The General Fund Budget went to the Governor yesterday. That means no more Budget Isolation Resolutions. If you’re new to Alabama politics, the state constitution has this strange provision where no bills can be passed before the state budgets. The only way to vote on a bill before the budgets is if the chamber adopts a special “Budget Isolation Resolution” for the bill. A BIR requires a 3/5 supermajority. The result of this constitutional amendment is that most bills require a 3/5 supermajority to pass.
When the Brewery Modernization Act comes up in the House, however, we will only need a simple majority to pass. That’s the good news about coming up this late in the session. The bad news is that we expect to again be in the “pocket veto” range of the Governor. While we have no reason to suspect that Governor Riley will not sign our legislation into law, we may again call on you to call the Governor’s office to ask for support.
For now, let’s focus on the task at hand. We need to come up for a vote in the House next week and we need a voting majority to pass. If you haven’t touched base with your State Representative, it’s about that time.
