According to a Gallup poll released on February 1st,
Alabama ranks as the #1 conservative state in the nation. According to the
survey, 50.6 percent of Alabama citizens identified themselves as being
conservative, with only 14.6 percent identifying as liberals. Mathematically
speaking, that factors out to be a 36 percent point, or more than 3-1,
advantage for conservatives. Unless you live in a neighborhood full of college
professors, the odds are that every other person you will meet on a daily basis
in Alabama is a conservative and only 1 out of 15 will be a liberal.
If you ask the average Alabamian where they stand on
issues they will be to the right of just about other state on just about every
issue. Alabama Republican legislators have certainly taken note of this and
have crafted a legislative agenda that reflects state values, including
legislation that is in direct opposition to mandates from the Obama
Administration.
In the 2013 Legislative Session, Republican
legislators are set to introduce legislation that could be classified as “red
meat” for conservatives. For instance, there will be legislation introduced
that is in direct opposition to the Obama Administration’s efforts to impose
new gun control measures and that protects the 2nd Amendment rights of Alabama
citizens.
After failing to pass any pro-life legislation of
substance in the last legislative session, Republican legislators will
introduce a bill to protect women from injury and possibly death, by requiring
every abortion clinic to have direct physician involvement and set mandatory
standards for nursing care and post-procedure follow-up. In Alabama, even with
a Republican supermajority in both chambers of the legislature, it has been
surprisingly and disappointingly difficult to pass substantive legislation to
protect life. It appears that is about to change in this legislative session.
Republican legislators are also standing up for
religious liberty. Legislation has been introduced to protect the religious
liberty of every Alabama business owner by allowing certain employers to opt
out of the mandates in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that require employers to
provide insurance coverage for contraceptives and abortion-inducing agents.
While these “red meat” issues will appeal to Alabama
conservatives, Republican legislators need to aggressively pursue other issues
so that this session will be defined by what the Republican legislators are
for, rather than only by what they oppose. To that end, they are introducing
legislation that will give local school boards more flexibility to make
decisions that improve education within their district. This legislation, which
is adamantly opposed by the Alabama Education Association (AEA) which is the
state teacher’s union, acknowledges that top-down decision is often not as
effective for improving education outcomes as is decision-making at the local level.
After getting pressured by the AEA into failing to
even consider a good charter school bill in the last legislative session, this
legislation will be a test of the Republican legislators’ resolve to stand up
to the AEA.
There is also legislation being introduced to begin
the process of making Alabama state government more efficient and less
wasteful. Senate President Pro-tem Del Marsh has worked for two years to
develop a plan to reorganize Alabama’s public safety agencies. Currently, there
are five public safety agencies that Sen. Marsh is working to consolidate which
will produce an estimated savings of over $30 million per year for the state’s
General Fund.
These are some of the key issues that will be
addressed in the 2013 Legislative Session. There are other issues that are not
part of the Republican’s published legislative agenda that Alabama
conservatives expect them to pursue in this session. With the continued
expansion of the Tea Party, other conservative groups, improved use of social media
and other low-cost Internet communication, these groups fully intend to keep
Alabama’s rank as the most conservative state in the nation. And, they expect
that ranking to be reflected by their elected representatives.
Alabama conservatives are better educated and better
organized than ever before which should provide even more incentive for the
Republican supermajority in the legislature to pursue much needed reforms that
will help make sure that Alabama remains #1. And that is the ranking that matters.
About the author: Gary Palmer is president of the
Alabama Policy Institute, a non-partisan, non-profit research and education
organization dedicated to the preservation of free markets, limited government
and strong families, which are indispensable to a prosperous society.
This article was published by the Alabama Policy
Institute.
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