Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: The Alabama Legislature by the numbers

  The 2013 regular legislative session begins this week. There are a myriad of issues that must be dealt with during their four month journey. The most pressing will be resolving the current funding crisis in the state’s general fund budget.

  As the 140 delegates take their seats and settle in to wrestle with resolving the state’s dilemma, I am reminded of my earliest days observing the legislature. It is nostalgic to think back to my very first legislative endeavors. I began as a House Page in the mid 1960’s. That was almost 50 years ago. When I worked the House floor as a young teenager delivering notes and getting coffee, the membership was much different. At that time all the House and Senate members were white male Democrats. The scenario today is much different and diverse.