Alabama lawmakers moved closer to renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on Wednesday.
The Alabama House Ports, Waterways and Intermodal Committee, voting along party lines, approved HB247, sending it to the full House for consideration.
“A lot of other states are considering the same issue,” said Rep. David Standridge, R-Hayden, the bill’s sponsor. “Being a Gulf state, I think we should be on the forefront of that.”
The legislation calls for all state and local entities in Alabama to recognize the name on newly created maps, documents, educational materials websites, official communications and other resources by Oct. 1.
The bill also requests local and state entities to “make reasonable efforts” to update preexisting resources owned by state and local entities to reflect the name change “where practicable.”
An amendment introduced during the committee hearing allows public K-12 schools, colleges and universities to use the term “Gulf of Mexico: during academic instruction, provided it’s used for “historical purposes.”
Alabama State Rep. David Standridge, R-Hayden, on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, at the State House in Montgomery, Ala. (John Sharp/[email protected]).
Standridge said he had been working with entities to ensure there will be no financial or operational burdens for recognizing the name change.
He has said the primary reason for the legislation is because of Trump’s executive order last month renaming the ocean basin, the Gulf of America. Alabama is one of five U.S. states that shares the Gulf coast. The others are Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida.
“There has been an executive order by the president to do that, and other entities have followed suit since that time including Google Maps,” Standridge said.
Alabama State Rep. Adline Clarke, D-Mobile, questioned why Standridge did not pursue a resolution, and not a legislative bill, to support the renaming. Standridge said he considered it but determined that a law was needed since Alabama abuts the Gulf.
Other Democratic lawmakers blasted HB247 as a waste of lawmakers time.
Rep. Rolanda Hollis, D-Birmingham, enters the Alabama House of Representatives on March 19, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector
“We need to be addressing stuff like hunger, homelessness, mental health and on and on, to help our people,” said Rep. Rolanda Hollis, D-Birmingham. “This is really a waste of time when we can be addressing so much more to help our constituents.”
Rep. Curtis Travis, D-Tuscaloosa, said while the name change “feels good,” there should be more time given to see how it plays out. He said the United States controls only a small portion of the ocean basin, and that Alabama’s Gulf Coast imprint amounts to about 540 square miles.
“It’s not a big area we are dealing with,” he said. “Even in the United States, we have jurisdiction of 200 miles offshore. After that, it’s deemed international water.”
People walking and playing on the beach as the sun sets over the Gulf of Mexico at Gulf Shores, Alabama. (Photo by: Ron Buskirk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)UCG/Universal Images Group via G
The Gulf is shared with Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Vera Cruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo. To the southeast is Cuba.
Mexi Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has refused to recognize the name change and has threatened to sue Google over the renaming. She argued on Monday that Trump’s order to rename it only applies to the part of the continental shelf under U.S. control.
“Even though Google is doing it, it varies depending on which document you pick up,” Travis said. “I think it’s something to be waited on and express at another time and in another way.”
Rep. Kenyatte Hassell, D-Montgomery, said changing the name “could open a floodgate.” He offered a hypothetical: What if Trump wanted to rename Alabama?
“Do you know how we got the name?” Hassell said.
“It was from an Indian tribe. He can come and say, ‘I’d don’t like the name.’ Would we change the State of Alabama because he did an executive order to change it? There are some things we (should) leave alone.”
The National Maritim Museum of the Gulf of Mexico as pictured on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in downtown Mobile, Ala.John Sharp
The renaming could cause some headaches in Mobile, where the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico is located along Water Street.
The museum rebranded last year, removing “GulfQuest” from its name and reverting to its original title, which was authorized by Congress 15 years ago.
Changing the name could be costly at a time when museum officials want to raise money to support two future exhibits – a Mobile-Tensaw exhibit, which will encompass an entire floor of the museum and is set to open in 2027; and a feature dedicated to the late musician Jimmy Buffett, a Mobile native.
Standridge told AL.com last week he was familiar with the museum’s situation and emphasized there was language in the bill that is meant to not place a financial and operational burden on entities with existing resources with the Gulf of Mexico name.
The issue did not come up during the committee debate.
“We are closely following this proposed legislation and evaluating the potential impacts on the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico,” said Jason Johnson, city spokesperson.
“As always, we intend to follow the law and will work with our state and federal partners to come into compliance should this legislation pass.”
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Publish date : 2025-02-19 10:55:00
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