MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Senate passed legislation on Thursday repealing a law passed in 2025 that set up the framework for a Smith Lake development.
Senate Bill 322 by State Sen. Jabo Waggoner (R-Vestavia Hills) and State Sen. Pro-Tem Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) outlined a possible resort project including golf courses, restaurants, a hotel and other outdoor activities. The bill sailed through both the House and Senate in the 2025 session. It was signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey in May. However, the new law was opposed by many in the area and was a large issue in multiple House special elections in Cullman County.
Gudger pre-filed the repeal legislation in August for the 2026 session.
"We were doing that for a developer that was there and was going to invest $250 to $350 million in our county. Looking at that, it produced jobs. It produced capital investment. It was going to have a conference center. It had a small airport. It ended up having a hotel that was on there. We had golf courses, there was going to be three of them, actually, and a big marina as well. I love economic development. I thought this was a good bill last year," Gudger said on the Senate floor. "Ladies and gentlemen, I made y'all vote on that bill last year and y'all voted in my favor to go forward with this but there is something that happened when I got home and when I got home I started listening to the people and a lot of the people that were in my county did not want to change the way the culture and the living was there on the lake so they were against this particular project. One of the hardest things I've had to do is listen and realize that sometimes when we do things down here that we're not always right. Even though I think that this was a positive bill, as we move forward the people of Alabama and my district did not like it. What I'm doing with this particular bill is adding a repeal to that bill from last year. This is SB 12, which will be repealing that bill in its entirety, which was SB 322 last year."
The bill now heads to the House for its consideration.
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