PELHAM, Ala. —
This is the working draft of the Let Teachers Serve Act, the first bill Spencer Stone intends to file as a member of the Alabama Senate. It is published here in full so any voter in District 16 can read exactly what is proposed. Before introduction, the Alabama Legislative Services Agency prepares the official instrument and confirms the verbatim current text of the affected Code section; this draft reflects the intended substance.
Under existing law, the Legislative Double Dipping Prohibition Act (Section 29-1-26, Code of Alabama 1975) prohibits a member of the Legislature, during his or her term of office, from being an employee of any public educational institution, including a local board of education.
This bill would amend that Act to allow a member of the Legislature to be employed as a full-time classroom teacher by a city or county board of education, while continuing to prohibit a legislator from receiving teaching compensation for any day the Legislature is in session, and while leaving in place the prohibition on employment by two-year and four-year institutions of higher education and by other branches and agencies of state government.
To amend Section 29-1-26 of the Code of Alabama 1975, relating to the Legislative Double Dipping Prohibition Act; to permit a member of the Legislature to be employed as a full-time classroom teacher by a city or county board of education; to prohibit a legislator so employed from receiving teaching compensation for any day on which the Legislature is in session; to retain the prohibition on legislative employment by institutions of higher education and other state entities; and to repeal obsolete transitional provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 29-1-26 of the Code of Alabama 1975 is amended to read as follows:
§29-1-26.
(a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the Legislative Double Dipping Prohibition Act.
(b) A member of the Legislature, during his or her term of office, may not be an employee of any other branch of state government, or any department, agency, board, or commission of the state, or any public educational institution including, but not limited to, a local board of education, a two-year institution of higher education, or a four-year institution of higher education.
(c) [NEW LANGUAGE] Notwithstanding subsection (b), a member of the Legislature may be employed as a full-time classroom teacher by a city or county board of education. A legislator employed as a classroom teacher under this subsection may not receive compensation for that employment for any day on which the Legislature is convened in regular, organizational, or special session. This subsection does not authorize a member of the Legislature to be employed by a two-year or four-year institution of higher education, by the State Department of Education, or in any non-classroom administrative position.
(d) For purposes of this section, employee means an employee as defined in Section 36-27-1, or a teacher as defined in Section 16-25-1. An employee as defined in this subsection shall not include any person receiving pension benefits from the Retirement Systems of Alabama.
(e) A legislator shall be personally liable to the State of Alabama for the amount of any employment compensation received in violation of subsection (b) or subsection (c). The Attorney General shall enforce this section.
(Note: the prior subsection containing transitional dates that expired on December 31, 2014 is repealed as obsolete.)
This act shall become effective on the first day of the third month following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.
The only substantive addition is subsection (c): a working classroom teacher may keep teaching while serving in the Legislature, but may not be paid to teach on any day the Legislature is in session. Every other guardrail in the 2010 law stays exactly as it is — the ban on two-year and four-year college jobs, and on other state-agency employment, is untouched. An obsolete subsection whose dates expired in 2014 is removed as housekeeping.
Not legal advice. This is a candidate's working draft published for public review; the official instrument is prepared by the Alabama Legislative Services Agency before introduction.
Spencer Stone is a teacher, coach, and father of three running for Alabama State Senate District 16. He has spent his career in Shelby County classrooms and on athletic fields. He is running on a platform centered on education funding, energy costs, and accessible government. Learn more at stone4senate.com.