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Deannex bill may be 'dead on arrival' Logjam, veto could kill it; opponents hope for 'courtesy'

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03-25-2007 - from Huntsville Times, BOB LOWRY Times Staff Writer

MONTGOMERY - Even if a bill to deannex 263 acres of commercial property in Madison is filed in the Alabama Legislature, its chances of passage appear remote, at best.

The measure could deprive the city of millions of dollars of sales tax revenue annually, but House and Senate rules, and maybe more importantly, time, are working against the measure.

Hundreds of bills are already awaiting debate, and the education and general fund budgets must pass before other legislation can move.

Before the budgets win approval, it takes a three-fifths vote in each house to bring a bill up for consideration. When the budget bills pass, a logjam of bills will break loose.

"Local bills may pile up and it (deannexation bill) may interfere with a lot of local legislation," said Sen. Tom Butler, D-Madison, an opponent. "I can appeal to my friends that somebody is trying to harm another's district and the district I live in."

If the Legislature should pass the bill, it could always face a late veto by Gov. Bob Riley. The governor has been heavily lobbied by Madison leaders.

At issue is whether Madison can follow through with commitments for public improvements made to property owner and local developer Louis Breland and a development company with ties to former San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr.

A $200 million retail development has been proposed for the site, but Breland apparently has become dissatisfied with Madison's ability to fulfill its incentives.

Once filed in the Senate, the deannexation bill would be assigned to the committee that handles local legislation from Madison County - Local Legislation No. 1 Committee.

Under the Senate's long-standing "local courtesy rule," all five senators, who each represent part of Madison County, would have to sign the bill for it to be reported out of that committee to the full Senate.
Two senators, Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, and Butler, have already said they will not sign the bill, which can be introduced on April 1.

But with the rancor in the Senate this session, Butler says he is less certain that traditions or unwritten gentlemen's agreements will be followed.

"That bill should be dead on arrival, but with the high-pressure politics, they might try some other procedure to ramrod that bill through," he said.

The committee is chaired by Sen. Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, who did not immediately return a phone call.

Sen. Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville, who has agreed to handle the bill, says local courtesy rules don't matter in this case because the project is too important to North Alabama.

Griffith said he agreed to sponsor the bill, but only if it appeared the development at Zierdt Road and Madison Boulevard would be abandoned by the developers.

"The only way I would carry this bill would be if Breland or DeBartolo or someone said we're not going to do this deal unless this property is deannexed," he said. "I will not touch it unless negotiations completely failed and North Alabama is at risk of losing this $200 million development."

But Griffith said he doesn't believe "local courtesy" should play a role in the deannexation bill.

"Local courtesy is gone because legislators from North Alabama are not going to sacrifice something like a Toyota plant because we couldn't agree on something," he said. "I believe the Legislature will come together rather than see this thing not get done."

Griffith said the mayors of Huntsville and Madison should "put their differences aside, and with the help of Gov. Riley," negotiate a settlement.

He suggested the cities could simply share sales tax receipts or create a special district to share tax receipts from the development.

"It's important to us as a region to get it done," he said. "I'd like to frame this discussion not as an adversarial relationship between Huntsville and Madison but as proactive on both of these cities to get this project done."

Orr, whose district includes the property, says Madison - landlocked by Huntsville - may not see a similar retail opportunity for another 20 years.

"The city of Madison is so desperate to help its schools and roads," he said. "I want to see the project succeed so that Madison County will have a marquee place to shop." Orr said deannexation of property from one city to another would set a bad precedent around the state.

"If you carry this one out, what's to stop city A from stopping city B from cutting a deal with a retail establishment to bring them into their city?"

Sen. Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe, had the deannexation bill drafted, he said, as a favor to Breland, a friend and one of his campaign contributors.

Butler said it was "patently wrong in my book" for Barron to get involved in an issue involving Madison.

"No senator messes with stuff in another senator's district," he said. "This bill, on the face of it, violates local courtesy."

Ordinarily, House and Senate members do not get involved in local legislation that does not affect their districts.

Even if the bill passed the Senate and was assigned to the House's Madison County Legislation Committee, Reps. Mike Ball, R-Madison, and Mac McCutcheon, R-Capshaw, say they would use the House local courtesy rule to halt the bill there.

Ball said if the Senate courtesy rules are followed, "I think it will be a moot point what we think in the House. The Senate should be the bigger roadblock."

"It's going to be a question of the clock (time left in the session)," he said. "And it's going to be a question of whether there's an escalation of hostilities."

McCutcheon said he has been assured by Madison officials that the city meets the developers' needs for public improvements.

"My first priority is to see that Madison city gets that because we need the tax base," he said.

Butler predicted House Speaker Seth Hammett, D-Andalusia, would strictly enforce the local courtesy rule in the House.

"I can't see the speaker or any number of people down there (in the House) allowing it to happen," he said.

Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, predicted senators outside Madison County may try to force the issue through the upper chamber.

"I really think when it comes to the House, the speaker has always tried to honor the local bill rule about people staying out of other counties' business," he said. "I really don't think the speaker will allow other people to force that issue on Madison County. "People need to understand that the Legislature is not a democracy. It's a dictatorship. Whoever has the gavel has the power to do whatever they want to, normally. And that includes bending the rules."

Rep. Sue Schmitz, D-Toney, chairwoman of the Madison County Legislation Committee, said she is noncommittal on the bill, but would enforce the local courtesy rule in the House committee.