Alabama House approves SB79 defining sex-linked terms after heated debate over 10-minute calendar

The Alabama House of Representatives on the floor passed Senate Bill 79 on a 70-12 vote after a contentious debate about a 10-minute special-order calendar that limited floor discussion.

SB79, presented to the House by Representative Bose, aims to “define and codify the definitions of *** based words already in state code,” including terms such as man, woman, male, female, boy, girl, mother and father, the sponsor said during floor debate. ‘‘We have had 6 public hearings on this bill,’’ Representative Bose said, adding that the words ‘‘woman’’ and similar terms appear repeatedly in Alabama statutes and that the bill would provide “clarity, certainty, and uniformity in the courts and in the laws of Alabama.”

The bill’s passage followed a prolonged floor exchange over procedure: several members objected to the use of a compressed 10-minute special-order calendar that limited debate on bills scheduled for final passage. Representative Bracey and others said the process denied some members a full opportunity to debate and to seek amendments on measures that could have immediate legal effect. ‘‘It just didn’t give it justice,’’ Representative Bracey said of the 10-minute limit. Representative McCampbell said members are elected to represent large districts and asked for more time to ‘‘make the case for the people that I represent.’’ Representative Hall and Representative Warren also pressed for fuller debate and expressed concern that complex or controversial bills deserve more floor time than the calendar allowed.

Rules committee leadership defended the schedule as an uncommon step taken because of a compressed committee calendar and multiple committee meetings that day. Representative Joe Lovern, chairman of the House Rules Committee, said the abbreviated calendar was a ‘‘rarity’’ created by time constraints and that the subject matter of SB79 had been discussed in previous sessions. Lovern added that the bill, if cleared, ‘‘could go to the governor immediately.’’

On the measure itself, Representative Rafferty offered a germane amendment intended to add language banning compulsory genital inspections and banning the use of surveillance cameras in or immediately outside single-sex spaces such as restrooms, locker rooms and showers. Rafferty described the amendment as a privacy and safety protection and circulated a clean copy on the floor. Representative Bose declined to accept it as friendly and moved to lay the amendment on the table; the body laid the amendment on the table on a roll-call vote of 74-24.

After floor debate and procedural votes, the clerk recorded final passage of SB79 by roll call, 70 ayes and 12 nays. The House earlier adopted the special-order calendar and a rules procedural motion (BR) that allowed the Rafferty amendment to be offered; the BR adoption passed 76-18. Following the SB79 vote the House stood in recess for committee meetings and left the journal open until reconvening.

Supporters said SB79 restores what they described as a clear biological meaning to sex-linked words in state law; opponents and several members of the House said the compressed calendar and limited debate raised fairness and transparency concerns and that related questions about implementation and exceptions remained unresolved. The Rafferty amendment’s sponsors said their language was intended to prevent invasive practices and covert monitoring in single-sex facilities; that amendment was not adopted.

SB79 now moves to the next step in the enactment process and, as discussed on the floor, may be sent to the governor for signature. The House’s use of a 10-minute special-order calendar for final-passage votes drew repeated objections from members who said constituents and lawmakers were owed fuller, more deliberate debate on matters that affect people’s lives.