On Friday's broadcast of Alabama Public Television's "Capitol Journal," State Senate Pro-Tem Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) reiterated the possibility of a rules change for the 2026 legislative session for the Alabama State Senate.
Earlier in the week, Gudger discussed the possibility after the 2025 session adjourned sine die, which was preceded by an 11-hour day because of Senate Democrat filibuster efforts.
"[T]his is my seventh session," Gudger explained. "And I've been able to try to keep up with the rules where we are. And there's been a few rule changes, but not much in my last seven years. But the rules were what they were since I started this job three and a half months ago. And I've had to work with those rules and within those confines. The good thing about working with Senator Smitherman, Senator Singleton and the Democrats is that those are the tools that they have in their tool belt. And no one can blame them to use those tools because that's what they have, right? That's what they have to use. They don't have the majority.
They don't have the super vote that they can get things passed through. So they take their time and delay, delay, delay. And obviously, as you well know, they're great at it. So looking at those rules, that's something that I'm going to have to look at going forward with Legislative Council and saying, 'Hey, we're going to have to change some of this as we go forward.'"
According to Gudger, one possibility of a rules change could come with local bills.
"It is being considered, especially after today, when we try to get through as much legislation as we possibly can, and mainly local legislation," Gudger said. "You know, and all politics are local. And so those are the bills that we really need for our colleagues back home, so they can be the voice for their constituents, because those local bills, they matter to the city councils, the county commissions, the probate judges, their DA that's back, the sheriff's department. And those things, we need to get past more than some of these big bills that we're trying to do statewide. And so it's a balance that's there, but we are looking at changing those rules. But you have to always remember, we can use those rules the same way to our advantage when there's something there that we want to slow down."
He added, "And so you can take advantage of those tools even though we don't as much. And the reason we don't is because we have the supermajority. We have that vote. And so when we go into cloture, we can take that mic and we stay focused on the mic."
Jeff Poor is the editor-in-chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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