MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Senate has returned to its old habit of stalling.

Tuesday was the first day of the 2009 legislative session that senators could pass bills. But the Senate quickly bogged down with stalling tactics by Democratic Sen. Phil Poole of Tuscaloosa. Poole said he was upset that legislators from outside Tuscaloosa County were getting involved in a sewer line issue in his home county.

The Senate Rules Committee had proposed several bills for consideration Tuesday, but the Senate never got to them because of Poole’s stalling. The list included a bill to license and regulate commercial tax preparers statewide.

House Speaker Seth Hammett said the Senate has followed the same pattern for three years, with different senators talking at length to keep bills from coming to a vote.