MONTGOMERY — The Alabama House passed legislation on Tuesday sponsored by House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) and Speaker Pro-Tem Chris Pringle (R-Mobile) that provides the governor, the speaker of the House and the president pro-tempore of the Senate with the authority to remove and replace board and commission members that they appoint.
HB220 applies to "any board, authority, or commission comprised of individual members, of which some or all members are appointed, as established under state law" and notes that all appointees "serve at the pleasure" of their appointing authority.
"This is a bill that I'm carrying for the speaker, and what we've discovered is the speaker has a tremendous number of appointments along with the governor and the president pro-tem of the Senate, and some of those appointments go four, six and eight years long," Pringle explained on the floor. "If he appoints somebody to a board and that person is not attending the meetings or doing what that person is supposed to do to be a member of that board, this provides an opportunity for them to be removed from the board. That's all it does. It just allows the speaker, the pro-tem, and the governor to remove people from their appointed positions who aren't doing their jobs."
"Being appointed to a state board or commission is a privilege, not a right, and we need a mechanism to remove appointees when they fail to fulfill their duties, habitually miss meetings, or otherwise ignore their responsibilities," Ledbetter said following the bill's passage. "This legislation brings a much-needed layer of accountability to the appointments and removal process and ensures that the needs of Alabama taxpayers are being met and served at all times."
After the bill's passage, Pringle cited a recent audit by the Alabama Department of Public Examiners, in which Karen Lakey, the former accounts manager for the Motorsports Hall of Fame Commission, allegedly stole $236,610 from the commission. He said that highlighted the need for the bill.
"When the Examiners of Public Accounts discovered highly questionable administrative practices and a complete lack of oversight at the Motorsports Hall of Fame, Gov. Kay Ivey vacated the entire board of directors and appointed new members to clean up the mess," Pringle stated. "State law allowed her to fire and replace that board, but we need to make sure that same ability applies to every board and commission and every appointing authority so we can address similar transgressions if they ever occur again."
HB220 now heads to the Senate for consideration.
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