LEGISLATURE ENDS THREE DAY WEEK
IN OLD HOUSE AND SENATE CHAMBERS
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For the first time in 23 years, the Alabama Legislature held session in the old House and Senate chambers in the Capitol building. The move was not by choice, but necessity when the State House flooded Thursday morning. Speaker of the House Seth Hammett chose to meet in the old chamber due to the end of session quickly approaching. Two days now remain in the 2009 Regular Session of the Alabama Legislature and much work remains to be done.
Despite the Thursday move to the old chambers, the Legislature had a productive week. Below are several bills the HBAA has been working on that made progress this week:
· LANDLORD TENANT: The House passed its version of the Landlord Tenant bill this week. The HBAA had hoped that they would substitute the Senate version for the House version in a procedural move, but the House leadership had decided to only pass House bills. The HBAA is working with Senator Lowell Barron and Speaker of the House Seth Hammett to get the Senate bill placed on the House calendar for next week.
Note: The decision to pass only House bills in the House was due to the time frame necessary for a bill to make it through the legislative process before the Legislative days run out. Wednesday was the last day that a bill could pass in the House and be able to make it through the Senate before the end of session. The Senate passed only Senate bills on the same day.
· HVAC BOARD REVISIONS: HB 184 (McClammy, Montgomery) passed the Senate on Thursday and now heads to the Governor for signature. This bill makes a number of house keeping changes to the HVAC laws including adding the term "apprentice". The change creates a voluntary apprentice category. The HBAA has been working with the board to define the term "laborer" in the Board's rules in order to avoid any potential confusion in licensing. Also, the bill adds a license for refrigeration, but exempts residential refrigerators and household appliances.
· MANAGEMENT ENTITY: HB 543 (Grantland, Hartselle) is awaiting action by the Senate. The HBAA is working with Senator Lowell Barron (D-Fyffe), Senate Rules Chairman, to get the bill added to the calendar for next week.
Note: Due to the flooding and subsequent power outage at the Statehouse, there were no bill updates available; therefore, there will not be a bill matrix sent with this week's Alert. Also, please note that, due to the final day of session being next Friday, May 15, with the session expected to run well into the evening, next week's Alert will not be sent out until the following Monday, May 18.
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