MONTGOMERY — The House Committee on State Government has advanced a bill that would give the governor, the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro tempore of the Senate the authority to remove and replace appointed board members.
House Bill 220 is sponsored by State Rep. Chris Pringle (R-Mobile) and House Speaker Nathanial Ledbetter (R-Rainsville). Pringle presented the bill in committee on Wednesday.
"The speaker and president pro-tem of the senate, they make a lot of appointments," Pringle said. "Oftentimes, they find that the person they appointed to the board is not showing up for meetings or not representing what they believe the person should represent when they're representing the speaker. This is simply a bill that allows them to remove the people they appoint to boards and commissions and agencies."
State Rep. Prince Chesnut (D-Selma) asked, "Someone gets appointed and they say something the appointee doesn't like, they can just be removed, right?"
"Just like we do. We serve at the Speaker's pleasure," Pringle responded. "And if the Speaker appoints you to a board or commission, and you're not doing your job, this gives the Speaker the ability to remove you."
"It doesn't say 'for not doing your job.' It says for any reason. That's different," Chesnut said. "'I don't like the way you combed your hair this morning. You're off the board.'"
"You can be removed from this committee for the same reason, if he [Speaker Ledbetter] wants to. We all serve at his pleasure, including me."
The bill defines a board as "any board, authority, or commission comprised of individual members, of which some or all members are appointed, as established under state law." Members of those boards would serve "at the pleasure" of the governor, the House speaker and the Senate pro-tem.
1819 News reached out to Pringle to ask why the lieutenant governor was not included in the bill, but did not receive a response.
The bill passed without dissent. It will now go to the House floor.
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