MONTGOMERY – Sen. Paul Bussman has left the Senate GOP caucus over the Senate's handling of a state lottery bill, Senate Bill 11.
"As a Republican, I have strongly support(ed) the Republican mission of fiscal responsibility, limited government and personal freedom." said Bussman in a post to social media Tuesday morning. "I am a proud member of the Republican Party and will remain a proud member of the GOP. However as of Monday, I will no longer affiliate with the Senate majority caucus."
Last week, while the Senate debated SB11 (not the same as Gov. Bentley's lottery bill, SB3), Senate leadership attempted to end the debate by forcing a vote via a cloture petition, which they had two Democrats sign. A cloture petition is a parliamentary action in the Senate to cease debate on a bill and vote immediately on its advancement.
"In order for the Alabama Senate to operate fairly, we have a set rules by which all members must abide. In both the Republican and Democrat caucuses, there are also rules that apply. This organized process is crucial to a fair and transparent government. It is when these rules are not followed that the breakdown of the system occurs," said Bussman.
"The process broke down last week when these rules were violated," he continued. "These rules cannot be used when convenient and discarded when it is inconvenient. This is not about me. This is not about a lottery. This is about who controls the government of Alabama. Do the people control the government or is it still the back room deals and special interest groups that continue to control the state? I can no longer sit back and ignore the actions of the Alabama Senate Republican Caucus leadership which are misguided, unequally applied, punitive and divisive. As a result, the Caucus has made a significant shift in priorities since 2010. In order for us to be successful in Alabama, we cannot return to the old ways of doing business. We are expected to do better and we must do better."
The cloture petition ultimately failed and SB11 was carried over without a final vote and withdrawn.
Fellow Sen. Dick Brewbaker, R- Montgomery, also resigned. According to The Montgomery Advertiser, "The two-term Montgomery Republican, who does not plan to seek re-election to the Senate in 2018, said Monday night the decision was 'not personal,' but a protest over what he said was leadership violating its own rules about debate — in particular, those about Republicans cloturing other Republicans."
The Cullman Tribune has made multiple attempts to contact Bussman.
