Democratic senators sustained a filibuster Thursday that blocked action on about a dozen bills because of opposition to Republican-backed legislation to change who appoints the Board of Trustees of the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, and Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, used Senate rules to talk for hours in protest of the archives bill.

The Senate eventually adjourned after considering and passing only two bills on its 13-bill agenda for the day.

“We’re just using all the tools in the toolbox for us not to get to that bill today,” Singleton said.

Singleton said the changes to the Archives and History Board could open the door for efforts to influence the agency’s work in the same way as Republican-backed bills to stop DEI programs and restrict teaching of “divisive concepts” on race and other topics.

“We don’t know what this new board would do, what they’re trying to set it up to do,” Singleton said. “When you start talking about DEI, wiping out history - what’s to say they won’t get over to Archives and wipe out history?

“We just need to make sure that this board stays intact, this board stays as independent as it possibly can to continue to do the great work it has been doing for this state so they can preserve the history of this state.”

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Chris Elliott, a Republican from Baldwin County, said that was not the intent of the bill.

“I think you heard a lot of hyperbole there, none of which is reflected in the actual legislation,” Elliott said.

Under current law, Board of Trustees appoints its members subject to confirmation by the Senate.

Elliott’s bill would change the law to say that the governor, speaker of the House, and president pro tempore of the Senate would appoint the board members. The changes would be phased in as vacancies occur, Elliott said. There are three vacancies on the 17-member board now.

Elliott said the latest version of the bill is a compromise developed after discussions with the archives board.

Despite the holdup Thursday, Elliott said he still expects the bill to pass during this legislative session.

Elliott initially brought the bill two years ago after Archives and History hosted a lecture on the history of gay people in Alabama called “Invisible No More: Alabama’s LGBTQ History,” as part of its Food For Thought series.

Elliott and other lawmakers objected to the program but the agency went ahead with it. Elliott said he proposed changing the board to make it more responsive to elected officials.

“At that time it became apparent to a number of legislators both in the House and Senate that this board was self-appointed and that they were continuously reappointing themselves to this board and that there was no appointing authority,” Elliott said. “And that’s not a healthy thing, for a board to operate without some appointing authority.

“It came to everyone’s attention that we needed to address that. And we have worked through this and come up with a solution that’s reasonable and measured.”

Singleton said today he did not think the Archives Board had done anything wrong. He said Democrats would continue to oppose the bill.

“We don’t want this bill so we’re going to do everything we can to keep this bill from being passed,” Singleton said.