Legislative Wrap-up
| Publication year | 2010 |
| Pages | 0085 |
| Citation | Vol. 71 No. 1 Pg. 0085 |
For more information about the Institute, contact Bob McCurley at (205) 348-7411 or visit www.ali.state.al.us.
The 2010 Legislature Begins
On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, the Alabama legislative term began and continues for 105 calendar days with its last day no later than Monday, April 26, 2010.
This is a big election year for Alabama. The governor, lt. governor, supreme court justices, all members of the house and senate, sheriffs, district attorneys, and all other constitutional offices will be elected. The last day for qualifying will be April 2, 2009, with the primary election day being Tuesday, June 1, 2009. The primary run-off will be July 13.
The public often thinks that legislators are predominately lawyers, while, in fact, fulltime legislators have now become the largest occupational group (at 16.4 percent of the group) in the state legislature. Previously, attorneys were the largest occupational group but the number of lawyers in state legislatures has decreased substantially nationwide over the last three decades, from about 25 percent in the 1970s to only 15 percent today. This is up from 2.7 percent in the '70s; however, fulltime legislators are still relatively low in Alabama at 5 percent. The third largest group of legislators is retired persons, making up about 12 percent, both nationally and in Alabama.
In Alabama, the biggest block of people is those who are business owners or business employees, making up 26.5 percent of the legislature. Educators, either in college or K-12, comprise 14.3 percent. Other facts about legislators are as follows, showing the first number being Alabama and the parentheses being the national statistic. Ethnically, 77 percent (88 percent) of legislators are Caucasian, with 23 percent (10 percent) African-American. Gender ratio is men 88 percent (78 percent) and female 12 percent (88 percent). With respect to age, the distribution of those 65-plus years old is 36 percent (23 percent), 50 to 64 years 40 percent (49 percent), 35 to 49 years 22 percent (25 percent), and under 34 years 2 percent (3 percent), with the overall average age of a state legislator in the United States being 56 years old.
For the past two decades, the number of Alabama African-American legislators has remained constant with 23 percent of the senate seats and 26 percent of the house seats being filled with African-Americans. No other state has a greater...
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