CENTRE — After the negative repercussions of the state's new illegal immigration law, known as HB56, became clear across Alabama last fall, no legislator who voted for its passage was more steadfast in his determination to correct the errors—and salvage the state's image—than Sen. Gerald Dial (R-Lineville). Dial, who represents a portion of Cherokee County, is the state senator for Dist. 13.

“It is no excuse but we got that bill with only four hours left in the session and we took the conference committee's word that the bill was OK,” Dial said in the Nov. 21, 2011 issue of The Post. "We can use a little common sense and make some changes and still have a strong bill."

While Gov. Robert Bentley and Phil Williams—Cherokee County's other state senator— insisted no errors were made and next-year "tweaks" to laws are commonplace, Dial admitted the legislative process was not properly followed during the passage of HB56.

"This bill has created undue hardship for Alabama citizens," he added in an exclusive interview in November. "We made a mistake.”

In December, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange agreed with Dial's assessment, releasing a report that urged the Legislature to make multiple changes to the law in order to avoid costly federal court battles. Last week, Dial said he has been working with Strange's office since the report was released in order to "develop a package of modifications that will save Alabama taxpayers millions of dollars in legal fees fighting something that our attorney general already knows cannot be won."

Last week, Dial pre-filed a 30-page bill that he claimed in an accompanying press release will, among other modifications, eliminate the threat of punishing churches that help needy people who might turn out to be in the state illegally.

"We must make these modifications, not only because it's the legal way to enforce immigration issues, but to send a message to our citizens and to potential economic development partners," Dial said.

Dial said his bill is a common-sense necessity that will do nothing to encourage illegal immigration.

"I still support enforcing our laws to protect our residents," he said. "I am not in support of spending hundreds of millions of dollars, which we do not have, on litigation we simply cannot win in court."

In last week's statement, Dial urged his fellow lawmakers to "put their egos aside" and make the needed changes.