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Legislature

Alabama 2021 Legislative Report: Week 11

The Legislature will return to Montgomery on Tuesday, May 4 for day 28 of the session.

The Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery.

The Alabama Legislature convened for Day 26 of the 30 day Regular Session on Tuesday, April 27. The Legislature met in Session Tuesday and Thursday with 23 committee meetings held throughout the week. 

The Legislature will return to Montgomery on Tuesday, May 4 for Day 28 of the Session with both Houses convening at 2:00 p.m. 

HOUSE BILLS SENATE BILLS TOTALS 

Bills Introduced 648 405 1,053 Bills which have passed house of origin 268 226 494 Bills which have passed both houses 147 126 273 Bills which are pending Governor’s signature 36 42 78 Bills which have been vetoed 0 0 0 Constitutional Amendment Bills pending referendum 9 3 12 Bills enacted 102 81 183. 

SIGNIFICANT FLOOR PASSAGE THIS WEEK 

HB88 by Rep. Hollis: To require local boards of education to provide feminine hygiene products in women’s restrooms at schools. 

HB252 by Rep. Scott: To establish the crime of female genital mutilation. 

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SB62 by Sen. Elliott To authorize a Class 8 municipality that is not in a county with a Class 2 municipality and that abuts the Gulf of Mexico to establish three entertainment districts within its corporate limits. 

SB78 by Sen. Waggoner: To establish the Alabama Council on Advanced Technology and Artificial Intelligence to review and advise the Governor, Legislature, and the education, health services, workforce development, and manufacturing communities on the use and development of advanced technology and artificial intelligence in the state. 

SB188 by Sen. Orr: To provide a 2% pay increase to public education employees for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2021. 

SB189 by Sen. Orr: Education Budget. 

SB190 by Sen. Orr: To make supplemental appropriations to various educational programs including $2 million to the Marine Environmental Sciences Consortium. 

SB227 by Sen. Butler: To require insureds to receive certain prescription drug rebates and discounts, and prohibit a pharmacy benefits manager from requiring or steering an insured to use a mail-order pharmacy or a pharmacy affiliated with a pharmacy benefits manager. 

SB292 by Sen. Albritton: To establish the initial salaries for all state judges and justices, to provide for salary increases based on bench experience, and to eliminate county salary supplements and expense allowances for circuit and district judges. 

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SB294 by Sen. Jones: To allow licensed wineries that produce locally sourced wines and are below a certain size (Small Farm Wineries) to sell and transport their table wines directly to licensed retailers or to sell directly to consumers, under certain conditions. 

SB327 by Sen. Chesteen: To establish the Teacher Excellence and Accountability for Mathematics and Science (TEAMS) Salary Schedule Program, to provide additional compensation to teachers who elect to participate, and to provide an additional annual supplement to program participants teaching in hard-to-staff schools. 

SB373 by Sen. Orr: To require the Alabama Department of Labor to adopt policies to recover improper overpayments of unemployment benefits. 

SB385 by Sen. Williams: To provide that a licensee authorized to conduct race meetings may receive broadcasts of events conducted outside Mobile County and allow all forms of pari-mutuel wagering on those events. 

HB175 by Rep. Lovvorn: To include computer science teachers in the Alabama Math and Science Teacher Education Program (AMSTEP) which provides student loan repayment fo public high school math and science teachers to serve in under-served areas of the state. 

HB274 by Rep. Drummond: To authorize the Alabama Board of Cosmetology to regulate and license mobile salons and adopt any necessary rules related to that licensure and regulation. 

HB309 by Rep. Clouse: General Fund Budget with a substitute and amendment. 

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HB320 by Rep. Lawrence: To provide a cost-of-living increase for state employees for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2021. 

HB340 by Rep. Faulkner: To include any contract for the construction of a highway, road, or bridge entered into on or after January 1, 2022 in the contracts required to be granted a certificate of exemption from sales and use tax for the purchase of construction materials when the contract is for a governmental entity which is tax exempt. 

HB437 by Rep. Collins: To authorize common carriers to make delivery of wine to Alabama residents, and to provide for direct wine shipper permits. 

HB565 by Rep. Ledbetter: A proposed Constitutional Amendment to authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds for the improvement, renovation, equipping, acquisition, provision, construction, and maintenance of Alabama state parks. 

