BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE AUTAUGA NEWS OWNER
Top Photo: From left are Senator Clyde Chambliss, Representative Jerry Starnes, Elmore County Commissioner Desirae Lewis Jackson, Elmore County Commission Chairman Bart Mercer, Elmore County Probate Judge John Thornton and Senator Will Barfoot.
This past week the Millbrook Area Chamber of Commerce hosted their first Legislative Breakfast, inviting area legislators and the public to come meet and hear about current political events.
The EAN would like to thank the Chamber for doing this, and we applaud their efforts to educate the public about what is really happening in our area and across the state. Attendees were allowed to ask questions of the legislators as well.
Legislators who attended were:
Senator Clyde Chambliss serves District 30 which encompasses the counties of Elmore, Autauga, Chilton, Coosa and Tallapoosa. He is the Vice Chair of the General Fund, involved with Finance and Taxation, confirmations, government affairs. He also serves for legislation rules, children and youth health. He is the Vice Chair of county and municipal government and a Whip in the Senate.
Representative Jerry Starnes serves District 88 which encompasses Elmore and Autauga counties. He covers public service, Homeland Security, Military and Veterans Affairs.
Senator Will Barfoot serves District 25 which covers counties including Elmore, Montgomery and Crenshaw. He is the Chair of the Judiciary committee and serves in banking and insurance, veterans and military affairs, and transportation.
Each were given five minutes to speak. Elmore County School Supt. Richard Dennis served as emcee.
First up to speak was Senator Barfoot.
Speaking of Elmore County in general, Barfoot said he feels there is no finer example of public officials working together for the betterment of their communities.
“Specifically, Cacyce Davis. (Director of the Elmore County Child Nutrition program) I just want to recognize her and the staff that she has. What we see here is not a product of something that you just snap your fingers and there it is. Her name has been mentioned, and Elmore County specifically, by the farmers of the local grown products that are served in our schools. And Rick Pate, the Commissioner of Agriculture, he has pointed Elmore County and the successes that have been made here to grow that program.:
In other news, Barfoot said that this week in the Alabama Senate has been especially difficult.
“We took up in the Senate a DEI Divisive Concept Bill. We were on the floor yesterday for about eight hours. We debated and discussed that and got that passed. I believe that is important for K-12 and including two- and four-year universities, making sure there are not issues for students whether it be that one sexual orientation, and you are wrong because you are not this way. Or that race and color is not a defining aspect of who we are. So that was a bill to make an effort take out those provisions. The divisiveness is whenever we force issues on people by their race, creed, color or national origin that they are better than somebody.”
He continued, “I see that as a bill that will ultimately unite all of us to recognize we are individual sand we do have some differences. I think you will see some positive impact from that.”
Barfoot also recognized the Carlee Russell Bill. Last year Carlee Russell reported a false kidnapping and was found guilty under a just a misdemeanor. Thousands of dollars and man hours were used in trying to investigate those false claims.
“The bill strengthens that law where we have law enforcement come out in mass, and spend a lot of taxpayer’s dollars that (false report) is just not true. We stiffened those penalties and got it through the Senate Judiciary Committee.”
Up next was Senator Chambliss, who credited Barfoot for the hard work in the Senate, and the eight-hour day Barfoot stood discussing the DEI Bill.
He praised local governments in Elmore County that work together so well, and said it makes it much easier if issues are resolved on the local level, rather than being handled in the Senate.
He said that they are a third of the way through this Legislative Session.
“So far there have been 154 bills introduced in the Senate and 227 in the House.”
Chambliss expressed his appreciation for events such as the breakfast where legislators can explain what is happening in the halls to the general public. He said he appreciates the chance to represent his constituents in the Senate.
“Sometimes it is fun. Sometimes it is not. But it is really energizing when things you have worked so hard for, that you know are going to benefit our citizens down the road,” he said. Then he specifically spoke on the DEI Bill saying, “That is going to have a long-term effect and, in my opinion, a positive effect. I have relatives that have been subjected to divisive concepts, who were literally brought to tears because of who they were. And that is not right.”
Representative Jerry Starnes again praised the Chamber for hosting the event.
He spoke of the gambling bill, saying “It came to us a couple of weeks ago, and I voted no and he explained why.
He said the overall majority of people he has talked to, said “Please do not vote for this.”
He continued saying that two people have asked him to give the state residents an opportunity to vote on it, rather than leaving the decision to legislators.
He also spoke on School Choice, which will come to the House on Tuesday.
“From my understanding, the Bill will give two different avenues. One for private school you would get $7,000 per family per student. Then for homeschool, you would get up to two kids, $2,000 each for homeschool and the max of that.”
Referring back to the Gambling Bill, he said he is for a lottery, if it was a clean lottery, with no other gambling issues attached. As for the gambling aspect, he said that was his personal belief to oppose open gambling. The current bill includes both gambling and the lottery.
Starnes said he worked hard to get as many opinions as possible from constituents, to see how they felt about gambling. So, from those conversations, he voted no. Through personal experience dealing with friends and family, he said he came to learn that gambling addiction is real and damages a lot of families.
Other local area leaders also spoke, including Millbrook Mayor Al Kelley. He talked of the 17 Springs project, which has seen Phase 1 completed, and construction continues on Phase II.
As for the partnership, both Starnes and Chambliss praised all of the entities for their ability to work together as one to make 17 Springs a reality, that will have positive outcomes far outside of Elmore County.
Though Phase II is still in development, Phase I is operational, and tennis courts, pickle ball courts and soccer fields have seen outstanding support and use since being open to the public.
This past weekend was the Blue-Gray Tennis tournament which brought athletes from across the country. Many tournaments have already been held at the facility which is the subject of discussion across the country. The city and county receive multiple calls often from other communities, who mostly say they are amazed that five separate entities were able to come together for this project.
Those agencies are the City of Millbrook, Elmore County Commission, the Elmore County Economic Development Association, the Greater Montgomery YMCA and the Elmore County Public School system.
Questions from the floor were then offered. Vickie Bonner Ward spoke on the gambling issue, and her fear that parents would spend too much time and money in a casino, when they don’t have enough funds to support their children.
Senator Chambliss said he has spent a lot of time on the issue and said there are both pros and cons for allowing gambling in the state.
“We have dealt with this issue almost every session. We have had a special session devoted entirely to this. This issue is not going away. So, we are trying to figure out how to deal with it; what we should and shouldn’t do. I would love to be able to tell you today, X, Y, Z. I might can give you that next week. We are gathering that information now.”
He said it is believed that legislators will have a firmer answer within the next two weeks and said everyone should stay tuned to updates.
Elmore County resident Harris Garner also asked if there could be a bill to allow a vote of citizens in the state.
Chambliss said is probably the one thing that everyone agrees on. But is isn’t that easy.
“It is our job to make sure that is a good bill. A lot of folks say, ‘Give us a clean lottery.’ Well, a clean lottery is not possible because we already have gambling in the state. You have to deal with that in some shape, form or fashion. You can’t just go to the Constitution and repeal the prohibition because then there are no rules. You have to have a repealed bill, which is a Constitutional amendment. Then you have to deal with enforcement. It is really not as simple as voting on the issue as most people think it is. Especially when you start talking about changing the Constitution.”
Millbrook Council President Michael Gay then addressed the legislators.
He said he was thankful that state legislators Starnes and Chambliss have also been making rounds to area city councils to address issues.
