Montgomery, AL – A bill has been introduced in the Alabama Legislature that would ban anyone who works for state government from also serving as a legislator.
The bill is sponsored by Representative DuWayne Bridges, a Republican from Valley. It would ban legislators from working for state agencies, public schools, two-year colleges or universities.
Republican Governor Bob Riley is supporting the bill. But prospects of it passing in the Democrat-controlled Legislature appear bleak.
The measure has been assigned to the House Government Operations Committee. Committee chairman Representative Oliver Robinson, a Birmingham Democrat, told The Birmingham News he is opposed to the bill and does not plan to bring it up for a vote.
Bridges' bill would write into law a policy passed by the state Board of Education that bans the two-year college system from employing any elected state official until after the elections of November 2010. The bill would also restrict people from serving in the Legislature if they have a personal services or professional services contract with the state or a public school, college or university.
---
Information from: The Birmingham News
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)