AL YMCA Youth in Government

To the delegates of the First Year chamber:

- I am excited to see bill 16 pass. It’s good to know that your chamber is progressing smoothly, and we look forward to a productive weekend from you.

To the delegates of the House:

- I am not pleased to see the lack of progress in the House today. Especially concerning the bills placed on the special order list. I urge you to be more open to progressive solutions to our problems.

To the delegates of the Senate:

- I’m happy with the Senate’s progress, especially your passage of the “Eat Green” bill. Congratulations to Chief of Staff, Georgia Cassady. Keep up the good work!

I’m glad to see that a wide range of people have been participating as I visit chambers. Continue to invest your time, and you will get much out of this weekend.

Best Bills for the 61st Annual YMCA Youth Legislature

The best bills are chosen by an independent panel of judges based on originality, feasibility and evidence of research.

• Senate Bill 17: Zero Tolerance for DUI Offenders by Julia Maloney, Anniston. Places the legal alcohol limit when operating a motor vehicle for any DUI offender convicted in the past five years at 0.02% blood alcohol content level.
• House Bill 27:  Teacher Accountability Act by Sarah Strickland, Enterprise. All public schools must disclose absences for each student’s teachers on the student’s report card so parents/guardians can evaluate the student’s performance as it correlates to a teacher’s attendance.
• First Year Bill 02: Recycling Reward Act by Wilson Haliford and Taylor Rowell, Montgomery (Trinity). Provides for recycling bins for recycable waste at public schools and extra funding for those schools that recycle at least 30 percent (in pounds) of waste produced at the school.

Bills Signed Into Law by Gov. Roscoe Anderson

The following bills were approved by the 61th Annual YMCA Youth Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Roscoe Anderson. An * indicates a bill that was part of the governor’s special legislative package:

• SB 3*: Military Grace Period by Justine Early, Montgomery (Carver). Returning deployed military personnel with expired driver’s licenses or vehicle license plates will have a 30 day grace period to register their vehicle or renew their driver’s license.
• SB 6: Alabama High School Graduation Exam by Katherine Cardona, Enterprise. Public schools in Alabama will accept passing scores from high school exit exams in other states as long as the exams meet the 4 AAC 06.77 regulation.
• SB 20: Alabama State Lottery for Education Amendment by Evan Broder, Montgomery (Montgomery Academy). Creates a statewide lottery to raise funds for education.
• SB 22: An Act to Assemble a Constitutional Convention by Sam Hobbs, Montgomery (Montgomery Academy). Establishes a constitutional convention to rewrite Alabama’s constitution. Sets Nov. 4, 2010 election for Alabama voters to ratify the revised constitution.
• HB 9: Anti-Racism and Prejudice Act by Payton Haisten and Scott Ferguson, Prattville. No public funds to be used to provide information about or advance any race, religion or social or economic group.
• HB 11*: Automobile Tag Renewal Act by Ruquayah Yazeed and Maryam Yazeed, Montgomery (Carver). Drivers unable to show proof of insurance when renewing their vehicle license (car tag) will not be able to renew their vehicle license.
• HB 23: Sales Tax on Internet Purchases by Kendall Watson, Montgomery (St. James). Requires businesses operating in Alabama to collect and remit 4 percent state sales tax on all purchases made over the Internet.
• HB 27:  (See Best Bills)
• FY 2*: (See Best Bills)
• FY 7: A bill to make abortions under the age of 18 years old illegal by Lisa Marie Morgan, Meredith Lamberth, Montgomery (Trinity). Makes it illegal for a girl under the age of 18 to have an abortion even with parental consent.
• FY 12: License Verification Act by Anna Webb and Whitney Lott, Montgomery (Trinity). Establishments holding licenses to sell alcoholic beverages shall be required to scan, with an acceptable ID Verification Scanner, the driver’s license or other accepted form of identification of any customer before selling alcoholic beverages to the customer. Sets fines for minors using fake IDs.
• FY 18: Home School Students to Have Right to Participate in Public School Activities by Aaron Cecil, Huntsville. Permits home school students to participate in public school extracurricular activities.
• FY 21: Charitable Organizations Transparency Bill by Paige Sormrude, Enterprise. All charitable organizations registered as a 501-C3 tax exempt organization are to submit an annual itemized income and expense statement to the Alabama Secretary of State.
• FY 35: Outdoor Education to be Offered in Public Schools by David Kinstley, Birmingham (Oak Mountain). Mandates an elective offering of outdoor education courses in grades 9 -12 that teaches survival skills, wildlife management and earth economics.
• FY 36: Fences Around Swimming Pools by Kevin Norris and Cameron Powell, Montgomery (Catholic). Every swimming pool is required to have at a 5-foot fence completely enclosing it.

