MONTGOMERY — The Alabama House of Representatives got off to a fiery start on Thursday after Democratic lawmakers took serious offense at House leadership's refusal to permit debate on the special order calendar.
Lawmakers, media and other observers were settling in for a long day on Thursday morning as the House prepared to undertake a series of bills on the calendar that were guaranteed to cause backlash from Democrats.
House rules allow for limited debate. House members are permitted to hit a button at their seat, turning on a light to alert the speaker that they intend to speak, either for an allotted amount of time for debate, a point of personal privilege or a point of order.
Members can debate for a total of one hour on a calendar before voting. Additionally, there is one hour of debate for the Budget Isolation Resolution (BIR), another hour on the bill itself and another hour on individual actions such as amendments and substitutes.
When the calendar came before the body on Thursday, House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) called for a vote without allowing anyone to speak. After the calendar passed and the first bill was before the body, State Rep. Thomas Jackson (D-Thomasville) took the mic to lambast leadership, leading to a tense exchange.
The relevant portion begins at 1:24:50.
Jackson began by objecting that his light for a point of order was ignored, leading Ledbetter to inform Jackson, "That is at the discretion of the chair," which led to the following exchange:
LEDBETTER: “We will be speaking on the BIR on this bill.”
JACKSON: “No. I’m speaking on you not recognizing me because my light was on was on for a point of order.”
LEDBETTER: Mr. Jackson, we will stay on the bill.”
JACKSON: I’m not speaking on the bill, Mr. Speaker.”
LEDBETTER: “You need to go sit down.”
JACKSON: “Maybe I will, but I’m going to let them take me out of here today. I’m not just going to voluntarily sit down because you have used your authority and abused it this morning because you didn’t recognize me for a point of order.”
While Jackson and Ledetter continued to exchange, House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels (D-Huntsville) sparred with House Pro Tem Chris Pringle (R-Mobile), complaining about the "total f--cking disrespect," saying "I'm not putting up with it."
Although security was stacked up by the door, none was needed as leadership continued to allow members to vent their frustrations about the bill and the lack of calendar debate.
Ledbetter and Daniels had several private exchanges in the aftermath, seemingly trying to smooth tensions.
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