MONTGOMERY — After the Alabama House of Representatives adjourned sine die, Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) expressed disappointment at some measures failing to reach the finish line due to a significant slowdown from Senate Democrats.
The 2025 legislative session was relatively normal as sessions go. Nothing stood out as exceptionally hard-hitting or hyper-consequential. In the House, lawmakers speedily passed a significant number of Senate bills earlier in the session. Meanwhile, antics by Senate Democrats, namely State Sens. Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro) and Rodger Smitherman (D-Birmingham), spent much of the later portion of the session using all allowable means at their disposal to slow down proceedings as much as possible.
The Senate shenanigans led to a substantial backlog of House bills awaiting approval by the upper chamber. So much so was the backlog that on Wednesday, the final day of session, the House recessed for nearly nine hours, awaiting Senate action before it could concur on legislation and finally adjourn.
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The Senate likewise adjourned with a significant remaining backlog of House bills that never received final passage.
After the House adjourned, Lebetter told reporters he was generally happy with the session. However, he expressed evident disappointment that the Senate failed to pass several bills.
Namely, he bemoaned the stalling of HB188, sponsored by State Rep. Allen Treadaway (R-Morris), one of many bills touted by Gov. Kay Ivey in her State of the State Address to aid law enforcement. The bill established a program to pay tuition and associated expenses on behalf of children and spouses of long-term city, county, and state law enforcement officers.
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"The thing about it is, the police scholarship, we had it out in March," Ledbetter said with an incredulous tone. "I mean, I really don't even understand that one. It's pretty simple to me, because we give everybody else scholarships. If we're really trying to protect the police officers in this state and we're backing the blue, then to me, that's a no-brainer."
If you go to any metropolitan areas in the state and ask them, 'What's the number-one toughest thing for you to do with your police force?' It's going to be retention. And that's what we were trying to do."
Local bills are specific to a particular municipality or county. Lawmakers typically do not vote or get involved with local bills since it's seen as bad form to try to hinder or tinker with legislation that does not affect your constituency.
Singleton and Smitherman repeatedly broke with that unspoken rule in the final weeks of the session. Singleton seemed to justify his actions, as the House spent a lengthy amount of time debating, and eventually killing, a Singleton local bill that would have allowed historical horse raising in Greene County.
House rules dictate that any bill dealing with gaming must be treated like a general bill, not a local one. However, that was not exculpatory for Singelton, who only amplified his antics in the final days of the session.
In what could be chalked up to general fatigue at the end of a long day and even longer session, Ledbetter seemed particularly annoyed with Senate antics, especially when asked about the stonewalling of local bills.
"There was no local legislation left in the House," Ledbetter continued. "You'll have to ask the Senate about that. We did our job. We passed all the local legislation we had, and it all got out. So, from that standpoint, you'll have to ask the Senate."
He continued, "I'm a little disappointed at this point as speaker; I am. Because I feel like some of the bills that some of our people worked really hard on really didn't get the opportunity to be on the floor, and I'm disappointed in that."
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