The House took up a ten minute calendar and quickly moved through it. A ten minute calendar is designed to give every member of the House to pass a bill this session. The reason it is called a ten minute calendar is because a member is given a maximum of ten minutes to pass their bill or else it must be carried over. This requires the bill to be non-controversial and also no one comes and objects to the bill. Any member can speak for up to ten minutes on a bill so if one member has a problem with a bill it will be carried over. These calendars often include non-fiscal issues that are agreed to by all parties before ever coming up for a vote.
In addition to the ten minute calendar the House plans to continue to have short agendas with only five or six bills being debated each day. The membership seems to enjoy the shortened calendars and is in agreement that they do not wish to go back to the days where we just passed every bill that was brought up on any given day.
There are some rumblings that the House will take up the removal of sales taxes on groceries again soon but that appears unlikely considering the fact that the bills seems to have lost votes in the off season. Still expect at least one day soon to be devoted to discussing this issue. Rep. John Knight has made this his passion for quite some time and both parties agree to the need to eliminate the grocery tax but the sticking point is whether small businesses should be required to pay more in taxes to make up for the lost state revenue.
After what seemed like a session long fight over gambling, the Senate now appears poised to move to other issues after the “Sweet Home Alabama” plan failed to get the necessary 21 votes last week for passage. Senator Barron passed his $1 billion road construction bill out of the Senate on a 25-10 vote. It is believed that commitments were secured during the gambling debate and allowed for Barron’s bill to pass the Senate by a comfortable margin. Most observers believe it will have an easier time in the House than it did upstairs.
Finally like everyone else, I have been campaigning on the weekends when we are not in session. My daughter is now old enough where she can join me out on the trail as well which makes for a lot of fun. This past week she seems to have gotten the hang of campaigning better than me. If I just had her energy then I could be everywhere at once. Unfortunately I don’t have her energy so I tend rely on old faithful caffeine to help me keep up!
An Update from Montgomery
Published: March 13, 2010Posted in: Uncategorized
About the Author
Representative Cam Ward graduated from Troy State University in
1993 with a Bachelor of Science in International Relations and
Political Science. He then received a Juris Doctorate of Law from
Cumberland School of Law , at Samford University in Birmingham.
Cam served as Deputy Attorney General in the Alabama State
Auditor's Office from April 1996 until December 1997. In 1998, he
joined the Alabama Secretary of State's Office as Confidential Assistant to the Secretary of State.
From November 1998 to June 2001, Cam worked as District Director for Congressman Spencer Bachus of Birmingham.
In June 2001, Cam accepted the position of Executive Director of the Industrial Development Board of Alabaster. In his current role he actively recruits new business for Alabaster and works closely with
current business owners to help develop a positive atmosphere for economic growth.
Cam has also been active in numerous civic organizations. He previously served on the Board of Directors for the Shelby County Economic and Industrial Development Authority, the Shelby County
Salvation Army and was Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Developing Alabama's Youth (DAY) Program in Shelby County . Currently Cam serves on the Board of Directors for the Greater Shelby
Education Foundation, YMCA of Alabaster, Court Appointed Special Advocates, the American Village and the Shelby County Arts Council. He also previously served as a member of the Board of Directors
for Alabaster/Pelham Rotary from 1999 to 2003. Recently he was reappointed to the Board of Directors for Leadership Shelby County.
In 2000 and again 2002 Cam was selected from a nationwide pool of candidates to participate in the
Marshall Memorial Fellowship Program and U.S.-Spain Council in Europe where he spent time in eight
different countries interacting with government officials. In 2003, Cam was selected to participate in the
American Council of Young Political Leaders as he traveled to Romania and Hungary for two weeks to
interact with civic and community leaders. Cam again participated in an ACYPL exchange in 2005
where he led a delegation to Brazil .
Cam has been a member of the Alabama Republican Party State Executive Committee since 1999 and
was elected as an alternate delegate for George W. Bush to the 2000 and 2004 Republican National
Conventions. Most recently Cam served as State Legislative Chairman for the John McCain for
President Campaign in Alabama .
In 2002 and again in 2004, Cam was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives for District 49.
He serves as Vice-Chairman for the House Republican Caucus. He currently serves on the House Rules,
Judiciary and Education Policy Committee.
Easter Seals of the United States recently named Cam its State Elected Official of the Year in 2008 for
his work in Autism advocacy and services as Chairman of the Alabama Autism Task Force.
Cam is married to the former Julie Cain and they have one daughter, Riley. The Wards are members of
Westwood Baptist Church in Alabaster. 
