AL
Alabama House Bill HB83

Alabama 2023 Regular Session

Alabama House Bill HB83 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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11 HB83INTRODUCED
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33 80TG22-1
44 By Representative Pringle
55 RFD: Transportation, Utilities and Infrastructure
66 First Read: 07-Mar-23
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1111 5 80TG22-1 02/22/2023 FC (L) ma 2023-437
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1313 SYNOPSIS:
1414 Under existing law, the Department of
1515 Transportation is under the direction of the director
1616 who is appointed by the Governor.
1717 This bill would create the State Transportation
1818 Commission composed of five members appointed by the
1919 Governor from the five regions of the Department of
2020 Transportation to coordinate and develop the activities
2121 of the department.
2222 This bill would provide for the appointment of
2323 the Director of the Department of Transportation by the
2424 commission and for the duties of the director.
2525 This bill would also provide that the department
2626 would not be subject to the Budget Management Act.
2727 A BILL
2828 TO BE ENACTED
2929 AN ACT
3030 Relating to the Department of Transportation; to
3131 establish the State Transportation Commission; to provide for
3232 the members, duties, responsibilities, and compensation and
3333 expenses of the commission; to prohibit a person serving on
3434 the State Transportation Commission from benefiting by
3535 entering employment with or contracting with companies that do
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6565 business with the Department of Transportation while he or she
6666 serves on the commission or for a period of two years
6767 thereafter; to provide for the appointment and duties of the
6868 Director of the Department of Transportation; and for this
6969 purpose to amend Sections 23-1-21 and 23-1-21.2, Code of
7070 Alabama 1975, relating to the appointment and authority of the
7171 Director of the Department of Transportation.
7272 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
7373 Section 1.(a) There shall be a State Transportation
7474 Commission which shall consist of five members appointed by
7575 the Governor. One member shall be appointed from each region
7676 of the Department of Transportation as set out in Section 2.
7777 (b)(1) The members appointed from the Regions One and
7878 Four shall serve an initial term of two years. The members
7979 appointed from the Regions Two and Five shall serve an initial
8080 term of four years. The member appointed from the Region Three
8181 shall serve an initial term of six years. After the initial
8282 appointments, the term of the members shall be six years
8383 except that a member shall serve until a successor is
8484 appointed and qualified. A member of the commission may not
8585 serve consecutive terms. The membership of the commission
8686 shall be inclusive and shall reflect the racial, gender,
8787 geographic, urban, rural, and economic diversity of the state.
8888 (2) The commission shall report to the Legislature by
8989 the second legislative day of each regular session the extent
9090 to which the membership of the commission has met the
9191 diversity requirements of this section.
9292 (c) If any one or more of the commission members dies,
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122122 resigns, or is removed from office, the Governor shall fill
123123 the vacancy by appointment for the unexpired term within 30
124124 days of the vacancy.
125125 (d) The commission shall elect from its members a
126126 chair. Three members of the board shall constitute a quorum
127127 for the transaction of the official business of the
128128 commission.
129129 (e)(1) The members of the commission shall serve
130130 part-time in the performance of their official duties, but
131131 shall hold no other office of profit during their incumbency.
132132 In addition, the members shall not be employed in the road
133133 building or any affiliated industry or as a lobbyist.
134134 (2) The members of the commission shall be subject to
135135 the Alabama Ethics Law.
136136 (f) The compensation of the members of the commission
137137 shall be 25 percent of the compensation of the cabinet members
138138 of the Governor pursuant to Section 36-6-6, Code of Alabama
139139 1975, and the compensation shall be paid in installments from
140140 the State Treasury in the same manner that salaries of other
141141 state officers are paid.
142142 (g) Before entering upon the duties of the office, each
143143 commission member shall execute to the state a bond, to be
144144 approved by the Governor in an amount fixed by the Governor,
145145 for the faithful performance of his or her duties.
