HB12 Alabama 2010 1st Special Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Craig Ford

Independent

Session

First Special Session 2010

Title

Campaign contributions, candidate seeking election to a statewide office, contributions, loans to his or her own campaign, limited

Summary

HB12 would require the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate to create and maintain a formal legislative record of proceedings.

What This Bill Does

The bill requires the Clerk and the Secretary to establish procedures to implement and maintain a legislative record. The record would include verbatim discussions from committees, committee reports and votes, floor debates, public hearing discussions, and statements inserted by members about their votes or actions, plus other materials at a member's request, and could be published as part of the journal, as a separate publication, or in digital form, similar to the Congressional Record. They must consider cost, accessibility, usefulness, accuracy, and preservation, publish the record within a reasonable time after each session’s adjournment, and may publish more frequently; a reasonable fee may be charged to cover publication costs.

Who It Affects

• Legislators (members and staff) who would have their debates, votes, and statements recorded and may request inclusion of materials in the record.
• The general public and researchers who would gain access to a more complete and searchable record of legislative proceedings.

Key Provisions

• Clerk of the House and Secretary of the Senate must establish procedures to create and maintain a legislative record of matters related to the legislative process.
• The legislative record must include verbatim committee discussions, committee reports, votes, floor debates, public hearing discussions, and member-stated rationales for votes or actions, plus other materials at a member’s request.
• The record may be published as part of the journal, as a separate publication, or in a separate digital/computer form, and may resemble the U.S. Congressional Record.
• Considerations for establishing the record include cost-effectiveness, accessibility, usefulness, accuracy, and preservation.
• Within a reasonable time after sine die adjournment, the Clerk and Secretary must compile, index, and publish the legislative record; shorter publication intervals may be used.
• The Clerk and Secretary may charge a reasonable fee to cover publication costs.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 24, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Elections