Committee approves SB5 to shift Archives board appointments to presiding officers and governor

The State Government Committee approved SB5, a bill that would change how members of the Alabama Department of Archives and History Board are appointed and make the governor a voting member of the board.

Chairman Elliott presented SB5 to the committee and described the change as moving the board from a self-appointing board to one whose members are appointed by elected officials, including the governor, the speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate. "The majority of the board's appointments will come from the governor, but also from the speaker of the house and the pro tem of the Senate," Chairman Elliott said. He added the bill includes standard diversity language and that changes would occur over time as current members' terms expire.

During discussion Representative Chestnut asked for clarification about the engrossed (substituted) language and the underlined insertions; Chairman Elliott confirmed the underlines reflect the substitute language from the Senate. Committee members asked how many board members the bill would establish; Chairman Elliott said the board would remain at 17 members and that the principal change was making the governor a voting member rather than an ex officio participant.

Representative Chestnut raised a procedural concern about language at lines 106–107 stating that appointed members "shall serve at the pleasure of his or her appointing authority," contrasting that with six-year terms in the bill text. Chestnut said the clause makes the board "an extremely hyper political board" because an appointing authority could remove members before the end of a term. Chairman Elliott responded that many appointments at state and federal levels are "at the pleasure" of the appointing authority and that having defined terms is consistent with current practice while preserving appointing authority.

Representative Lawrence asked why nominees from the minority leader are provided as a short list to presiding officers rather than given direct appointment authority; Chairman Elliott said the speaker and the president pro tem are elected by the whole chamber and the practice preserves the presiding officers' appointing authority while acknowledging minority-party input by allowing the minority leader to submit nominees.

The committee voted to approve SB5; Representative Wood seconded the motion. The chair called for the ayes. The transcript records that a "couple of no's" were voiced and that "Ayes have it," but no individual roll-call tally was recorded in the available text.

The recorded discussion included multiple procedural clarifications but did not include a full reading of the bill text or a roll-call vote in the transcript provided.