MONTGOMERY — House and Senate lawmakers will now try to negotiate following a spirited debate over a bill that would allow the state to install speeding cameras in interstate work zones and collect revenue from the $250 tickets issued.
The bill was substantively changed in a House vote on Tuesday, when State Rep. Jim Hill (R-Moody) offered a surprise amendment to remove the revenue portion, which passed handily.
Senate Bill 341(SB341) by State Sen. Josh Carnley (R-Ino) would authorize a pilot program to have the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT), the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), and the Alabama Toll Road, Bridge, and Tunnel Authority to install photographic speed enforcement systems on highway work zones. ALDOT, the Bridge and Tunnel Authority, or a third party can place the photographic systems.
The bill requires legislative reports on the pilot program’s effectiveness in improving work zone safety.
A House version of the bill, sponsored by State Rep. Mike Kirkland (R-Scottsboro), failed to secure the 60% support needed to pass the budget isolation resolution in March.
On Tuesday, when the Senate version of the bill came to the House floor, it sparked the most energetic exchanges of the day.
When presenting the bill before the House, Kirkland emphatically stated that it was not intended to generate revenue; rather, it was aimed at improving public safety.
Some lawmakers were concerned about the unilateral ability to impose civil penalties without court protection. Hill, a former judge, took umbrage with the bill’s entire premise, which he claimed treated people as guilty until proven innocent, since cameras cannot prove who is operating a vehicle. Failure to pay a penalty is taken as an “admission of liability.”
“You’re verging on convicting an innocent, or one that you cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that he was the individual who’s driving through that construction zone,” Hill said.
Plenty of lawmakers supported the bill as a way to reduce speeding, accidents, and fatalities in work zones. Those supporting the legislation played down Hill’s concerns, stating the civil penalty was not punishable by a criminal fine or imprisonment.
“We’ve got to look at slowing people down in these work zones, and this will do it,” said State Rep. David Faulkner (R-Mountain Brook).
“If you don’t speed through these zones, you won’t get a ticket,” State Rep. Chris Blackshear (R-Phenix City) said in support of the bill.
House Democrats spoke exclusively in opposition to the bill. State Rep. Chris England noted that the state could collect civil penalties by placing a lien on a person.
“I’m all about trying to make sure that our roads are safer for the people who work on them,” England said. “But, are we willing to decide to wipe away Constitutional protections to get there. And I don’t know that’s a risk I want to take. Because I’m telling you, if we allow it in one place, people will start putting it in other places.”
After the debate, Hill asked Kirkland again to reiterate that the bill was intended to promote safety, not to collect revenue, which Kirkland did. Hill then swiftly offered an amendment to remove the civil penalty from the bill’s provisions.
Kirkland equally swiftly motioned to table the amendment. Kirkland’s motion to table failed by a vote of 39-53. Hills’ amendment went on to pass 52-40 with seven abstentions.
The nonplussed Kirkland then begrudgingly motioned for a final vote on the bill, which passed 82-16 with six abstentions.
Nearly an hour later, the Senate voted to non-concur with the House’s changes, meaning members from both houses will have to meet in a conference committee to attempt a compromise. With only two legislative days remaining in this session, the bill’s destiny is tentative.
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