With the Alabama Legislature set to convene for its regular session in just over a month, state senators have already filled a bevy of bills aimed at a variety of topics.

Sen. Jim McClendon, R-Springville, has proposed legislation, SB1, which would amend a bill prohibiting drivers from sending text messages while driving to include holding a phone and carrying on a conversation while driving.

The bill further specifies that drivers are prohibited from reaching for a “wireless communication device” if it requires the driver to leave the driving position.

Penalties for violating the proposed law would include fines up to $150.

Another bill from McClendon, SB3, would exempt redistricting bills from the requirement that all bills must be read in their entirety before being passed into law.

Redistricting bills are at the heart of gerrymandering strategies, which group specific demographics into districts with the effect of increasing or decreasing their impact on elections.

Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, has proposed a bill, SB4, which would expand a person’s ability to have a gun on certain property “with or without a concealed pistol permit.”

The bill would also repeal a number of sections of the Code of Alabama 1975, including the prohibition of carrying a pistol without a concealed weapon permit and the requirement that additional charges be levied against anyone who is in possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

Further, the bill repeals a requirement that a person carrying a pistol in a vehicle or on their person must have a concealed weapon permit.

Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, is proposing a bill, SB8, which would raise the population threshold for opening a city school system from 5,000 to 15,000.

The bill would require cities planning to establish a school system to prove they are financially capable of maintaining a system and require that the new city school system “acquire or build” its own facilities.

The law would not apply to school systems established before passage of the new law.

Another bill proposed by Coleman-Madison would increase the statute of limitations for civil action in regard to a sex offense from two years to 10 years.

Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, is proposing a bill, SB14, which would allow public schools to offer Bible courses as an elective and allow for the display of religious texts, artifacts and symbols.

The bill would require the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) to develop policies to guide the news program and instructs school administrators to maintain neutrality in teaching the course.