The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee gave a favorable report to legislation that would, if ratified by the voters, abolish the elected position of State Auditor.
Senate Bill 38 is an amendment to the Constitution of 1901 that would eliminate this elected position in eight years. SB38 is sponsored by State Sen. Andrew Jones (R-Centre).
Jones said the bill merges the remaining powers of the Auditor with the State Treasurer’s office.
“Our auditor does not audit basically,” Jones said. “This will save us some money in the long-range. The Auditor’s budget is $1 million a year.”
The Examiner of Public Accounts, Jones said, is the position that actually does audits in the state.
“They count furniture,” Jones said of the Auditor’s office.
After a previous hearing, the committee gave SB38 a favorable report.
Around 1940, the Alabama legislature had a dispute with the State Auditor. They punished the office of State Auditor by taking most of his staff and powers away and placing them with the Examiner of Public Accounts. The Examiner of Public Accounts is not an executive branch agency controlled by the Governor or responsible to the Attorney General, but rather is an appointed position that is controlled by the legislature.
The current elected Auditor, Jim Zeigler (R), opposes this legislation and favors transferring all the powers and staff that were transferred by the legislature 80 years ago, back to the office of the Auditor.
The candidates running for auditor have all stated the same position.
Stan Cooke, Rusty Glover, and Andrew Sorrell are all running for the position of State Auditor in the May 24 Republican primary. There is no Democratic candidate who qualified to run for the office.
The individual elected as Auditor in May would have the opportunity to serve two terms. If this passes and is ratified by the voters, that person could be the last Auditor in state history.
The committee gave SB38 a favorable report as substituted.
The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee is chaired by Sen. Jimmy Holley (R-Elba).
SB38 could be considered by the full Alabama Senate as soon as Thursday. Since this is a constitutional amendment, it requires passage by a supermajority in each house for passage and then the measure would appear on the Nov. 8 general election ballot for an up or down ratification vote by Alabama voters.
Thursday will be day 18 of the 2022 Alabama regular legislative session. The legislature is limited to thirty legislative days in a 120-day legislative session.
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