50 Proposed Constitutional Amendments on Ballots for 

November 7, 2000 Election

Alabama voters will decide on 50 proposed constitutional amendments at the November 7, 2000 general election. Five of these proposals would apply statewide and will be on all ballots. Nine others affect only a single county, but because of legislative objections will require statewide as well as local approval. In total, fourteen constitutional proposals will be on every Alabama ballot. No other constitutional proposals will be before voters in 35 counties. In 32 counties, however, voters will face from fifteen to eighteen proposals on the ballot.

This report looks briefly at the subject matter involved in all 50 amendments, focusing on the relationship of each one to the constitutional framework. A separate report analyzes Proposed Statewide Amendment No. 1 because of its complexity and importance to the future of the state. Table 1, below and on the next page, shows each proposal, the constitutional provision to which it relates, and the page where it is discussed.

 

 

 

 

 

        Bingo Proposals. Section 65 of the Alabama Constitution prohibits the Legislature from authorizing lotteries or gift enterprises for any purpose. Constitutional amendments have been adopted to allow bingo games with prizes in twelve counties; generally they allow certain nonprofit organizations and private clubs to operate such games for charitable and educational purposes. Voters in Limestone County will decide on November 7^th whether to allow bingo in that jurisdiction. A similar proposal for the Town of White Hall in Lowndes County will be on all ballots statewide because it failed to win unanimous legislative approval.

        Alabama Trust Fund Proposals. Revenues from offshore oil and gas production have been placed in constitutional trust funds designed around fixed-income investments. A pending $30-million loss of income to the state’s general fund has prompted a rethinking of this investment strategy. Proposal 1 on the statewide ballot would encourage diversification into equity investments and allow spending some of the resulting capital gains. It also would allow investing some royalty income in capital improvements such as county roads and bridges, municipal infrastructure, the Alabama State Docks, and economic development projects. PARCA Report No. 40 analyzes this proposal in more detail.

        Local Economic Development Proposals. Section 94 of the Alabama Constitution prohibits the Legislature from authorizing local governments to have any interest in a private enterprise. Voters have approved about fifty amendments authorizing specific counties and municipalities to engage in economic development activities. In November, voters in Chambers, Chilton, Clay, and Randolph counties will vote on economic development proposals. The Chilton proposal would provide powers directly to the affected local governments, while the other three would authorize the Legislature to grant powers to the local governments.

        Proposals Related to Court Costs and Charges. Section 96 of the Alabama Constitution prohibits the Legislature from altering court costs and charges, or the pay of public officials, except by a general act applying to all counties. The framers were trying to stop lawmakers from concentrating on purely local matters rather than statewide issues. Amendments to undo this restriction began immediately, and today Section 96 remains completely effective in only four counties. Three counties – Greene, Hale, and Monroe – will have court-cost proposals on the November 2000 ballot. Monroe is one of the last four counties with no amendment of this type. The Greene County issue will be on statewide ballots since it did not get unanimous legislative approval.

        Proposals to Abolish Supernumerary Programs. Section 98 of the Alabama Constitution prohibits the Legislature from providing a retirement program for public officials. As a way around this limitation, the Legislature has created "supernumerary" positions, allowing retired officials to receive payments in return for making themselves available to serve. These programs do not have the financial advantages of the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) of the State of Alabama, and they have become expensive to county governments. In recent years, voters have approved local amendments barring officials in 23 counties from assuming a supernumerary office and allowing them to participate in the ERS on the same terms as other employees. However, voters turned down statewide amendments of this type in 1996 and 1999.

        Proposal to Abolish the Prohibition of Interracial Marriages. Proposal 2 on the November 2000 statewide ballot would amend the Constitution of Alabama to repeal Section 102, which prohibits the Legislature from authorizing marriages between any white person and a black person. For obvious reasons, this section many years ago was declared unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and is inoperative. No governmental purpose is served by having it remain in the Alabama Constitution.

        Proposals to Authorize the Legislature to Adopt Local Acts. Section 105 of the Alabama Constitution prohibits the Legislature from adopting a local act if the subject is covered by a general law, and Section 106 spells out the process by which the public is notified before local acts are introduced. Many of the organizational details of county government are covered by general law, but a large number of amendments have been adopted to create local exceptions. Local voters in November will decide on the duties of the probate judge in Bullock County, whether to allow reorganization of Randolph County by local act, and whether to create a local definition and penalties for prostitution in unincorporated Jefferson County. Calhoun County voters will decide whether to incorporate into the constitution a 1995 local act that restructured the Anniston Water Works and Sewer Board, as a way to cure procedural defects in the law. Etowah County voters will decide on an amendment to a local real estate license tax that is in the constitution.

        Article V of the Alabama Constitution contains provisions related to the Executive Department of state government. Section 112 provides that the Sheriff in each county is a member of the Executive Department, and Section 138 provides for the election and term of office of the Sheriff. A 1995 decision by the Court of Civil Appeals held that since the Sheriff is a constitutional member of the Executive Department, his sworn deputies are not county employees. However, they are not state employees either, and they are paid from county budgets. In 1998, voters in Marshall and Walker counties approved amendments bringing Sheriff’s employees under the county personnel system. Madison County voters will vote on a similar amendment in November.

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