etc.
Got this email from Senator Holtzclaw today, I'm sure some of you did as well;
All thank you for your emails concerning the Homebrew Legislation. As you know by now, the bill died the final day of the session. Ill attempt to relate to you what occurred, or at least what I think occurred.
As I indicated in my previous email, I had worked the Senate throughout the final days of the session and discovered no known opposition. I was confident that I would be successful in using a final silver bullet to get this bill placed on the Special Order Calendar last Wednesday, on the final day for passage. That didnt happen.
Attached is a screen-shot from the legislative system for the history of HB354 as it left the House. In short:
4/26/12 passed the House in a 44 33 vote
4/26/12 received its first reading and assigned to the Committee on Small Business
5/02/12 was re-referred to the Committee on Job Creation/Econ Development
5/08/12 was signed out of committee in a 3 1 vote and received its second reading
I requested that it be placed on the Special Order Calendar on the 10th of May but was unable to get it in place as the Democrats continued to slow roll the process. My final day was the last day of the 2012 session, 16 May not the best position to be in.
Remember I said early on that I know of no opposition the first clue of opposition that apparently didnt come out of the shadows was the bill being re-referred to another committee. We lost a week in that action (April 26th to May 2nd). Apparently the committee chair didnt want to handle a beer bill.
We cleared that hurdle by getting the bill reassigned to a committee with a chairman who is beer bill friendly. The only other opposition that could have existed was in the Rules Committee. It appears this is where our opposition chose to lay in the shadows. I know the problem was with the bill and not with Rep McCutcheon as he had several bills selected from the regular calendar to be placed on the Special Order Calendar. I also know it had nothing to do with me handling the bill for him (you never know ) as I handled a couple of bills for Mac on the final night as well. That leaves us only one form of opposition someone on the rules committee who was able to remain anonymous opposed selection of this bill from being on the Special Order Calendar. It may have been a Democrat or a Republican as several Special Order Calendars were produced in the final hours but even after repeated request to have HB354 on the calendar throughout the evening we came up empty to the final hour.
What can we do different? First, get the bill into position earlier in the session. Working a bill while the clock is running out is not a good thing. Second, we need to get the budgets passed earlier in the session passing a budget in the final hour of the final day is not good management either we passed the General Fund Budget at 15 minutes before midnight on the final night of the session; that and the immigration bill consumed a lot of time on the final day. Lastly, attempt to determine who on rules is opposing the bill force them from the shadows and then play nice to uncover their opposition or..if push comes to shove, block a bill they support until ours passes. Im a rookie in the legislature but this is what Ive learned thus far. I can and will play hardball but would rather play nice with others.
Thats about as close as you can get to a play by play. I know this does not help with the disappointment but I hope it helps everyone understand what happened.
Semper Fi
Bill
Bill Holtzclaw
Senator
Alabama 2nd District
www.District2.us
That said, I've lived in Alabama more than anywhere at this point and while Tennessee ran a close second... Any chance of me being a bleeding heart liberal was butchered completely beyond possibility by spending a half a decade stint in California... However, I am not a huge fan of the Republican Perverts who are determined to participate and give me instructions for the privacy of my bedroom... Nor am I fan of the Democrat Thieves who eye my wallet greedily and want to use it to fund lazy people to enslave a generation. Find me a candidate who fits neither of those descriptions and I'll invite them over for a brewday.
The rules committee is composed of senators as well though right? Perhaps people from their districts actively contacting them would help pull the bs out of our cause?
I emailed Tammy Irons (my senator and on the rules committee) to ask if she knew where the problem was;
"I don't know who killed it but I know we all had the ability to request certain bills be put on the calendar for the last day and this was one of the bills I asked for.
The final decision is with the Rules Chair - Sen. Waggoner.
I will continue to support this bill. I have had so many calls in support of it."
I think we need to be after Senator Waggoner to come clean and tell us who it was... or, one could read between the lines of this email and think it might mean it was him... hmmm I don't know
Just a day or two after emailing Senator Orr about getting the bill on the calendar, I got a letter from his office saying, "thanks for contacting me, I look forward to working with the bill's sponsor on a version that provides reasonable and adequate safeguards, etc." Sounded to me like a polite way of saying, "I'm opposed to the bill." That doesn't mean that he worked to keep it off the calendar, but it's a safe bet that he wasn't working to get it on.
Most of the people that vote against alcohol bills do it over money or their principles. Our bill took out the ABC and the distributors so there was nothing left but the legislators to vote on principle alone.
Most of the ones opposed to alcohol will not listen to their constituents no matter what.
I hope Holtzclaw is able to out who ever the "silent opposition" was in the senate rules committee.
I am seriously wondering about Senator Waggoner. Senator Irons told me, "I don't know who killed it but I know we all had the ability to request certain bills be put on the calendar for the last day and this was one of the bills I asked for.
The final decision is with the Rules Chair - Sen. Waggoner. "
Maybe I am reading between the lines, but that sounds like a dig in his direction.
Further, I have emailed him MULTIPLE times asking both for help and, ultimately, for an explanation. I have received a grand total of ZERO replies from him. Has ANYONE had correspondence with the man?
Thoughts?
I am seriously wondering about Senator Waggoner. Senator Irons told me, "I don't know who killed it but I know we all had the ability to request certain bills be put on the calendar for the last day and this was one of the bills I asked for.
The final decision is with the Rules Chair - Sen. Waggoner. "
Maybe I am reading between the lines, but that sounds like a dig in his direction.
Further, I have emailed him MULTIPLE times asking both for help and, ultimately, for an explanation. I have received a grand total of ZERO replies from him. Has ANYONE had correspondence with the man?
Thoughts?
Considering the rancor in the senate that day it just wasn't a good day for a homebrew bill. The senate minority already had their panties in a wad over the immigration bill. Reminded me of a bunch kindergarteners who didn't get their morning snack.
Over all the senate didn't do a good job of taking care of business this session.
I was really disappointed because I expected a more refined, mature group of people in the senate but they are just as bad as the house but on a smaller scale.
The minority ought to be ashamed of themselves, period. I am still very riled about the initial no vote on the bottle bill because the majority party got a bigger donation than they did. To me, that is neglecting your sworn duty.
Considering the rancor in the senate that day it just wasn't a good day for a homebrew bill. The senate minority already had their panties in a wad over the immigration bill. Reminded me of a bunch kindergarteners who didn't get their morning snack.
Over all the senate didn't do a good job of taking care of business this session.
I was really disappointed because I expected a more refined, mature group of people in the senate but they are just as bad as the house but on a smaller scale.
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