A bill that would allow voters to amend the state constitution to mandate a daily Pledge of Allegiance and student-led voluntary prayer time in Alabama schools passed the Senate.
House Bill 511 (HB511), introduced by State Rep. Reed Ingram (R-Pike Road), passed the Senate without the hours-long theatrics it faced in the House by Democrats.
"Sometimes you just have to look at what are the arguments, what are the real fights? People on my side, as I went back to my colleagues and asked about that bill, they just decided, 'Hey, there needs to be more prayer in schools.' They weren't going to be up against prayer today, so I didn't conduct them to do that. They took the votes. They're all elected by the people, and they made their vote, so I'm proud of the vote they made." -Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro)
Once signed by the governor, the bill would then go before voters to amend the constitution.
The bill would "require local boards of education to adopt policies requiring each public K-12 school to conduct The Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag each day; to authorize local boards of education to adopt policies allowing student-initiated and student-led prayer to be conducted in public K-12 schools; and to provide for the report and investigation of violations."
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