146146 (h) The necessary office, supplies, stationery, and
147147 equipment shall be provided for the commission by the State
148148 Department of Transportation. Each member of the commission
149149 shall maintain an office in the region headquarters in the
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179179 region where the member resides.
180180 (i) Meetings of the commission shall be held at the
181181 call of the chair or as may be determined by a quorum of the
182182 commission.
183183 (j) The State Transportation Commission shall be
184184 responsible for and have the authority to assume all duties of
185185 the Director of the Department of Transportation unless the
186186 commission by resolution delegates the duties to the director.
187187 (k) No person who serves on the State Transportation
188188 Commission shall enter employment with or contract with a
189189 company or organization or enter employment with or contract
190190 with a company or organization that contracts with a company
191191 or organization that benefited from work approved by the
192192 commission during the time the person was on the commission.
193193 If a person who has served on the State Transportation
194194 Commission becomes employed or contracts with a company or
195195 organization, that company or organization is prohibited from
196196 entering into contracts with the Department of Transportation,
197197 either directly or indirectly, for a period of two years after
198198 the completion of their term of service as a member of the
199199 commission.
200200 Section 2. The five regions of the Department of
201201 Transportation established by the department on the effective
202202 date of this act shall be the regions for the purpose of the
203203 appointment of members of the State Transportation Commission.
204204 The regions are as follows:
205205 (1) Region One: The North Region composed of Madison,
206206 Jackson, DeKalb, Marshall, Cullman, Etowah, Cherokee, Colbert,
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236236 Lauderdale, Lawrence, Franklin, Limestone, and Morgan
237237 Counties.
238238 (2) Region Two: The East Central Region composed of
239239 Jefferson, Blount, St. Clair, Shelby, Coosa, Tallapoosa,
240240 Calhoun, Chambers, Clay, Cleburne, Randolph, and Talladega
241241 Counties and a portion of Lee County.
242242 (3) Region Three: The West Central Region composed of
243243 Tuscaloosa, Bibb, Chilton, Hale, Perry, Sumter, Fayette,
244244 Lamar, Pickens, Greene, Walker, Marion, and Winston Counties.
245245 (4) Region Four: The Southeast Region composed of
246246 Elmore, Autauga, Bullock, Macon, Montgomery, Butler, Lowndes,
247247 Dallas, Russell, Houston, Henry, Coffee, Geneva, Convington,
248248 Crenshaw, Dale, Pike, and Barbour Counties and a portion of
249249 Lee County.
250250 (5) Region Five: The Southwest Region composed of
251251 Mobile, Baldwin, Conecuh, Escambia, Clarke, Marengo, Choctaw,
252252 Wilcox, Monroe, and Washington Counties.
253253 Section 3. Sections 23-1-21 and 23-1-21.2 of the Code
254254 of Alabama 1975, are amended to read as follows:
255255 "§23-1-21
256256 (a)(1) The chief executive officer of the State
257257 Department of Transportation shall be known as the Director of
258258 Transportation, who shall be appointed by the Governor State
259259 Transportation Commission and shall hold office at the
260260 pleasure of the Governor. All the powers, authority, and
261261 duties vested in the State Department of Transportation shall
262262 be exercised by the Director of Transportation commission. The
263263 Director of Transportation shall have the authority and duties
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293293 delegated to him or her by the State Transportation
294294 Commission.
295295 (2) Before entering upon the duties of office, the
296296 Director of Transportation shall execute to the State of
297297 Alabama a bond, to be approved by the Governor State
298298 Transportation Commission , in an amount to be fixed by the
299299 Governor commission, for the faithful performance of his or
300300 her duties.
301301 (b) The Director of Transportation shall have the
302302 following minimum qualifications:
303303 (1) Possess a wide knowledge of the transportation
304304 system and needs of Alabama.
305305 (2) Possess a wide knowledge of the principles of
306306 transportation organization and administration.
307307 (3) Possess selected training or expertise in the field
308308 of transportation.
