ALABAMA (WHNT) — A bill requiring Alabama to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” died in a Senate committee Tuesday.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. David Standridge, filed the bill in support of the president’s Executive Order renaming the Gulf. In a meeting of the Alabama Senate’s County and Municipal Government Committee, Standridge said he wanted to provide guidance to state and local agencies.
“For our state purposes, you have to buy materials,” Standridge said. “We have to buy reference materials, maps, things like that, and I think that it’s just important that we give them direction on what they buy.”
Several democratic senators questioned the proposal. Sen. Kirk Hatcher called the legislation a “cultural distraction,” and Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison pointed out the Gulf’s longstanding name has historical significance.
“I would hope somebody went back and looked at the history of why it’s named the Gulf of Mexico,” Coleman-Madison said. “Again, we’re changing history.”
A final question from Sen. Merika Coleman highlighted uncertainty about the bill’s price tag. Standridge responded, saying the total cost was unknown. He went on to say that his bill would not require agencies to immediately update their materials if doing so would create a financial burden.
The committee’s vote ended in a tie, which means the bill will not advance.
Similar legislation has progressed in Florida and Texas. Louisiana’s governor signed an order requiring all state documents to use the term Gulf of America.
The bill could technically be reintroduced in Alabama, but the four legislative days left in the session leave little time for it to pass this year.
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