Nov. 8 ballot includes local amendments to allow golf carts on some roads & establish a toll authority to complete Beach Express to I-65

Although Alabama will be the reddest state in the Union in the upcoming Nov. 8 election – Pollster FiveThirtyEight gives Donald Trump a best in the country 99.7 percent chance of winning Alabama.
Incumbant U.S. Senator Richard Shelby’s odds against Democrat Ron Crumpton are almost as good in the only other contested race on the ballot.
But there are several local and state amendments on the ballot that directly affect Baldwin County.
Local Amendment 4 would give individual municipalities in Baldwin County the ability to control and regulate the use of golf carts on city roads.
Golf carts would have to be equipped with safety features. A valid driver’s license and carry liability insurance would be required, and carts would only be allowed on roads with speed limits of less than 25mph.
“This amendment
a safe, environmentally friendly alternative to automobile travel
for Baldwin County residents. It’s a benefit without a tax increase,’’ said proponent Tom Giles of Craft Farms.
Local amendment 3 asks voters to approve a Baldwin County toll authority that would give the state legislature the power to establish a toll authority to oversee the construction and operation of future toll roads, specifically an extension of the Beach Express from Interstate 10 to I-65 near Bay Minette.
Speaking at a Coastal Alabama Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting, Baldwin County Commissioner Tucker Dorsey said estaablishing the toll authority would be the only available way to fund the road in the near future and the 22 mile extension could be built quickly, as environmental and right-of-way permits are already in place.
the permitting process is already in place. .
The road has been mapped and environmental permits have already been approved for the 22 mile extension.
Among the 14 statewide amendments on the ballot Amendment 2 will have a direct affect on the future of Gulf State Park.
The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Clay Scofield of Guntersville, would prevent funds collected at Alabama State Parks to be transfered to the state’s general fund.
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which runs Alabama’s state parks, gets no money from the state’s General Fund, and relies instead on what it collects from admittance and rental fees.
“Since 2012 the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has seen $30 million transferred to the State General Fund, and $15 million of that came directly from the state parks budget,’’ said said Philip Darden, chair of Alabama Parks Partners coalition.
“Some of the other departments under DCNR receive federally matched dollars, so if funds were taken from those departments, the state would be responsible for millions of dollars of repayment to the federal government. The Marine Police were once under the DCNR, and took a large funding hit a few years back. When law enforcement in the state was consolidated under ALEA, the Marine Police moved under ALEA at that time. The State Parks were the only department under the DNCR where funds could be moved without having to repay federal match dollars.
“Amendment 2 will ensure parks’ funds stay in the parks system and will help ensure these incredible
parks are available for future generations,” he added.
Voting yes for Amendment 4 would give more autonomy to county commissions, and voting yes for Amendment 3 would allow a local amendment to only be voted on by the county in question.
For instance, several state amendments on th Nov. ballot – Amendment 7 on the Nov. ballot affects only Etowah County, Amendment 10 deals with Calhoun County and Amendment 9 affects only Pickens County.

Amendment 6 requires two-thirds of the Senate to convict an impeached official. The current article does not have a conviction margin. The amendment also removes the state superintendent from the list of impeachable officials, since the position is appointed not an elected position.
not elected.
Amendment 8 establishes Alabama as a right-to-work state. But (since 1953) Alabama isalready a right-to-work state. The amendment would put the state’s right-to-work law into the Constitution.
Amendment 14 would guarantee that bills passed in questionable circumstances under Budget Isolation Resolution would remain in effect, rather than face possible court challenge. Since 1984, legislation introduced before the Legislature passes its budgets must first pass a budget isolation resolution (BIR) before going to a final vote. For decades, though, the House of Representatives used a different standard for BIR passage than what the amendment prescribed. Last December, a Jefferson County circuit judge ruled a sales tax in that county unconstitutional because the House did not adopt a BIR as prescribed by the constitutional amendment.