Democrats in the Alabama Senate were able to delay Thursday a vote on a bill that would rename, as far as state government is concerned, the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
House Bill 2, sponsored by Rep. David Standridge, R-Hayden, would require state and local entities to refer to the body of water to the south of the U.S. as the Gulf of America. It also mandates these entities to “make reasonable efforts” to update old materials to reflect the new name.
But Senate Democrats filibustered the bill Thursday afternoon and Republicans opted not to force cloture and instead ended their week without a vote. There are 27 Republicans in the 35-member body. A cloture motion takes 21 votes.
Adjournment also meant a bill to require the Ten Commandments be displayed in many public schools didn’t get a vote. Both bills were carried over at the call of the chair, meaning they can be brought back up at a future time by Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth.
Lawmakers will be on spring break next week and return to Montgomery March 31.
Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, later told reporters the Gulf and Ten Commandments bills, along with other “spicy” legislation, would get votes when lawmakers return.
There will be six legislative days remaining to pass bills, including the state’s two operating budgets. Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, threatened Thursday that if Republicans pushed forward the Gulf bill, Democrats would jam up the rest of the session.
“It’s gonna be a long last few days,” Singleton said.
Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, spent an hour speaking against the bill and delaying its vote.
Grocery costs are astronomical and gas prices are through the roof, she said, and lawmakers should be working to make things more affordable for Alabamians.
“House Bill 2 does none of that,” Coleman said.
The Gulf of America bill passed the House in February on a vote of 74-30.
That chamber passed the same bill last year, mirroring an executive order from President Donald Trump that also changed the highest American peak’s name from Mount Denali to Mount McKinley. That bill died in the Senate last year.