HB573 by Rep. Ledbetter: To implement the Constitutional Amendment proposed in HB565 and provide for the membership and duties of the Alabama State Park Enhancement Authority. 

SB368 by Sen. Coleman: To require the installation of water bottle filling stations in all newly constructed public K-12 school buildings and certain renovated public K-12 school buildings. 

SB397 by Sen. Jones: To provide for the licensure of a winery in a dry county to manufacture wine for distribution outside of the dry county. 

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SIGNIFICANT COMMITTEE ACTION THIS WEEK 

HB127 by Rep. Pringle: To create the State Transportation Commission composed of five members appointed by the Governor from each regions of the Department of Transportation, and to provide for the appointment of the Director of the Department of Transportation by the commission (House State Government Committee). 

HB377 by Rep. Sorrell: To ban non-surgical, chemical abortions (Public Hearing but no vote in House Judiciary Committee). 

HB405 by Rep. Sorrell: To repeal certain restrictions on the carrying or possession of a firearm on certain property or in a motor vehicle by persons with or without a concealed pistol permit (Substituted in House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee). 

SB6 by Sen. Elliott: To provide for the expenditure of funds received by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, pursuant to the Gulf of Mexico Energy protection (House Ways and Means General Fund). Security Act (GOMESA) of 2006, for coastal conservation, restoration and 

SB97 by Sen. Whatley: To provide that an executive declared state of emergency terminates after 14 days and may be extended only by joint resolution of the Legislature or, if the Legislature is not in Session, by joint proclamation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House (Substituted in House Health Committee). 

SB321 by Sen. Singleton: To increase the daily limit on how much beer a licensed brewery that produces less than 60,000 barrels per year may sell for off-premises consumption and to increase the daily limit on how much liquor a distillery may sell for off-premises consumption (Substituted in House Economic Development and Tourism Committee). 

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SB358 by Sen. Allen: To prohibit the state and its agencies and political subdivisions from participating in the enforcement of any federal act, law, order, rule, or regulation relating to firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition (Substituted in House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee). 

SB389 by Sen. Beasley: To increase the daily limit on how much liquor may be sold by certain distrilleries to customers for off-premises consumption (House Economic Development and Tourism Committee). 

HB232 by Rep. Simpson: To require all courts in the state to take judicial notice of all municipal ordinances of a Class 2 (Mobile) municipality (Senate Judiciary Committee). 

HB539 by Rep. Daniels: To eliminate the daily cap on the amount of beer or liquor that may be sold to customers by a brewery or distillery (Substituted in Senate Tourism Committee). 

HB540 by Rep. Poole: To create the Alabama Innovation Corporation as an authority organized as a public corporation having a legal existence separate and apart from the state and any county, municipality, or political subdivision (Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee). 

HB609 by Rep. Gray: To create the Innovate Alabama Matching Grant Program to provide matching grants to entities that have received federal Small Business Innovation Research or Small Business Technology Transfer Research grants (Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee). 

SB400 by Sen. Allen: To provide that only individuals registered as an athlete agent with the state may represent student athletes for the purpose of exploring or securing compensation for use of the student athlete’s name, image, or likeness (Senate Governmental Affairs Committee). 

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SIGNIFICANT BILLS ENACTED 

HB170 Rep. Garrett: To provide for an exclusion from Alabama individual income taxation for any federal tax credits, advance refunds, Small Business Administration subsidy payments, Emergency Injury Disaster Loans, student loan payments, or qualified disaster relief payments, and adjust certain business taxes; exempts $8.7 million in stimulus payments.

HB192 Rep. Poole: To reestablish and expand the Alabama Jobs Act and the Growing Alabama Credit for attracting new and expanding businesses. 

SIGNIFICANT BILLS ENACTED 

HB231 Rep. Clouse: To make a supplemental appropriation of available federal funds from the Alabama Emergency Rental Assistance fund to the Department of Finance of an estimated $263,236,067 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021. 

SB30 Sen. Orr: To provide civil immunity for business entities, health care providers, educational entities, churches, governmental entities, and cultural institutions operating in this state, as well as individuals associated with these entities, from certain damages claimed by individuals who allege that they contracted or were exposed to Coronavirus during a declared state of emergency. 

SB76 Sen. Orr: To establish a procedure to authorize wireless providers to collocate, mount, or install small wireless facilities on existing poles, or install new poles on the right-of-way of the state or any agency, county, or municipality. 

