Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger recently filed a bill to repeal next year his legislation to help create a large but controversial resort development on Smith Lake in Cullman County.
Gudger, R-Cullman, was a co-sponsor with Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills, this year on Senate Bill 322 to create a community development district for a proposed luxury resort. The legislation allowed the City of Cullman to annex the land for the development. The Cullman County Commission opposed the proposal. The Cullman Times reported the proposed annex is about 2,500 acres. The annexation would permit alcohol sales at the resort in the dry county.
Opposition to SB322 has been an issue in recent special elections in Cullman County.
In a social media post on Friday, Gudger said he’d been at an event that morning with hundreds of area educators.
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“The No. 1 topic they kept talking about was SB322,” he said. “There are some amazing things happening in the Cullman County educational system, but it was all overshadowed by that one particular bill.”
Later that day, he had a similar experience in Winston and Blount counties.
He said he believes his job as a legislator is to bring in economic development, money and jobs for the area, and SB322 would have done that.
“But I’m listening to the people loud and clear,” he said.
He said the repeal bill, Senate Bill 12, filed last week is a placeholder for more detailed legislation to come.
Gudger, the Senate’s highest-ranking member, said the bill will pass.
“This issue should be dead and we should be focused on the positive things in our communities,” he said.
“… I love this community way too much to have it torn apart.”
The 2026 legislative session starts Jan. 13.