The Republican supermajority created the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, known as ALEA, in 2013, as a way to operate public safety in a more efficient, cost-effective way according to the legislationโs sponsors.
However, the efficiency and cost savings have not materialized and now HB210 in the House of Representatives is moving to dismantle the sweeping bureaucracy and return public safety operation to its original form.
โThey said ALEA would save about $35 million a year. It hasnโt saved anything,โ according to State Rep. Phillip Pettus, R-Killen, who is sponsoring legislation to abolish ALEA.
Pettus who served as an Alabama State Trooper for 25 years, rising to the rank of captain before his retirement in 2013 says ALEA has failed.
โIt [spending] just keeps going up. And we have fewer troopers on the road now than we did before ALEA was started,โ said Pettus. โThatโs the big thing. I mean, itโs just โ itโs not working.โ
As reported by APRโs Brandon Moseley, in 2018, ALEA received $182,661,377 in total receipts. In the 2019 fiscal year, the Legislature budgeted for ALEA to receive $204,403,572. Hal Taylor, ALEAโs chief, has requested that the agency receive $214,508,787 for the 2020 fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1. That would be a $10,105,215 increase.
Legislation proposed by Pettus would see the various organizations consolidated under ALEA revert to the previous agency structure.
โWe can put it back just like it was,โ said Pettus.
Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh, R-Anniston, and others championed ALEA during the 2013 regular session.
โThis proposal, like many others weโll take up this session, will fundamentally change the landscape of state government and we know that wonโt be easy,โ Marsh added. โBut we owe it to the taxpayers to move heaven and earth on their behalf to make sure weโre living within our means. We look forward to working with various stakeholders to address any concerns they may have, but the bottom line is we will be moving forward.โ
Senate President Pro Tem Pre-Files Legislation to Streamline Stateโs Public Safety Functions
Marshโs optimism was shared by then Senate Majority Leader Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia, who said at the time, โSenator Marsh has taken the lead in examining all aspects of state government to find ways we can operate more efficiently and save taxpayer money,โ Waggoner said. โOur number one responsibility as lawmakers is to ensure weโre living within our means and this proposal is a monumental step in that direction.โ
But as Pettus points out, the promises made never happened and according to him, it has also resulted in fewer troopers policing the state roadways.
โThere are 200 troopers on patrol right now if you divide that by 67 counties, how many is that in a county? I tell people if you got a ticket by a trooper, youโre very unlucky,โ said Pettus.
He notes that currently, troopers are retiring at a faster rate than they are being recruited.
โThereโs 100-something in the class thatโs fixing to be eligible to retire,โ said Pettus. โWe could lose 100-something troopers just like that. We donโt have enough โ weโre not replacing them โ they retire quicker than we can replace them.โ
ALEAโs ineffectiveness Pettus believes is mostly to blame for the lack of troopers on the highways and its burdensome top-heavy management has not resulted in the once lauded savings.
HB210 would return the law enforcement functions consolidated within ALEA to their former offices and departments.