(Editorial) Legal sales on the rocks

Published 6:30 am Wednesday, March 4, 2015

The news that dozens of referendums to legalize the sale of alcoholic beverages in cities across Alabama are now invalid is just another blow to public confidence in government.

The Alabama Supreme Court sided with two ministers from Blount County who argued over the legitimacy of the law. When the legislation was written, a few cities were excluded from being able to vote, such as Oneonta. Why? Apparently, as state Sen. Paul Bussman, R-Cullman, noted, someone just didn’t want alcohol sales in their community.

The double-edged sword in all this cuts voters on both sides. Alabamians were able to vote in dozens of communities for legal sales, but for whatever suspicious reasons others were not able to exercise their right to vote. And now voters in all these communities are seeing that their rights and wishes have been tromped on by poorly constructed legislation.

Locally, Good Hope and Hanceville could face huge challenges without the revenue and the development opportunities that accompany legal sales. Many lawmakers are pledging to repair the faults of the old legislation as quickly as possible. That’s good news, but surely enough legal minds construct and review bills before they come to a vote in the Legislature to prevent future blunders like this one.

When the judicial branch steps in to rule laws are wrongly constructed or violate rights, it is often because legislation was more politically motivated than rooted in statesmanship or integrity.

Alabama, for example, remains without a legitimate vote on a lottery or legalized gambling because lawmakers and governors fear losing re-election bids. That shouldn’t be an issue. Giving Alabamians the opportunity to decide large issues at the polls under simple referendums builds more trust in government and allows the public to have a greater hand in directing the state’s future.

A solution should come quickly from lawmakers to correct the blunder that is threatening to take away the will of thousands of people, while threatening an important revenue base for cities. While there are many pressing issues facing lawmakers, this situation is potentially crippling in many respects for Hanceville, Good Hope and others. This needs to be fixed immediately. Not only does it impact revenue base for communities, individual livelihoods are also at stake