Alabama Senate carries over bill to strip governor of some emergency powers

The Alabama Senate on Thursday carried over a bill that would limit the governor’s ability to declare a state of emergency after concerns from one senator, who said the bill was “all about business” and not about protecting people from a public health crisis.

The Senate carried over the bill at the request of Sen. Tom Whatley, R-Auburn, who introduced Senate Bill 97. Whatley said the substitute bill was crafted in cooperation with Gov. Kay Ivey’s office, the Alabama House speaker’s office and special interest groups.

Whatley explained that under his bill, a governor could issue a public health emergency for up to 45 days, and in that time must make an attempt to contact the legislative council and inform them of the scope and length of the order.

The governor could extend the order up to 120 days, under the bill, and would then have to call the Legislature back into session to approve of the continued public health emergency.

Read more: https://www.alreporter.com/2021/03/12/alabama-senate-carries-over-bill-to-strip-governor-of-some-emergency-powers/