A fiery debate erupted Wednesday in the Alabama State County and Municipal Government Committee over a new bill that would shake up school funding across the state.

But not everyone saw it as a state issue and urged feuding lawmakers in Baldwin County to take their battle “back home.”

The eruption occurred in a committee chaired by state Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine. It focused on SB270, introduced Monday by Sen. April Weaver, R-Alabaster. The bill, in short, prohibits the portion of any sales tax issued by a county to be used for county school board projects in areas that are served by a city school system.

“Thank you for presenting this bill and stepping into this frying pan,” Elliott said to Weaver, who simply introduced the bill as a “statewide” matter and not a local one.

What ensued was a public spat between Elliott and Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, who is also a committee member. It prompted Democratic Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison of Birmingham to urge her Baldwin County colleagues to “take it back home,” and hash out the differences on what she said was a local issue. At one point, Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, the committee’s vice chair, interrupted and requested he take over momentarily as the committee’s chair to “help us move from this emotional situation.”

“I’m greatly offended by the point we tried to run around our agreed upon system in this manner,” Albritton said.

Baldwin battle

At issue is an ongoing political standstill among Baldwin County lawmakers over local legislation to address the distribution of a one-percentage point of the county sales tax that was implemented in 1983.

The tax generates revenues to the Baldwin County School System, but not to two newly formed city school districts that have been formed in recent years – Gulf Shores (2020), and Orange Beach (2022). Representatives from the two beach cities are angling for a share of the tax money spent in their respective cities to help finance their schools.

Elliott introduced local legislation in February allowing that portion of the sales tax revenues to be split among the school districts, but he’s faced opposition from other state lawmakers who represent other areas of Baldwin County including Albritton.

To advance either of Elliott’s local measures — SB135 and SB136 — requires unanimous support among the senators who represent all or portions of Baldwin County. That would include Elliott, Albritton and state Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile.

Concerns have emerged in recent days over the potential of blocking other local bills sponsored by Baldwin County lawmakers. Additionally, talks have surfaced over the unusual prospect of splitting South Baldwin County from the rest of the county and creating, for the first time in Alabama since 1903, an entirely new county.

Elliott attempted to push the legislation through the committee by presenting the issue as a statewide concern.

“We have a tax in Baldwin levied for education and 40 percent goes the Baldwin County school board,” Elliott said. “When local law was passed (in 1983), there was only one board of education. There are now three. In every other circumstance statewide, the local law is updated, and it’s split among the children. What we have now is taking from the children in two school system because they are in different school systems.”

Albritton fired back, saying he did not understand why Elliott wanted to turn a local issue into a statewide one. He said he represented 70 percent of Baldwin County, while Elliott said he was the only state senator who represents all three school systems.

“It’s causing a lot of discontent and a great deal of angst among individuals and institutions,” Albritton said. “If the state wants to jump in on this, I guess the state will jump in on this. I will represent my district and ask everyone vote ‘no’ on this.”

Albritton said if the legislation makes its way to the Senate floor, he will “filibuster this as much as I possibly can.” He also called the introduction of the bill as “inappropriate,” and that he was not aware it was coming.

“I will not allow my school district in the county to be pulled out of and balkanized in a way that will harm 70 percent of Baldwin County,” he said. “I’m strong about this. I apologize for being obnoxious, but it comes naturally some days.”

Elliott argued that Baldwin County Schools, since Gulf Shores and Orange Beach formed their own city school districts, has seen an influx of state funding from the Foundation Program. He said that since 2019, that amounts to $43 million more in state funding.

Albritton said the schools in Baldwin County face different challenges. He said that Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are both building new schools and that “they are exceedingly nice,” while on the northern end of the county, there are considerations for closing Perdido School, the K-8 school that serves North Baldwin County.

“What this means is people living in Baldwin County will travel halfway across the county to Bay Minette to go to school,” he said. “Baldwin County is a large county. They are traveling 40 miles by bus to go to school as first graders.”

Albritton said that Baldwin County school officials have been adamant in wanting to maintain the status quo and not lose revenue from the sales tax. He said that Elliott’s plan would “subsidize” cities that are in the middle of major capital campaigns.

Not a state concern

The committee ultimately voted against advancing the legislation, siding with Albritton’s stance.

Coleman-Madison raised the concerns about the lawmakers bringing what she said was a local issue to a state committee.

“I have a problem when we have a local issue that we want to spread the net around the state and bring us into your disagreements,” she said. “That is why I’m for local home rule. It should be discussed and solved at the local level.”

She said that in Jefferson County, which has city school districts and a county school system, that “we have other issues to deal with much greater than this.”

She added, “This needs to be a local bill. I don’t think the timing is such that we put this out over the whole state without knowing the implications of what it means for our school systems.”

Elliott said he believed it was worth statewide consideration as an “issue of fundamental fairness” and that the sales tax distribution is “fundamentally unfair.” He even quoted Democratic state Sen. Vivian Figures, who has often said that while she is a state senator from Mobile, she is also a “state senator.”

“I represent all three school systems,” Elliott said. “This bill will help all three of them. I would encourage you to move this bill along and let me continue to fight my colleague, which he communicated he will clearly do.”