1 HB434
2 206323-1
3 By Representatives Moore (M) and Rogers (N & P)
4 RFD: Jefferson County Legislation
5 First Read: 23-FEB-21
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1 206323-1:n:03/10/2020:FC/bm LSA2020-972
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8 SYNOPSIS: Under existing law, a public transit
9 authority has been incorporated as a public
10 corporation to operate a transit authority in a
11 county having not less than 600,000 in population
12 when incorporated. The board of directors is
13 composed of nine directors. One director is elected
14 by governing body of the authorizing county; five
15 directors are elected by the governing body of the
16 principal municipality in the county; and three
17 directors are elected by the largest participating
18 municipalities in the transit system in the county.
19 This bill would provide for the election of
20 three additional directors. Two of the directors
21 would be residents of the authorizing county and
22 regular riders on the transit system, one of whom
23 would be elected by the Alabama House of
24 Representatives members representing the
25 authorizing county and one of whom would be elected
26 by the Alabama Senate members representing the
27 authorizing county. The third additional director
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1 would be a full-time employee of the transit system
2 elected by the executive committee of labor union
3 representing the employees of the transit system.
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5 A BILL
6 TO BE ENTITLED
7 AN ACT
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9 Relating to public transit authorities incorporated
10 in counties having a population of not less than 600,000 when
11 incorporated; to amend Section 11-32-6 of the Code of Alabama
12 1975, to increase the membership of the board of directors.
13 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
14 Section 1. Section 11-32-6 of the Code of Alabama
15 1975, is amended to read as follows:
16 "11-32-6.
17 "(a) Each authority shall be governed by a board.
18 All powers of the authority shall be exercised by or under the
19 authority of, and the business and affairs of the authority
20 shall be managed under the direction of, the board or pursuant
21 to its authorization. In making appointments to the board,
22 best efforts should be used to reflect the racial, gender, and
23 economic diversity within the county.
24 "(b)(1) The board shall consist of nine the
25 directors as provided in this subsection. One director shall
26 be elected by the governing body of the authorizing county.
27 Five of the directors shall be elected by the governing body
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1 of the principal municipality. One of the directors shall be
2 elected by the governing bodies of each of the three
3 participating municipalities having the largest population
4 according to the last or any subsequent federal decennial
5 census. If there are not three participating municipalities,
6 the governing body of the authorizing county and the governing
7 body of the principal municipality shall jointly elect a
8 director that would otherwise be elected by the participating
9 municipality. The term of office of each person who is a
10 director on May 24, 2013, shall not be changed by this
11 chapter.
12 "(2) Three additional directors shall be elected as
13 provided in this subdivision. Two additional directors shall
14 be elected who are residents and registered voters of the
15 authorizing county and who are regular riders on the transit
16 system. One of these directors shall be elected by the Alabama
17 House of Representatives delegation representing the
18 authorizing county and one of the directors shall be elected
19 by the Alabama Senate delegation representing the authorizing
20 county. One additional director shall be a full-time regular
21 employee of the transit system and shall be elected by the
22 executive committee of the labor union representing employees
23 of the transit system.
24 "(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection
25 (b), the terms of this subsection shall apply after January 1,
26 2014. Every appointment of a director for a new term shall be
27 for a four-year term, and no one person shall serve more than
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1 two consecutive four-year terms unless such person is a
2 director of the authority on May 24, 2013. The principal
3 municipality may vary the term of office of any director it
4 appoints as to cause its appointments to be evenly spaced over
5 any four-year period. The participating municipalities and the
6 authorizing county shall, following consultations with each
7 other, exercise a similar power.
8 "(d) Whenever there is a vacancy on the board, a
9 successor director to serve for the unexpired term applicable
10 to the vacancy shall be elected by the public entity that
11 elected the director whose unexpired term the successor is to
12 fill. A municipality may not have any continuing or vested
13 right to elect a director and the power of the governing body
14 of any municipality to elect or to participate in the election
15 of a director, whether for a full term or to complete an
16 unexpired term, shall be determined in accordance with the
17 most recent federal decennial census.
18 "(e) An officer of the state or of any county or
19 municipality may not, during his or her tenure as an officer,
20 be eligible to serve as a director. Each director shall be a
21 duly qualified elector of the authorizing county. Each
22 director shall be reimbursed for expenses actually incurred by
23 him or her in and about the performance of his or her duties.
24 Each director, except the chair of the board, shall be
25 compensated in an additional amount not to exceed ten dollars
26 ($10) per meeting attended but not to exceed two hundred fifty
27 dollars ($250) per year; the chair shall be compensated in an
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1 additional amount not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500)
2 per year; and the term "meeting" shall have the meaning given
3 in Section 36-25A-2. A director may be impeached and removed
4 from office in the same manner and on the same grounds
5 provided by Section 175 of the Official Recompilation of the
6 Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, and the general
7 laws of the state for impeachment and removal of the officers
8 mentioned in Section 175.
9 "(f) The dollar amounts specified in subsection (e)
10 shall be adjusted according to the increase in the Consumer
11 Price Index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
12 United States Department of Labor for all Urban Consumers, US
13 City Average, All Items, Not Seasonally Adjusted, Base Period
14 1982-84=100 (the "Index"). Adjustments shall occur at the
15 start of each fiscal year of the authority, and shall be
16 determined by dividing the most recent information available
17 for the Index at the start of each fiscal year, by the most
18 recent information available for the Index upon May 24, 2013,
19 and multiplying the resultant amount by the subject number in
20 subsection (e). Any increase or decrease shall be rounded to
21 the nearest whole dollar."
22 Section 2. This act shall become effective on the
23 first day of the third month following its passage and
24 approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.
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