Photo by Leah Ingram Eagle.
From left, Rep. Russell Bedsole, Rep. Corley Ellis, Rep. Kenneth Paschal, Rep. Susan DuBose, Rep. Leigh Hulsey and Sen. Lance Bell took turns answering questions during a moderated session held by the Shelby Chamber on Feb. 22.
Seven of the 11 member delegation were in attendance during the Shelby Chamber luncheon on Feb. 22, while four others (Sen. Dan Roberts, Sen. Jabo Waggoner, Sen. April Weaver and Rep. Jim Carns) were in Montgomery attending general fund budget hearings.
The 11 person Shelby County Legislative Delegation is a mixture of long term and newly elected members. Three of the delegation were recently elected this past November, two were elected in special elections held in 2020 and 2021. And the remaining five have served at least two previous terms. The 2023 regular session will begin on March 7.
Sen. April Weaver, 14th District, shared a previously recorded video in which she spoke about a piece of legislation that is near to her heart. She has prefiled a Senate bill to ensure that good time is used as an incentive for our prison population, instead of just being given to them. The bill, the Dep. Brad Johnson Act, is named after officer Johnson, a Bibb County Deputy who was murdered in June of 2022. The person who shot Johnson was out on good time status when the incident happened.
The bill would do several things, including rolling back the way that good time is calculated and given in Alabama. It will list a list of offenses of behaviors if done in prison, good time will not be an option and require a report from the Department of Corrections to the legislature, the Attorney General and the governor each year related to data given. “I believe this is something that's something that has to be addressed in the name of public safety,” Weaver said. “I am totally in favor of this because it is time that we as a state step up and that we keep bad people where they belong, and that is not in the general population.”
Rep. Russell Bedsole, House District 49, is a career law enforcement officer and the commander of the Shelby County. He will also sponsor the same bill in the house.
“I was on the scene when Dept. Johnson was killed,” Bedsole said. “What happened to Dept. Johnson should have never happened to him. That individual should have never been out on the street.”
He said he believes the state correction system needs to begin to follow a process of educating and rehabilitating these offenders. “We cannot expect to give them an ankle monitoring device in a bus ticket and expect our recidivism rates to drop,” he said.” I believe in this piece of legislation that we need to do things to ensure that these inmates are turned back out of the system too rapidly in a way that they're not prepared for society.”
Bedsole shared that of the 24 total bills that have been prefiled in house 13 deal with criminal justice issues, seven are governmental issues, one each for an environmental issue, a bill to repeal the abortion statute, and education and labor issues have all been prefiled thus far.
Before Rep. Corley Ellis, House District 41, was elected in 2016, he served for ten years on the Shelby County Commission. He said this session, he is settling in his new role as chair of the insurance committee.
“I've enjoyed the time that I've been there, I enjoy serving with these men and women, and we've got a tremendous delegation that works very hard in Montgomery to represent you guys and I'm proud to be a part of it,” Ellis said.
He mentioned the $2.8 billion surplus from the 2022 budget and that decisions will be made to give refunds or to save it in a rainy day fund.
Rep. Kenneth Paschal, House District 73, is a 21-year Army veteran and serves as vice chair of the Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. He said he is sponsoring a clean up bill that will update the state’s military code that is outdated. Another item he is working on is the Common Sense Bill, which states parents have a fundamental right to direct to kids upbringing, education and care and his intent is to codify that in Alabama code.
Rep. Susan Dubose, House District 45, was recently elected in Nov. 2022. She said she asked to be on the health committee and her goals are to protect life and to be a female voice to keep the Alabama Human Life Protection Act in place. She intends to bring up the Drug Free Baby Bill that would prevent pregnant women from being prescribed medical marijuana. Other things she would like to see done are raising the age of majority from 14 to 18, the state chief health office being accountable to the people, children having the option for educational freedom and a women’s bill of rights.
Rep. Leigh Hulsey, House District 15, served on the Helena City Council for 14 years before being elected in Nov. 2022. She is serving on the transportation committee, which she said is a huge issue in Jefferson and Shelby counties.
“What I am excited about is getting a seat at the table where I know we need somebody to have a different voice,” Hulsey said. “We need someone that will fight for Shelby County that will fight for the counties in the state to get what they need in terms of transportation. I think the biggest thing for each of us is that we do not want to spend all our time in a car, getting to and from work anywhere else that we're going…and anything that I can do to help speed that up is what I'm there for.”
Sen. Lance Bell, District 11, who was elected in 2022, spoke about teacher assaults by (special needs) students and wants to work to protect teachers along with the issue of workforce development.
Rep. Arnold Mooney, House District 43, was elected in November 2014 and serves as the chair of the Shelby County House delegation. A resident of Shelby County for 38 years, Mooney said Shelby County is the county to be in for the state of Alabama.
“The lifestyle engine of this county runs at a great, rapid speed that gives people great opportunities in health care, education, business, everything under the sun. We lead the state in every way,” Mooney said. “I'm thankful to be here.”
