I found it a little ironic and Don Siegelman was quoted along with several other former lieutenant governors in Alabama saying he thought the 'powers' needed to be restored to the lieutenant governor position when he was the one who initiated gutting the powers of that position.
An Alabama Senate bill introduced by Sen. Gerald Dial would essentially gut the powers of the lieutenant governor and make that position more ceremonial than governmental. I haven't read Sen. Dial's bill entirely, but in a nutshell, it will reduce the lieutenant governor's position to be basically no more than taking up office space and being 'a heartbeat away' from becoming governor in the event the current governor dies in office or is removed. Recent past history tells me if you want to be governor of Alabama, get elected lieutenant governor and your chances of the governor being removed from office are pretty good. So you simply pack your bags at the statehouse and walk across the street to the capitol.
From all indications, Dial's bill won't get passed this session but my bet is it will be back on the agenda next year.
Al.com interviewed several past lieutenant governors and they didn't like the proposal. One of those was Siegelman. I almost laughed when I read it.
Siegelman was the sitting lieutenant governor when he was elected governor in 1998 but wouldn't take the high chair until 1999. Like most elections, it takes a few months to take the next office and Siegelman used that time as lieutenant governor to strip a lot of power away from the next incoming lieutenant governor. Remember that Siegelman was a Democrat and the voters in the state of Alabama had the gaul to elect Republican Steve Windom as its lieutenant governor.
As Ray Stevens sang, 'meanwhile back at the hotel', Siegelman wasn't about to let a Republican lieutenant governor control the Senate when he was about to push his Democratic agenda, namely an education lottery.
Back in the day, while the governor took the limelight and got his picture in the paper, the rubber met the road in the Alabama Senate with the lieutenant governor who not only presided over the Senate but had the power to make committee appointments and assign bills. In my opinion the lieutenant governor had more power than the governor because he could dictate which bills came up for a vote and which bills had an early death.
Siegelman wanted no part of that and on an 18-17 vote the Senate stripped the next lieutenant governor (Windom) of most of his powers – namely not making legislative appointments and assigning bills to committees.
When Siegelman took office as governor and Windom took his seat at lieutenant governor, Windom was so paranoid (and rightfully so) that he kept a jar or spittoon under his desk because he didn't want to relinquish the chair long enough to go to the bathroom.
Gov. Siegelman was the speaker at an Alabama Press Association meeting I attended after all this happened and asked him in front of a crowd whether or not the people of Alabama voted for Windom assuming he would have the same power Siegelman had when he was in that seat. After he told me to shut up and sit down, he said the people of Alabama don't know what the lieutenant governor does. I did and my guess is most people who kept up with politics knew what the lieutenant governor did.
Now Siegelman is saying the powers he enjoyed at lieutenant governor should be restored to the position even though he was the one who put us on this trail to begin with.
Why do the taxpayers of Alabama need to flip the bill for a high-paying position that has no duties other than sitting back hoping the current governor will leave office – whether he or she leaves in a hearse or in handcuffs? My bet is under Dial's bill the lieutenant governor will attend ribbon cuttings, chamber of commerce meetings and other such functions that the governor didn't feel was politically needed to attend. Pretty good gig if you can get it.
If we really want to monkey around with power struggles, why not restore all the lieutenant governor's powers and have him or her run on the governor's ticket like we do with the president and vice president in Washington?
I don't like that idea because I do have faith that the people of Alabama have enough sense to separate the executive and legislative branches and elect a person who will be a strong leader, with powers in the Senate.
