The Alabama Legislature had its every four-year organizational session earlier this month. It is exactly what the title states, they are organizing for the next quadrennium of lawmaking. They officially chose their leadership and adopted the rules for the two chambers.
The 105-member House of Representatives and 35-member state Senate are elected for four-year terms, the same as the governor and other constitutional offices. However, unlike the governor who was sworn in Jan. 16, which is as set out in the state constitution, the Legislature takes office the day after they are elected in November.
The state House of Representatives will have 77 Republicans and 28 Democrats. That is a veto-proof, bulldozer-shoving, anything-you-want supermajority. The Democrats have very little say with those overwhelming numbers.
Two days after they were elected in November, the 77-member Republican majority met in a private caucus meeting in Montgomery and selected their leadership. Therefore, the vote for speaker of the House two weeks ago was simply a formality.
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The House has chosen Rep. Nathaniel Ledbetter to be the speaker of the House. Ledbetter hails from Rainsville in DeKalb County. He is a former mayor of Rainsville. He has only been in the House of Representatives for eight years, having been first elected in 2014. He was chosen to be the majority leader in the House in his freshman year. He was close to the former Speaker Mac McCutcheon, and he served on the powerful agenda-setting Rules Committee as well as the Ways and Means Education Budget Writing Committee.
Rep. Chris Pringle of Mobile has been chosen to be Speaker pro Tem of the House, which is the second-highest position within the body. He has served previously for 16 years in the House from the Port City. He succeeds fellow Mobilia Victor Gaston in this post.
There are two young stalwarts, who will be serving in Republican Party positions within the House. Representatives. Scott Stadthagen of Decatur will be the new House majority leader. Reps. Wes Kitchens of Arab will serve as the Republican Leadership Caucus vice chair. Rep. Debbie Wood from the Valley will serve as the Republican Caucus secretary/treasurer. The three most powerful posts in the House are the chairmanships of the two money committees and the agenda setting Rules Committee.
Rep. Danny Garrett of Trussville in Jefferson County will continue to chair the Ways and Means Education Budget Committee. Rep. Rex Reynolds of Huntsville will be the General Fund Ways and Means chairman. Reynolds replaces longtime Ways and Means chairman Steve Clouse of Ozark. Rep. Joe Lovvorn of Auburn will be the new Rules Committee chairman. Rep. Jim Hill of St. Clair will chair the Judiciary Committee. He is a former circuit judge and a veteran of the House. All of these House leadership positions are held by Republicans. To the victor goes the spoils. The end I would like to say bye.