309309 (c) No person who is a member of the State
310310 Transportation Commission within two years next preceding his
311311 or her service on the commission shall be eligible to be
312312 chosen as director of the department. The director shall give
313313 his or her entire time to the duties of the office.
314314 (d) In the event of a vacancy in the office of the
315315 director, the chief engineer of the department shall serve as
316316 acting director until the commission selects a replacement.
317317 The commission shall name a new director within 90 days of a
318318 vacancy."
319319 "§23-1-21.2
320320 (a) The director, acting alone or through, and in
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350350 cooperation with local entities, is hereby delegated the
351351 authority to:
352352 (1) Enter into agreements with local entities to
353353 provide public transportation and to administer any program or
354354 programs, whether rural or urban, relative to public
355355 transportation resulting from federal transportation
356356 legislation. This shall include, but not be limited to,
357357 applying for, accepting, and expending federal public
358358 transportation funds in accordance with applicable federal
359359 laws and regulations.
360360 (2) Enter into agreements with the United States for
361361 federal assistance for public transportation.
362362 (3) Enter into agreements with local entities to
363363 perform and/or and cooperate in the performance of
364364 transportation planning for public transportation
365365 improvements. However, the director shall not perform such
366366 planning until such time as the local entities affected enter
367367 into agreement with the director to carry out a planning
368368 process.
369369 (4) Provide any available technical assistance to local
370370 entities for formulating a program of public transportation
371371 projects to assure that said projects are in accordance with
372372 the comprehensive transportation planning process where such
373373 process is established and is a prerequisite for federal
374374 assistance.
375375 (5) Administer any state funds authorized from time to
376376 time by the Legislature for the purpose of public
377377 transportation.
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407407 (6) Develop and promulgate adopt such rules and
408408 regulations as are determined necessary to insure ensure
409409 compliance with federal laws and regulations.
410410 (b) In addition to the duties listed in subsection (a),
411411 the director shall do all of the following:
412412 (1) Administer the policies promulgated by the
413413 commission.
414414 (2) Supervise and direct all administrative and
415415 technical activities of the department.
416416 (3) Organize the offices of the department.
417417 (4) Coordinate the activities of the various offices of
418418 the department.
419419 (5) Recommend studies and investigations subject to
420420 commission approval as he or she may deem appropriate and
421421 carry out the approved recommendations in conjunction with the
422422 various offices.
423423 (6) Prepare and deliver to the Legislature and the
424424 Governor on or before January 1 of each year, and at other
425425 times as may be required by the Legislature or Governor, a
426426 full report of the work of the department and the office
427427 thereof, including a detailed statement of expenditures of the
428428 department, a detailed construction update, information
429429 concerning the status of roads, mass transit, and aviation,
430430 and any recommendations the department may have.
431431 (7) Have general supervision over all matters relating
432432 to the construction or maintenance of the state highways,
433433 letting of contracts, and the selection of materials to be
434434 used in the construction of state highways and the employment,
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464464 promotion, demotion, reprimand, suspension, termination,
465465 reassignment, transfer, moving, or relocation of all personnel
466466 not specifically authorized by statute to be employed by the
467467 commission. The director may authorize the payment of expenses
468468 of any personnel reassigned, transferred, moved, or relocated
469469 in accordance with rules adopted by the commission.
470470 (8) Sign all contracts and agreements in the name of
471471 the state.
472472 Section 4. The provisions of this act shall be
473473 operative only after the Attorney General gives an opinion in
474474 writing that this act does not materially affect the case
475475 styled, Johnny Reynolds v. Alabama Department of
476476 Transportation, 85-T-665-N Middle District of Alabama.
477477 Section 5. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Budget
478478 Management Act, neither the Governor nor the Finance Director
479479 shall have any authority to withhold funds, deny transfer of
480480 funds, or redirect specific projects contrary to either the
481481 five-year plan of the commission or the annual revenue and
482482 expenditure plan of the commission.
483483 Section 6. This act shall become effective on the first
484484 day of the third month following its passage and approval by
485485 the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.
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