Three Wiregrass sponsored bills pass Senate

Three bills dealing with veterans’ issues, and sponsored by Wiregrass legislators, breezed through the Alabama Senate on Thursday, moving one step closer to becoming law.

Sen. Jimmy Holley, R-Elba, sponsored two bills. The first would make spouses and widows of retired military service members eligible to purchase distinctive license plates for retired military. The second bill would provide an exemption from state privilege or license taxes and registration fees for one passenger vehicle for those purchasing retired military plates.

Another bill, sponsored by Sen. Harri Anne Smith, R-Slocomb, would provide for the display of POW-MIA flags on certain state-owned buildings and rest areas along the state and interstate highway systems.

The Senate session was attended by several retired military service members. No one was happier than Fred Griffin, coordinator of the Lower Alabama Veterans Alliance, a coalition of veteran’s groups from southeast Alabama.

“There was a lot of hand clapping, and I was cheering inside,” said Griffin, who served in the Navy from 1951-1978 and served three tours in Vietnam.

“It really felt good today,” Griffin said.

All three bills passed the Senate by a vote of 31-0. Another related bill, sponsored by Sen. Ted Little, D-Auburn, deals with veterans’ homes. Under existing law, a resident of a state veterans’ home must pay the cost of maintaining his or her residence to the Alabama Veterans’ Home Trust Fund. This bill would allow those payments to be made directly to the home. It also passed 31-0.

The bills must be passed in the House and signed by the governor to become law. Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, is sponsoring a version of Smith’s Senate bill in the House.

The POW/MIA flag was installed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in 1989 and still flies there today.