MONTGOMERY - State Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, plans to introduce legislation in the upcoming session that would strengthen the state’s nepotism ban.

Orr said in a statement today that the current laws prohibiting the hiring or promoting of a state employee based on kinship are too weak.

“The intent of the current law on the books is good, but it carves out the vast majority of state employees and therefore is very ineffective,” Orr said. “Our honest, hardworking state employees deserve a law that applies to everyone across the board to ensure that we’re hiring and promoting based on merit, not because you’re someone’s family member.”

Enacted in the 1960s, the current law allows for the appointment of any individual who is a state merit system employee, which includes most of the state’s workforce, regardless of the relationship to the appointing authority or official in the department or agency, according to the release.

Nepotism issues have cost the state money in the past. Reynolds v. Alabama Department of Transportation involved the hiring and promotion of relatives and cost the state more than $250 million, Orr said.