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Other Issues - Home Rule
LWVAL Action Priority Level III - Issues identified by LWVAL Advocacy Committee and/or State Board or Local Leagues. Monitoring occurs; action dependent on opportunity and available resources.Click a bill to see sponsor(s), summary (including link to full text), League action and justification for that action, and progress of the bill through the legislative process.
Legend:
= LWVAL's support for the legislation. 
= LWVAL's opposition to the legislation.
= new bill activity; change from previous week's report such as new progress in the legislature and/or League action. Bill may be one newly added to the report. These updates are in green font.LWVAL has taken a position on this bill:
HB495 - Labor relations, employer, employee rights, certain practices prohibited by local governments relating to leave and access to background information and to designate state for federal labor law disputes
Sponsor(s): Representatives Mooney, Henry, Hubbard, Hill (M), Fridy, 4 Drake, Carns, Wingo, Holmes (M) and Beech
Summary/Synopsis: The bill would "specify Alabama's status as a right to work state. Relating to prohibited practices relating to employer and employee relationships; to prohibit local governmental entities from requiring leave for employees of employers; to prohibit interfering with an employer's right to obtain background information about employees and prospective employees; and to provide for the Alabama Employment Fairness Act to retain the authority of the state to regulate collective bargaining under federal labor laws."
The bill would, in part, "prohibit any county, municipality, or any political subdivision in the state of Alabama from enacting or administering ordinances, policies, rules, and other mandates requiring an employer to provide any employee or any class of employees with any employment benefit, including, but not limited to, paid or unpaid leave, vacation, wage, or work schedule, that is not required by state or federal law, and may not require an employer to compensate an employee for any vacation or other forms of leave for which state or federal law does not require the employer to be compensated."
Further, the bill states that "any ordinance, policy, rule, or other mandate of a political subdivision of this state that is inconsistent with this section [of the bill] is void."
League Action and Justification: Oppose. LWVAL holds that a broad grant of authority should be delegated to those local governments that choose to adopt a plan for home rule to enable them to address local problems independently of the state legislature and/or the state electorate. We do not hold a position in favor of or in opposition to a minimum wage or specific employee benefits. However, local government entities should have the power to make decisions they think best for them.
Bill Progress in Legislature:
04/14/2015: Read for the first time and referred to the House Committee on State Government (SG).
05/28/2015: 2nd Read and placed on the Calendar with 1 Amendment (169691-2); SG 1st Amednemtn Offered; Pending 3rd reading and Favorable from SG with 1 amendment
06/03/2015: Indefinitely postponed
Summary/Synopsis: The bill would "specify Alabama's status as a right to work state. Relating to prohibited practices relating to employer and employee relationships; to prohibit local governmental entities from requiring leave for employees of employers; to prohibit interfering with an employer's right to obtain background information about employees and prospective employees; and to provide for the Alabama Employment Fairness Act to retain the authority of the state to regulate collective bargaining under federal labor laws."
The bill would, in part, "prohibit any county, municipality, or any political subdivision in the state of Alabama from enacting or administering ordinances, policies, rules, and other mandates requiring an employer to provide any employee or any class of employees with any employment benefit, including, but not limited to, paid or unpaid leave, vacation, wage, or work schedule, that is not required by state or federal law, and may not require an employer to compensate an employee for any vacation or other forms of leave for which state or federal law does not require the employer to be compensated."
Further, the bill states that "any ordinance, policy, rule, or other mandate of a political subdivision of this state that is inconsistent with this section [of the bill] is void."
League Action and Justification: Oppose. LWVAL holds that a broad grant of authority should be delegated to those local governments that choose to adopt a plan for home rule to enable them to address local problems independently of the state legislature and/or the state electorate. We do not hold a position in favor of or in opposition to a minimum wage or specific employee benefits. However, local government entities should have the power to make decisions they think best for them.
Bill Progress in Legislature:
04/14/2015: Read for the first time and referred to the House Committee on State Government (SG).
05/28/2015: 2nd Read and placed on the Calendar with 1 Amendment (169691-2); SG 1st Amednemtn Offered; Pending 3rd reading and Favorable from SG with 1 amendment
06/03/2015: Indefinitely postponed
LWVAL is monitoring these bills:
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