‘Push back on the extremism’: Alabama House Democrats vow to fight GOP Trump-inspired proposals

The leader of the Democratic caucus in the Alabama House of Representatives on Tuesday said the caucus is gearing up to fight bills or state policies that follow moves by the Trump administration that he said were extreme.

Rep. Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, said the Trump administration priorities like calls for mass deportations and elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and will get pushback at the Alabama State House during the legislative session that starts Tuesday.

“I think it’s extremely important that the citizens of Alabama not just lay down and allow the things that are happening at the federal level without saying anything,” Daniels said.

Read more: ICE makes Alabama arrests amid Trump’s mass deportations

Daniels, leader of the House Democrats since 2017, said he was disappointed there has not been more opposition to Trump’s executive orders nationally.

“We’ve given other parties an opportunity to address and push back on the extremism that we’re seeing at the federal level but we’re not waiting any longer,” Daniels said. “We will be addressing those issues as they come, head-on, unapologetically.”

Daniels made those comments as the caucus announced its “Forward for Freedom” agenda. The agenda did not include specific bills but called for policies to increase economic opportunity, expand affordable healthcare, invest in public education, maximize voter turnout and reform prisons and the parole system.

At least one initiative championed by Trump is already law in Alabama, a ban on DEI programs at state colleges and in state agencies that the Legislature approved last year. The Democratic agenda calls for a repeal of that law, which college professors and students are challenging in a lawsuit.

On crime, the Democrats support a repeal of the law that allows concealed carry of handguns without a permit. They will support a bit to create a state law against Glock switches, which convert semiautomatic guns to automatic fire. Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery, sponsored a Glock switch ban that passed the House last year and is again sponsoring that bill.

Republican leaders have said they also support a Glock switch ban.

Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, is again proposing a bill that would hold parents liable if their child takes a gun to school that was not stored securely at home.

“It will not violate anybody’s 2nd Amendment rights,” said Drummond, who said she is working with Republicans to get support for her bill. “We don’t look at this as a gun bill. We look at this as a responsibility bill.”

Other proposals in the Democrats’ Forward for Freedom agenda are not likely to get Republican support. Democrats want to repeal what they call Alabama’s “draconian” abortion ban, which carries no exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.

Democrats are also calling for decriminalizing recreational marijuana.

Marijuana for personal use can still result in felony charges in Alabama.

The Republican caucus, which controls the House with three-fourths of the seats, announced its “Alabama Values” agenda on Monday. Like the Democrats’ agenda, it did not include specific bills.

The Republican agenda includes policies that discourage illegal immigrants from coming to Alabama and to fix damage caused by what the caucus said were irresponsible open border policies of the last four years.

Daniels said deportations in Alabama could hurt businesses already struggling to fill jobs. He’s expecting legislation in Alabama generated by the “noise from the federal level.”

“I can’t tell you exactly what that’s going to be,” Daniels said. “But I anticipate to play some extreme defense based upon the conversations I’ve heard this weekend and conversations I’ve heard the last couple of weeks.”