We are at the end of the third regular legislative session of this quadrennium. They are closing in on the culmination of their four-year terms.

This is the first Republican majority Legislature in modern Alabama history. The Republicans not only have a majority, they sport a super majority. That means that the remaining Democratic minority is incapable of stopping or even slowing down any GOP initiatives or budgets in either the House or Senate. Republicans own a commanding 66 to 39 advantage in the House. They have an even more lordly control of the House of Lords. They have an omnipotent 24 to 11 ownership of the Senate.

They have truly flexed their muscle and their will in their first three years of leadership. They have dictated total parliamentary procedure, protocol and power. Any dissident Democrats have been relegated to road kill.

Both the House and Senate have displayed incredible discipline. They have adhered to the directives of their leaders. They have dispensed with issues with very little debate and expediently focused on the task at hand. You could sum up their performance by saying what they lack in deliberation they make up in conservatism. This super majority Republican clan that makes up the legislature is super conservative. A good many of the freshman are small business men who understand how to meet a payroll and make ends meet.

Who are the leaders of the legislature and where are they from? The Senate is led by Del Marsh of Anniston. Marsh is presidenr pro tem and presides over the Senate. He is in his 15th year in the Senate and is a business owner.

Arthur Orr of Decatur is chairman of the Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee. This has been a tough assignment given the plight of the beleaguered General Fund during his tenure.

Roger Bedford is one of the last remaining white Democrats in the Senate. He is an icon and will be an effective and powerful player no matter what position he finds himself in. He is the leader of the loyal opposition. He currently finds himself a voice in the wilderness. He has been forced into a minority role along with other former Democratic leaders.

He, along with Hank Sanders of Selma, Vivian Figures of Mobile, Rodger Smitherman of Birmingham and Quinton Ross of Montgomery, ran the Senate for years.