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State Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Jospehine, has re-filed two bills from last session that would allow local library board members and the board of the Department of Archives and History to be removed at will.
Both bills appear to bring in changes made during their journeys in the last session with a notable exception: the board members could be removed without “just cause.”
House committees added language last year to require just cause for the removal of board members, and the bills both stalled at that point with Elliott apparently no longer interested in having them passed.
Both bills stem from the culture wars in the state over the appropriateness of LGBTQ content.
Elliott first tried to punish the Department of Archives and History—by taking $5 million out of its budget—in retaliation for the department allowing a one-hour lecture to be held by the Invisible Histories Project on LGBTQ history in the state.
When that bill failed (in a special session specifically set to del with redistricting), Elliott returned with a form of this bill to allow board members to be removed at will.
The new proposed makeup of the board changed significantly during the bill’s movement through the Senate and House committee.
The makeup proposed in this version of the bill, SB6, would immediately require two members per Congressional district (there is currently one member per district) and two at-large members. Then, after June 2025, the board would expand to a total of 19 members, adding the governor as a voting member and appointees from the speaker of the House and Senate president pro tempore.
The bill would then phase out having members representing Congressional districts altogether. As vacancies occur, they would be filled (in a particular order) by appointments of the lieutenant governor, governor, minority House and Senate leaders, and speaker of the House and Senate president pro tem.
By the time the full board is replaced, the governor and lietuenant governor would have three picks each, the speaker of the House and Senate president pro Tem would have two each and the minority leaders would each get one.
Out of those 16 appointments, 14 would be appointed by positions currently held by Republicans and only 2 positions would be appointed by Democrats.
SB5, the library board bill, would require a two-thirds majority of the library board member’s appointing authority to remove the appointee.
That’s based on changes made to the bill last year. Again, language requiring the governing body to prove “just cause” has been removed.
It’s never been made clear exactly which local library drama inspired the bill.
At one point there may have been an interest in giving the Autauga County Commission power to remove library board members to stack the board with Clean Up Alabama or like-minded members. But the original board all resigned over perceived disrespect from the commission, and the county has already been able to place its preferred appointees on the board. If anything, this bill would potentially give the Prattville City Council an opportunity to boot its own appointees and appoint new members that would challenge the current board leadership.
Elliott also referenced the Ozark library at one point as a potential inspiration for this bill. Although Mayor Mark Blankenship had threatened to defund the library if they didn’t remove LGBTQ books from the youth section, the council soundly rejected that idea. And the Dale County Commission just approved a big budget increase for the library over the consternation of just one commissioner.
Both bills will start in the committee in Senate, likely early in the session.
