A bill that would allow the Chilton County Commission to set business license fees has been introduced to the Alabama House of Representatives and is expected to come up for a vote next week.

Advertising requirements for the legislation were completed this week, and the bill was dropped into the hopper Tuesday, Rep. Jimmy Martin said. But the window for passage is getting smaller, and the bill still has to go through the Senate.

“It’s all according to what the local legislation committee does,” Martin said when asked when the House would vote on the measure.

“It’s going to be tough,” added Sen. Hank Erwin, noting that the last day of the legislative session is May 18.

Commissioner Red Turnipseed, who introduced the measure to the commission, said the commission plans to hold public hearings after the bill passes.

“The bill only gives us the right to establish a business license,” Turnipseed said, adding that if the public is not in favor of business licenses, the commission does not have to set them.

“I think we would be foolish if we did not hold them (public hearings),” he said.

Turnipseed said nobody had contacted him individually putting pressure on him to pull the bill. He said he had spoken to many in favor of it.

“I would encourage our representative and senator to work with the county commission to enact this,” he said.