1 HJR52 2 215715-2 3 By Representatives Coleman, McCutcheon, Daniels, Garrett, 4 Robbins and Drummond 5 RFD: Rules 6 First Read: 09-FEB-22 Page 0 1 215715-2:n:02/08/2022:PMG/bm LSA2021-2713R1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ADOPTING THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA OF 9 2022 AND PROPOSING RATIFICATION AT THE 2022 GENERAL ELECTION. 10 11 WHEREAS, Amendment 951 to the Constitution of 12 Alabama of 1901, ratified on November 3, 2020, requires the 13 Director of the Legislative Services Agency, during the 2022 14 Regular Session, to propose a draft Constitution of Alabama of 15 2022, which is a recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama 16 of 1901, arranging the constitution in proper articles, parts, 17 and sections, removing all racist language, deleting 18 duplicative and repealed provisions, consolidating provisions 19 regarding economic development, arranging all local amendments 20 by county of application, and making no other changes; and 21 WHEREAS, the Joint Interim Legislative Committee on 22 the Recompilation of the Constitution was created by Act 23 2021-523 to assist in the revision of the Constitution of 24 Alabama of 1901, receive input from the public regarding the 25 revision, and collaborate with the Director of the Legislative 26 Services Agency in the preparation of a proposed draft of the 27 constitution, as required by Amendment 951; and Page 1 1 WHEREAS, the Joint Interim Legislative Committee on 2 the Recompilation of the Constitution was comprised of 3 Representative Merika Coleman, Chair, Senator Arthur Orr, Vice 4 Chair, Representative Danny Garrett, Senator Sam Givhan, 5 Representative Ben Robbins, Senator Rodger Smitherman, Ms. 6 Anita Archie, Mr. Greg Butrus, Mr. Stan Gregory, and Mr. Al 7 Vance; and 8 WHEREAS, during 2021, the Joint Interim Legislative 9 Committee on the Recompilation of the Constitution held 10 numerous public meetings to discuss the proposed recompilation 11 of the constitution, received input from the public, and 12 collaborated with the Director of the Legislative Services 13 Agency in the preparation of the proposed draft recompilation 14 of the constitution; at its November 3, 2021, meeting, the 15 committee unanimously voted to adopt the draft recommended by 16 the director; and 17 WHEREAS, the proposed Constitution of Alabama of 18 2022 uses as its base the statutory recompilation of the 19 Alabama Constitution of 1901, authorized by Act 2003-312 and 20 appearing as Volumes 1 and 2 of the Code of Alabama 1975 for 21 over 15 years; and 22 WHEREAS, the final draft of the proposed 23 Constitution of Alabama of 2022 is available for review on the 24 website of the Legislature and the Secretary of State and has 25 been made available to any state agency, county, or 26 municipality for posting in accordance with Amendment 951; now 27 therefore, Page 2 1 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA, BOTH 2 HOUSES THEREOF CONCURRING, That 3 (a) The proposed Constitution of Alabama of 2022, 4 prepared by the Director of the Legislative Services Agency, 5 with advice and recommendations from the Joint Interim 6 Legislative Committee on the Recompilation of the 7 Constitution, as well as members of the public through that 8 process, complies with Amendment 951 to the Constitution of 9 Alabama of 1901, and only arranges the Constitution of Alabama 10 of 1901 into proper articles, parts, and sections, removes 11 racist language, deletes duplicative and repealed provisions, 12 consolidates provisions regarding economic development, 13 arranges all local amendments to the constitution by county of 14 application, and makes no other changes. 15 (b) In accordance with Amendment 951 to the 16 Constitution of Alabama of 1901, the draft Constitution of 17 Alabama of 2022, proposed by the Director of the Legislative 18 Services Agency with advice and recommendations from the Joint 19 Interim Legislative Committee on the Recompilation of the 20 Constitution, is hereby adopted and incorporated by reference 21 herein. 22 (c) The proposed Constitution of Alabama of 2022 23 shall be submitted to the qualified electors of this state for 24 ratification pursuant to Amendment 714 of the Constitution of 25 Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 286.01 of the 26 Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, 27 as amended, and Amendment 951 to the Constitution of Alabama Page 3 1 of 1901, except that the text of the proposed Constitution of 2 Alabama of 2022 shall be published on the public website of 3 the Secretary of State and the website of the Legislature and 4 shall be made available, without cost, to any agency of the 5 state or a municipality or county in the state that operates a 6 public access website for publication on the website at their 7 request. 8 (d) Upon ratification of the proposed Constitution 9 of Alabama of 2022 by a majority of the qualified electors of 10 this state voting on the question of the ratification in 11 accordance with Amendment 951, this resolution, and the 12 election laws of this state, the Constitution of Alabama of 13 2022 shall succeed the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as the 14 supreme law of this state in accordance with Amendment 951. 15 (e) An election upon the proposed Constitution of 16 Alabama of 2022 shall be held at the 2022 general election, at 17 which time the officers of the general election shall open a 18 poll for the vote of the qualified electors upon the 19 ratification of the proposed constitution. The Secretary of 20 State shall place the question of ratification on the election 21 ballot and shall set forth the following description: 22 "Proposing adoption of the Constitution of Alabama 23 of 2022, which is a recompilation of the Constitution of 24 Alabama of 1901, prepared in accordance with Amendment 951, 25 arranging the constitution in proper articles, parts, and 26 sections, removing racist language, deleting duplicated and 27 repealed provisions, consolidating provisions regarding Page 4 1 economic development, arranging all local amendments by county 2 of application, and making no other changes." 3 This description shall be followed by the following 4 language: 5 "Yes ( ) No ( )." Page 5