Lawmakers Brace For Special Session
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It’s been five years since the last time lawmakers were called back to the state house for special session.
A session called on by the governor to deal with any topic he chooses.
“Special session is designed constitutionally to last a total of 30 days with 12 meeting days. As you know, the regular session is 4 and a half months with 30 meeting days.It gives you time to do certain things. 12 meeting days is a lot of days,” said political analyst Steve Flowers.
Flowers says the cost for a special session is about 400 thousand dollars.
That’s 400 thousand dollars in taxpayer money.
And with lawmakers coming back to fix the budget, every little cost hurts.
Senator Dick Brewbaker says it’s been a hard session this year.
“The legislature has failed it’s one constitutional duty during the legislative, and that is to pass budgets. We passed the education but not the general fund,” said Brewbaker.
One of the main reasons, no one can agree on the best way to solve the budget problem, and that falls on both the governor and lawmakers.
“We want to keep everything where it is but we don’t want to do the hard part in funding it. This is a democracy and I would love to do what my constituents want according to the mail I’m getting. I don’t know how to keep everything we’ve got and not come up with some new money,” said Brewbaker.
Governor Robert Bentley has been pushing a tax package all session that never saw any support from lawmakers. And while many may want to see gambling legislation, Brewbaker says the gambling and lottery proposal won’t work for this year, so it’s either cuts or taxes.
“We’re going to have to find a way for everyone to come together and for everyone to share the cost, because there’s a political price to be paid in Alabama when you raise taxes,” said Brewbaker.
