Gov. Riley: No Special Session
MONTGOMERY -- In a blistering press release announcing that he will not call a special session of the state Legislature this fall, Gov. Bob Riley said the Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have told him they will not support bringing ethics reforms or four-year appraisals up in a fall special session.
Riley essentially said the Democratic leaders' word meant nothing.
Without a consensus, Riley said Tuesday he will not call lawmakers back this fall for a special session.
Requests for a Democratic response to Riley's rebuke are out and the story will be updated accordingly.
Riley's statement reads:
"The leaders of the other party have told me they do not want a special session focused on ethics reforms and ending annual appraisals, despite the fact that they campaigned on those very same reforms during the last election," Riley said.
"I'm disappointed they are unwilling to keep their promises to the people," said Riley. "I'm disappointed they continue to block efforts to pass bills that ban PAC-to-PAC transfers, disclose all spending by lobbyists, permanently end pass-through pork and stop annual appraisals. These are reforms I promised to submit to the Legislature, and I kept my commitment. They haven't and apparently won't."
"The Republicans were ready to debate these reforms in a special session," he continued. "They tried throughout the regular session to bring these issues up for a vote. Even on the last day of the regular session, the bipartisan coalition in the Senate forced a vote on whether to bring up a bill to ban PAC-to-PAC transfers. The Democratic leadership killed it.
"Since both parties promised to address these reforms, I believe isolating them in a special session was our best opportunity to get these bills out of committee and up for a vote. But the other side won't agree and threatened to kill the session without a single vote on these reforms. They tell me these issues can be addressed in the regular session, but their track record to date is less than encouraging.
"I want both parties to take the next three and a half months to come up with an acceptable approach to these issues and ones that help solve the insurance problem we have on the coast. We can solve these problems, but only if we work together. I, for one, continue to be ready to work with anyone who is serious about solving these problems."
The governor decided to make the announcement Tuesday in order to let legislators know they can make their own personal plans for the fall. He leaves the U.S. today for an economic development mission to China and Japan and will return Oct. 17.
Riley has attempted to get the Legislature to pass ethics reforms throughout his term. Riley has repeatedly offered reforms to ban PAC-to-PAC transfers, permanently end pass-through pork, and require lobbyists to disclose what they spend entertaining public officials. During the last three regular sessions, Riley also has supported bills to end annual property appraisals and move to a four-year appraisal cycle. None of these proposals have ever been passed by the Legislature. Early in his term, Riley signed an executive order banning pass-through pork, but he has also sought a law to prohibit the practice.
During his 2007 State of the State Address, Riley brandished his campaign platform -- Plan 2010 -- and the campaign platforms released by Republican and Democratic legislators. All three platforms called for banning PAC-to-PAC transfers, stopping pass-through pork, and requiring disclosure of lobbyists' spending on public officials. All three platforms also included ending annual property appraisals. Riley challenged legislators during that speech to live up to commitments they made on these reforms.
"I take you at your word, and so did the voters," Riley said during his State of the State Address in March.
"A man or woman is only as good as his or her word. So let’s all keep our word and finally pass ethics reform."
