MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A House committee approved a bill Wednesday that would give a legislative panel the right to review and approve policy changes in Alabama’s two-year college system.
The House Education Policy Committee approved the bill on a voice vote Wednesday though several committee members waved their arms and shouted at committee vice chairman Rep. Terry Spicer, D-Elba, asking for a recorded vote.
The State Board of Education opposed the bill, saying it would threaten the accreditation of the state’s two-year colleges. Anita Archie, government relations director for the two-year college system, said the policies of the system are already reviewed by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which accredits colleges and universities.
The sponsor, Democratic Rep. Tammy Irons, D-Florence, says the bill won’t affect past decisions and would not change a board policy requiring two-year college employees who also serve in the Legislature to quit one of the two jobs after 2010.
But school board member Randy McKinney, a Republican from Gulf Shores, said the bill seems to be aimed at the board’s policy concerning “double dipping” by legislators who work in the two-year college system.
“The policy concerning double dipping is a good policy and it needs to continue,” McKinney said.
Irons, a Florence attorney, said she introduced the bill because she believes the Legislature intended for two-year colleges to be included when it passed the Administrative Procedures Act, which requires state agency policies to be reviewed by the Legislative Council, which includes about 30 lawmakers from both the House and Senate.
