County Commission | The Magazine August 2018 | Page 23

FROM THE COVER
q PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE: LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY r
Goat Hill hears unified county voice
In 1999, county leaders from around the state turned out strong for a meeting with
Gov. Don Siegelman about unfunded mandate legislation.
I
nfluencing the Alabama
Legislature was the driving
issue in 1929, and that is no less
true for county government today.
But there have certainly been
changes in the intervening years as
counties have continually adapted to
maximize their impact in an ever-
changing environment.
Counties have an extensive track
record of successfully advocating for
game-changing legislation. One such
standout from recent decades was the
limitation on unfunded mandates
for local government, now enshrined
in the state constitution. Working
together through the Association,
counties have driven down prices on
heavy equipment and other items
through a legislatively-authorized
joint bidding program.
Back in 1999, the Omnibus
Pay Act linked the compensation of
local elected officials to the salaries
staking out positions on core issues,
and under each principle, there are
Strategic Goals and Policy Statements
that go into greater detail. Find it at
www.alabamacounties.org/legislation/
county-platform.
Looking at the Association’s
Goat Hill Report Card for the 2015-
2018 quadrennium, legislation was
recently passed to address 27 strategic
priorities in the Alabama County
Platform. Among the most significant
successes were:
• Simplified Sellers Use Tax
Remittance Program, which has
brought in previously uncollected
revenue from transactions with
out-of-state retailers;
• County Modernization Act
of 2015, which revised several
outdated sections of state law to
improve administration of county
government;
• Local Legislation Reforms,
which reduced the need for local
of county employees, a move that
dramatically reduced friction between
county governing bodies and other
county-level elected officials. More
recently, a new
mechanism for
9-1-1 funding
was created to
sustain this vital
Our Association is a lot more respected. I
public service
praise our staff and our leadership in Montgomery
despite dwindling
that have directed us,
landline phones.
but we don’t need to get
At the heart
complacent. We need to
of ACCA’s
stay on our toes. You can
legislative
tear up more in a year
advocacy is
than you can fix in 15;
the Alabama
my old coach taught
County Platform,
me that.
adopted each year
by vote of the
Hon. Roger Hayes
membership. It
1999-2000
is organized into
ACCA President
11 Foundation
Winston County
Principles
Keep an eye on the future
COUNTY COMMISSION | 23