Brace Yourself Alabama - Tuesday Begins 14 Days And Counting

Rickey Stokes

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Posted by: RStokes
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Date: Feb 18 2019 8:30 PM

ALABAMA:     To the citizens of the great State of Alabama, buckle your seat belts!

After today, 14 days and counting for the Opening Session of the 2019 Alabama Legislative Session. 

There is a lot of moves being made all across this state on a number of issues. It is often surprising what catches the attention of the 35 Alabama Senators and 105 Alabama House Members.

ALABAMA GOVERNOR

The second lady and first ever Republican lady serves as Alabama Governor. This will be Alabama Governor Kay Ivey's first full four year term as Governor. She has about 7 years as Alabama's Lt. Governor which presides over the Senate.

ALABAMA'S LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

The Senate will have a new Presiding Officer in Lt. Governor Will Answorth from Guntersville Alabama. The Lieutenant Governor is an elected constitutional officer, the second ranking officer of the executive branch and the first officer in the line to succeed the Governor. Exactly where Kay Ivey was when Former Alabama Governor Robert Bentley resigned from office.

The Lt. Governor of Alabama has become Governor three times in the past 46 years. Those being Albert Brewer then Alabama's First Female Governor, Lurleen Wallace passed away.

The second was Lt. Governor Jim Folsom when former Alabama Governor Guy Hunt was convicted of crimes if using campaign funds for illegal purposes.

The third being Kay Ivey when Robert Bentley resigned.

Lt. Governor Will Answorth was a State Senator from the Guntersville area. Ainsworth grew up in Boaz Alabama and graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor's degree in marketing.

With his brother, Austin, they opened Dream Ranch, a hunting and fishing lodge in Guntersville.

Ainsworth founded the Tennessee Valley Hunting and Fishing Expo, one of the largest tradeshows of it's kind in the Southeast with more than 20,000 attendees annually.

Ainsworth also served as a youth pastor at Grace Fellowship Church in Albertville and still teaches Sunday School. He raises Angus cattle and is a property developer.

In news articles Ainsworth i quoted as saying his legislative record includes working to strengthen the ethics law, eliminate double-voting, encourage adoption and promote workforce development.

Ainsworth is quoted as saying he supported arming school officials as part of a security plan at public schools. Ainswith is quoted as saying " you've got to have the most qualified person at each school trained to protect the children."

LEGISLATORS AND LEGISLATION   

The wiregrass begins with Donnie Chesteen as Senator for District 29. This is a change from 20 years of dedicated service by Alabama Senator Harri Anne Smith.

Smith made the decision to retire and not seek re-election after 20 years in the Alabama Legislature. 

Chesteen served 8 years in the Alabama House, which consists of 105 members. The Alabama Senate consists of 35 members.

Senate District 29 consists of Houston County, Geneva County and part of Dale County.

Also serving Houston County, Henry County, Barbour County, and Macon County is Democratic Senator Billy Beasley.

Houston County is served by House Members Paul Lee, Dexter Grimsley, Steve Clouse and newcomer Alabama State Representative Jeff Sorrells.

LEGISLATION

You will see state sponsored and local commission supported legislation for a increase in gasoline taxes. 

The Alabama Association of County Commissioners are in full support of the gasoline tax increase to fund Alabama roadways and the maintenance of the roadway infrastructure.

Houston County Commissioner District 3 Ricky Herring sent out Twitter messages "our county leadership is getting ready to have to make some tough decisions when it comes to revenues. We are going to explore all options and vet  each one of them before making a decision. Herring ask of the citizens, throughout this process, for the citizens to reach out to him with your comments, questions and concerns. Herring has said in the message that he wants and values "your" ( the public's ) input. Herring wrote " I am your representative and I want to know what you want to see done and why. I know decisions are hard but this id one that I will not take lightly and I will do what is best for Houston County for not only the present but on the future."

Houston County Commissioner District 4 Brandon Shoupe has sent survey cards asking people's thoughts.

Houston County Commissioner District 2 Doug Sinquefield has been in the community asking people's thought as District 1 Curtis Harvey has.

Houston County has several major concerns. Some of those surround public safety and other quality of life issues.

In 2018, the Houston County Volunteer Fire Departments and Volunteer Emergency Medical Services that serve outside the corporate city limits of Dothan answered some 7,209 fire and EMS calls. This is accomplished on less than one million dollars. And getting volunteers is decreasing daily.

The calls answered by the Houston County Volunteer Fire and EMS is about 49% of the volume of the calls of the Dothan Fire Department. They operate on a $ 14 million dollar budget which consists mostly of staff.

As from this weekend, crime is everywhere. Needs for public safety. Schools need protective measures in place to make sure the children and staff are always safe.

And the respect for the life of the law enforcement officers decreases daily and officers are placed in more life threatening situations every day. So needs in public safety. So major decisions looming for the future.

In 14 days from Tuesday, BRACE YOURSELF. Make your thoughts known to the local and state elected officials.

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