By Associated Press
Montgomery, AL – The Alabama Senate began its new session the same way it ended the last session - divided along party lines over a Republican senator punching a Democratic senator.
On the last day of the 2007 session, June 7, Sen. Charles Bishop, R-Jasper, hit Sen. Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe, in the head. On the opening day of the 2008 session Tuesday, the Senate split along party lines in passing a resolution providing that by majority vote, the Senate can require security to escort senators who resorts to violence in the future.
Also, the Democrat-controlled panel that determines senators' committee assignments took Bishop off of several Senate committees, including the General Fund budget committee.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)