SENATE

Senate Debate Quickly Gets Serious

By NICOLE GEIER, Tomorrow-TODAY Co-Editor

Friday, three bills reminded delegates that the Senate is known for its serious debate. Legal Advisor Daniel Connors of Enterprise, Senate Bill #007, proposed a “Stimulus Bill” stating that Alabama would receive $3 billion from the stimulus package. Delegates were split in deliberation causing a standing vote, but in the end the bill failed. Gregory Williams of Elmore-Stanhope, Senate Bill #011, proposed the idea of  no sales tax on groceries. The bill states that groceries taxes will be reduced over a period of months and finally be removed on January 1, 2010. Delegates passed the bill with the intentions of it helping the people of Alabama. Sen. Xandra Fuller of Huntsville, Senate Bill #004, authored a bill proposing that every school should educate both sides of the Creation/Evolution issue. Some delegates said both sides of story should be told so students can form their own opinion. Other delegates felt that it is not a classroom matter. The Senate defeated the bill.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Representatives Get Back to Basics

By ASHLEY JOHNSON, Tomorrow TODAY Staff Writer

Representatives Austin Haisten, Kyle Zimmerman, and John Stathopolous from the Prattville delegation defended their bill, “Project Lights Out,“ in the House with anticipation for passage. Their bill would shut down all power supplies on the 2^nd and 4^th Tuesday of every month with the exception of hospitals, traffic lights, firehouses, police stations and jails. Several debaters such as Rep. Will Clayton of Birmingham/Oak Mountain were somewhat skeptical about this bill. To clear the air he made an amendment along with the statement, “This bill has good intentions but we need to focus on the basics.”

Even though this amendment changed some minds, it didn’t change the mind of Rep. Joseph Dumas of Birmingham/Minor, who said, “I really still notice some flaws …”

The authors of the bill early in debating stated “we are NOT procrastinators.” This may have been true, but the chamber had a different opinion. At 3:15 p.m. Friday, this bill failed.

First Year Delegate Colette Robicheaux debates.

The First Year chamber was filled with much anticipation and debate on Saturday morning. Especially on First Year Bill # 33 written by Floor Leader Tyler Brady of the Anniston delegation. Her bill, entitled Americans Exposed to Culture Act, stated that children and teen-agers should learn about the culture of their choice for one to two hours a week in a school year. This legislation would be regulated by the Alabama Board of Education.

At first, the bill wasn’t going too well, especially with Delegates Wilson Hallford of Montgomery and Kayleigh Cantrell of Huntsville who took a stand and completely shut down the chamber with their debate. Luckily, Delegate Katherine Kratsch of Huntsville made an amendment that made this cultural learning experience optional. After the amendment was approved, the bill passed.

Each bill was voted either favorable or unfavorable. The committee gave a favorable report to a bill to privatize public schools by Sen. Taylor Ivins of Edgewood and a constitutional amendment to create a state lottery for education in Alabama by Sen. Evan Broder of Montgomery. An $8,500 voucher would be given to each child per family to attend the public school of their choice under Ivins’ bill. Broder’s amendment would allow a state lottery system to be set up to raise money for education.

A bill by Sen. Anethea Tolliver of Birmingham that would drop state sales tax on groceries and medicine was defeated. The author said she proposed the bill because people who don’t have a lot of money are not able to get all of their proteins and when they are sick they cannot get any medicine because it is too expensive. Instead of taxing groceries or medicine, she said the government should raise taxes on alcohol and tobacco products, which would also limit the use of those habit-forming products.