On Wednesday, the House County and Municipal Government Committee favorably reported HB 120 by Rep. Randy Davis, R-Daphne, the companion bill to SB 52, by Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, which passed the Senate late Thursday.

These bills, each known as the Energy Security Act, are necessary due to a new regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which essentially shifts the jurisdiction of planning, design and development of new transmission projects from the state to the federal government.

If left unchecked, this federal power grab would put Alabama consumers at risk of project abandonment or delay, subpar construction, slow response and recovery during emergency responses, and increased costs. If passed, this act would prevent these risks from being placed on consumers and ensure that Alabama electricity providers maintain the right to construct new transmission lines for Alabama consumers.

The BCA supports this legislation.

The House and Senate passed companion bills that is designed to restore Alabama's long-standing product-liability law and put us in line with the majority of states that have rejected the innovator-liability theory. That theory holds that a manufacturer can be held liable for a product even though it neither made nor sold it.

"We applaud the Alabama House and Senate for quick consideration and passage of this needed legislation," BCA President and CEO William J. Canary said.

The bills have been important to Alabama manufacturers and economic development ever since 2013 and 2014 when Alabama Supreme Court rulings potentially opened up product tort actions against businesses that did not make a product.

The House voting 88-7 passed HB 110 sponsored by Rep. Jack "J.D." Williams, R-Vestavia Hills, and the Senate voting 32-0 passed SB 80 sponsored by Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster. Each bill now goes to the other chamber for consideration.

The BCA supports these bills that are part of its 2015 State Legislative Agenda.

See this BCA fact sheet for more information.

A substitute SB 67, the prison reform bill sponsored by Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, received a 9-0 favorable report in the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. The BCA supports this bill that is in position to be considered by the full Senate when lawmakers return from spring break on March 31.

Ward said his bill would reduce the state prison system's capacity from about 190 percent to the 160 percent range in five years. The bill would fund an additional 1,700 prison beds statewide and the hiring of about 100 additional parole officers to monitor released inmates.

If it becomes law, penalties for some minor crimes would be reduced and greater supervision of inmates would occur. It also would create a Class D felony, a new category, for some nonviolent property and drug offenses. The committee vote follows more than 9 months of work by the Alabama Prison Reform Task Force, which is a diverse group of elected leaders, policy experts and stakeholder organizations.

Prison reform is of vital interest to Alabama as the real threat of a federal takeover of prisons would result in more than $400 million of new taxes to build additional prison capacity.

The BCA produced two podcasts on prison reform in Alabama. Please listen to learn more.

Episode 1: Justice Reform in Alabama A discussion with Sen. Cam Ward and Andrew Barbee from the Council of State Governments Justice Center about the current state of Alabama's prison system. This episode is the first in a continuing series on this topic.

Episode 4: Justice Reform in Alabama 2 Billy Canary, president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama, follows up with Andrew Barbee from the Council of State Governments Justice Center and State Senator Cam Ward of Alabaster about Justice reform in Alabama and specifically "Project Justice Reinvestment."

HB 232, by Rep. Jack "J.D." Williams, R-Vestavia Hills, would increase the eligible amount-in-controversy in small claims court from $3,000 to $6,000. It was given a favorable report by the House Commerce and Small Business Committee.

HB 54, by Rep. Bill Poole, R-Northport, would allow LLCs formed under another state's law but operating in Alabama to govern their internal affairs by the laws of the state of formation; it would also clarify liability issues for wrongful distributions by LLC members. This bill, supported by the Alabama Law Institute, was amended and given a favorable report by the House Commerce and Small Business Committee. It will be the first bill on the House special order calendar on March 31.

SB 55, by Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Daphne, would prohibit changes to rules promulgated by state agencies for a period of 10 years. This bill was carried over by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.

SB 56, also by Pittman, would prohibit any unilateral changes, including new rules or requirements implemented after signing, by the state to the terms of a contract between a state agency and a party providing services to the state during the contract period. SB 56 was amended and given a favorable report by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.

SB 195 by Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, was discussed in the Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee on Wednesday. This bill would create a new cause of action against employers by attempting to define "harassment, intimidation, or bullying" and making it an unfair labor practice which includes exposing employers to punitive damages and other penalties. The bill also mandates employers to adopt new employment policies and conduct employee training to prevent "harassment, intimidation or bullying."

The committee carried the bill over after adopting an amendment that would extend the time from one year to four years in which a lawsuit could be filed after the last act constituting "bullying" has occurred. BCA has historically and consistently opposed creating new causes of action against businesses. Existing law provides ample protections and legal remedies for employees who are subjected to physical harm and hostile work environments.

One of three job-creation bills has passed the House and Senate. HB 59 by Rep. Paul Lee, R-Dothan, which previously passed the House, passed the Senate 29-0 on Thursday. The Alabama Reinvestment and Abatements Act would provide incentives that promote capital investment and job growth by existing industry. Existing Alabama companies that qualify under the Alabama Jobs Act and have facilities refurbished, upgraded or returned to service with at least $2 million of capital investment, would be eligible for abatements of non-education, construction-related transaction taxes on materials, non-educational property taxes on the incremental increase in assessed value of the property from the improvements, and an exemption from increased utility taxes for up to 10 years. The bill awaits Governor Bentley's consideration.

A second job-creation bill, HB 57 sponsored by Rep. Elaine Beech, D-Chatom, received a favorable report in the Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee on Wednesday. HB 57 is the Alabama Veterans and Rural Jobs Act. It would provide rural Alabama counties facing economic development challenges with the opportunity to offer enhanced incentives and access to capital. A proposed amendment would change the designation of rural counties to "low-income communities." HB 57 was in position in the Senate to be debated but decided to carry the bill over in order to further discuss the definition of a "rural county" or a "low-income community."

The third bill, HB 58 sponsored by Rep. Alan Baker, R-Brewton, passed the House on March 20.  The Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee gave it a favorable report. The BCA supports this legislation.

HB 240, sponsored by Rep. Ken Johnson, R-Moulton, was given a favorable report by the House Ways and Means Education Committee on Wednesday. This bill would repeal an exemption that was intended to free low-income employees from having income taxes withheld from their paychecks under certain conditions. Under current law, an employer is not required to withhold income taxes from an employee's wages if that employee can prove that he or she did not incur any tax liability in the prior year and anticipates not having any income tax liability for the current year.

According to the Legislative Fiscal Office, this bill would increase income tax collections by $12 million annually to the Education Trust Fund.

The Alabama Department of Revenue reports that some employees are abusing their exemption by not filing a tax return after they are approved for the exemption. Specifically, at least 17,000 exempted taxpayers failed to file a return, even though each earned at least $5,000 for the year.

The BCA is monitoring this bill.