The Alabama Senate had a dozen bills on its calendar Thursday but only voted on two after Democrats locked down the day over legislation to reorganize and change the state board that oversees the Alabama Department of Archives and History.
Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, who began the filibuster efforts, said the bill could lead to changes in how the state’s Black history is told and presented.
“(People) can’t expect us to participate in the dismantling of our history,” Smitherman said Thursday morning on the Senate floor.
Senate Bill 5 by Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, lets the governor and legislative leadership appoint members of the Alabama Department of Archives and History Board and expands its membership. Currently, new members are selected by the existing board and confirmed by the Alabama Senate.
Similar legislation was filed after a 2023 lunch event on LBGT history in the state hosted at the Archives building. Elliott and other Republicans had asked the department to cancel the event.
Elliott has said the self-appointing board didn’t feel it had to listen to the Legislature or the executive branch.
Elliott later Thursday told Alabama Daily News much of what was said that day was “an awful lot of hyperbole that had very little to do with the actual legislation.”
Senate Bill 5 had been on the Senate floor last week but was carried over because Smitherman had concerns. Elliott said he hadn’t heard from his colleague about the bill in the last week.
Elliott said he expects the bill to be back on the Senate floor soon and get a favorable vote.
Senate rules allow members to talk for hours and delay votes. Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, used some of his time Thursday afternoon to criticize Republicans for not standing up to President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s proposed budget cuts that could negatively impact Alabama, especially the University of Alabama Birmingham and its research programs.
Singleton called South African-born Musk the unelected president and said Republicans are afraid of him and the current administration.
“They’re cutting everything and nobody wants to say anything,” Singleton said. “…Everybody’s scared to say something to them because they’re afraid of (having a primary election opponent.)”
“It’s a sad day in America,” he said.
Changing table bill passes
The filibuster took place while the Senate considered Sen. Arthur Orr’s Senate Bill 83 to require adult-size changing tables in many newly constructed public buildings.
Democrats spoke in favor of the bill as they delayed its passage.
Families of teens and adults with severe disabilities have advocated for the bill, saying they need to be able to safely and privately attend to their loved ones’ bathroom needs. They’ve told stories about changing diapers on dirty public restroom floors or in the backs of their cars in crowded parking lots.
“These families are citizens and need to be treated with respect,” Orr said on the Senate floor. “… This is taking everybody into consideration.”
The bill passed 27-0 and moves to a House committee.
The other bill to pass earlier Thursday was Sen. Jabo Waggoner’s Senate Bill 140 to expand the requirements of a youth coach safety training program.