By Jim Bennett
Alabama Secretary of State
Opinion
November 11, 2001
Not too many years ago, when the people of Mobile
County wanted to spray for mosquitoes and declare war on the rat population,
they had to ask the Legislature to pass a constitutional amendment
and the whole state had to vote on it. Normally when bugs and rodents
get out of hand, some civil servant goes out and buys some insecticide
or rat traps. But not in Alabama.
The framers of the 1901 Constitution didn't want county
officials to have that much authority, maybe because some of the folks
in the courthouse had been carpetbaggers. The solution was to require
them to go to Montgomery to get the most mundane of things approved,
like burying dead animals in Limestone County or allowing Jefferson
County to prohibit the overgrowth of weeds or the accumulation of
junk cars.
The carpetbaggers have all gone, but the same severe
restrictions placed on them remain in place in our county courthouses.
Alabama has so little home rule, the amending process goes on and
on.
Our constitution has been changed 706 times by amendments,
many of them concerning to the needs of just a single county. Next
year, the people will vote on at least 16 additional amendments just
to get around all the restrictions. Most states are agreeable with
local officials deciding local issues. Isn't this what Thomas Jefferson
meant when he said "that government closest to the people serves
the people best?"
Driving movement
The argument for home rule is what is helping drive the
constitutional reform movement in Alabama, which is picking up speed.
Even Gov. Siegelman, who had first thought the movement behind a new
constitution equated to tilting at windmills, now says it will be
a front-burner issue. Other gubernatorial
hopefuls, including U.S. Rep. Bob Riley and Lt. Gov. Steve Windom,
are lending their support.
Voters could see a new document as early as 2003,
depending, of course, on whom is elected to the Legislature next year.
But in the meantime, the amendment process continues.
Over the past 10 years, Alabama voters have decided the fate of 243
amendments to the 1901 Constitution. That's an average of 40 each
election. There were 52 last year, 47 in 1998 and 43 in 1996.
At this rate, we will hit 1,000 by 2012.
Two of the 16 proposed new amendments have interesting
twists. The only statewide amendment coming before voters next year
mandates that any overhaul of the constitution be submitted to the
people for ratification. You might assume that would be required anyway,
but not so. The state constitutions of 1819, 1861, 1865 and 1868 were
never ratified by a public vote. The mandate is a good idea.
Home rule powers
A proposed amendment to be voted on this week would
grant limited home rule powers to Shelby County. If passed, the county
would have broad new authority over county services, parks, public
health, road construction, sewers, economic development and public
transportation. The county could not pass property taxes without a
vote of the people, raise commission salaries or approve local gambling.
The Shelby model might set the stage for other home rule
movements statewide. Alabamians will also be asked to vote on a number
of other amendments next year that: levy additional fees on court
cases in Russell and Lamar counties; expand the retirement systems
in Russell, Shelby and Baldwin counties; increase school taxes in
Calhoun County; extending voting hours in Tuscaloosa County; set up
a judicial commission in Tuscaloosa County; and prohibit prostitution
in Mobile County.
Still others would raise property taxes in Montgomery
and Fayette counties for fire protection and emergency services, and
allow the county commissions in Covington and Henry counties to engage
in economic development.
That's just the list approved by the most recent sessions
of the Legislature. A dozen more or so are expected during the next
legislative session beginning in January.
Alabama's antiquated constitution is already the
longest in the entire world at more than 315,000 words. It looks like
it will get even longer before the voters of Alabama get a crack at
addressing the home rule issue and other needed updates at the start
of the next administration.
Jim Bennett is Alabama's Secretary of State.
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