Senator Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches # 1227

  I was hoping I was wrong. I was hoping that this special session was not really about reducing the power of some and increasing the power of others. I was hoping that I was wrong about this special session being ostensibly called about ethics when it was in reality a pure power play. I was hoping against hope.

  The first indications came with who sponsored what bills. Four bills were introduced allegedly to deal with ethics. One was not centered on ethics and one was not about ethics at all. I looked to see whether the Senate President Pro Tem, the highest position in the Senate, was sponsoring one of the bills. He was, so I looked to see which one. He was the chief sponsor of Senate Bill 2, the vehicle to strip AEA (Alabama Education Association) of its organizational power base. I knew in my heart that was the real reason we were here in special session just two weeks before Christmas but I kept hoping I was wrong.