So...about Amendment 14 (Birmingham, Montgomery, Section: tax, law, legal)

[Tourian]

This is being sold on one side as a way to free up funding for several projects in Jefferson Co including and mainly the BJCC reno and stadium project.

But on the other hand it could be a way to allow lawmakers to do whatever they want with unallocated tax revenue and to pass laws without a quorum.

What say ye?

[Reactionary]

More:

Amendment Fourteen

Summary: This might be the most confusing amendment, in part, because it attempts to atone for the sins of a past amendment. Amendment 448 was added to the State Constitution in 1984, with the intention of getting the state legislature to address budget issues first. However, it created a procedural loophole that was misinterpreted until a judge analyzed it recently. Amendment 14 closes that loophole and validates the laws that were passed between 1984 and now

Amendment Guide: Breakdown of the 14 constitutional amendments on Alabama’s November ballot | WHNT.com

[bosshawk]

Vote yes.

[Reactionary]

Amendment 14 Ballot Text:

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of
Alabama of 1901, to amend Amendment 448 to the Constitution of
Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 71.01 of the
Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901,
as amended, to ratify, approve, validate, and confirm the
application of any budget isolation resolution relating to a
bill proposing a local law adopted by the Legislature before
November 8, 2016, that conformed to the rules of either body
of the Legislature at the time it was adopted.

http://arc-sos.state.al.us/PAC/SOSAC...1/A0011646.PDF

[Tourian]

Through all that gobbledygook the prevailing notion I keep hearing around here is that if local lawmakers want to do something with local tax dollars collected...you guessed it...locally, that it should NOT take an act or non action from lawmakers in Montgomery to make it happen or keep it from happening.

[bosshawk]

Originally Posted by Tourian

Through all that gobbledygook the prevailing notion I keep hearing around here is that if local lawmakers want to do something with local tax dollars collected...you guessed it...locally, that it should NOT take an act or non action from lawmakers in Montgomery to make it happen or keep it from happening.

Thus the reason to vote yes...

[Reactionary]

From the Alabama Policy Institute:

This amendment* attempts to provide a sweeping, after-the-fact correction to hundreds of local laws that the Alabama Legislature passed unconstitutionally, due to a legal misinterpretation, during past legislative sessions.

...This amendment would add language to the Alabama Constitution prescribing that any bill passed by way of a budget isolation resolution that “conformed to the rules of either body at the time it was adopted” should be rendered effective, if the bill was adopted before November 8, 2016.

http://www.alabamapolicy.org/wp-cont...Amendments.pdf

[steveklein]

Council president: Birmingham should vote 'No' on Amendment 14 | AL.com

city council wants no

[GotLuv4Bham]

I voted yes.

[Tourian]

If it does pass, I wonder how long it will take for the "pros" to be able to move on all the things they say they will and can do because of it.