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HJR6 Rep. Clarke: To honor Mr. James K. Lyons for his contributions to the State of Alabama as Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Alabama State Port Authority.

HJR5 Rep. Lee: To extend the existing sales and use tax exemption on parts, components, and systems used in the refurbishing of aircraft. 

SB80 Sen. Butler: To require a county or municipality within two miles of any portion of a military installation to give an affected military installation notice and an opportunity for review of any proposed tall structure or wind energy facility for potential impacts prior to approving the tall structure or wind energy facility. 

SB40 Sen. Givhan: To exempt the Alabama School of Fine Arts Foundation, The Alabama High School of Mathematics and Science Foundation, and the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering Foundation, from any state, county, and municipal sales and use taxes. 

SIGNIFICANT BILLS ENACTED 

SB119 Sen. Waggoner: To revise the municipal election dates in certain municipalities beginning in 2025. 

HB103 Rep. Kiel: To provide that during a state of emergency involving a pandemic, epidemic, bioterrorism event, or the appearance of a novel or previously controlled or eradication infectious disease or biological toxin, any business or religious institution may continue or resume operations if they comply with any applicable emergency order, rule or regulation. 

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SB31 Sen. Roberts: To provide that the date for runoff elections to be four weeks after the regular election for all runoff municipal elections and runoff special primary elections. 

SB43 Sem. Price: To require the state Emergency Management Agency to adopt guidelines for individuals and entities throughout the state to volunteer to have property designated as safer place facilities during severe weather events. 

SB65 Sen. Sessions: To provide an alternative procedure for the dissolution of a public park and recreation beach board under certain conditions and for the transfer of the property of the board to the municipality where the public park is located upon approval of both the county and the municipality. 

SB111 Sen. Butler: To allow the sale of land for taxes to occur on the premises of or within the courthouse or courthouse annex of the county. 

SB140 Sen. Melson: To specify the responsibilities and duties of owners, operators, occupants, and creditors of a self-storage facility in the event of default of a rental agreement. 

SIGNIFICANT BILLS ENACTED  

SB169 Sen. Figures: To provide for an increase in the number of executive level employees which the director of the Alabama State Port Authority is entitled to appoint and to provide that the commercial terms of certain contracts entered into by the Port Authority are exempt from certain state laws limiting confidentiality. 

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SB126 Sen. Waggoner: To provide for a delivery service license issued by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board that would allow the licensee to deliver sealed beer and wine from certain licensed retail establishments directly to individuals in Alabama who are at least 21 years of age for their personal use. 

HB448 Rep. Clarke: To provide for the incorporation of an Africatown Redevelopment Corporation for the purpose of revitalization of housing, preservation of history, and attraction and development of commerce in the Africatown Historic District. 

HB131 Rep. C. Brown: A proposed Constitutional Amendment (Aniah’s Law) that would require reasonable bail in all cases, except for offenses enumerated by the Legislature by general law. 

SB171 Sen. Gudger: To designate the sweet potato as the official state vegetable of Alabama 

HB404 Rep. South: To provide that a student athlete may earn compensation for the use of the student’s name, image or likeness under certain circumstances. 

HB132 Rep. Brown: To provide that the rate filings and related actuarial information for all insurance coverage in the state, with certain exceptions, are treated as public information and will be publicly available for review. 

SB274 Sen. Singleton: To establish the COVID-19 Recovery Capital Protection Act of 2021, to increase the amount of various types of compensation that may be exempted, and to provide an extension to the employment and wage requirements of the capital credit program and associated penalties. 

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SIGNIFICANT BILLS ENACTED  

SB308 Sen. Price: To establish the Alabama Uniform Concealed Carry Permit Act to standardize the process by which concealed carry permits may be issued, and create a state firearms prohibited person database. 

HB130 Rep. C. Brown: To provide for additional offenses that would require mandatory denial of bail. 

SB39 Sen. Price: To create the crime of aggravated home repair fraud to provide enhanced criminal penalties for home repair fraud committed for the repair of a residential structure that was damaged as a result of an event which was declared a state of emergency by the Governor. 

SB264 Sen. Chesteen: To provide that existing law prohibiting the capturing or killing of animals during nighttime hours would not apply to feral swine or coyotes hunted on privately owned or leased lands. 

HB388 Rep. Carns: A proposed Constitutional Amendment to provide that the implementation date for any bill enacted by the Legislature in a calendar year in which a general election is to be held and relating to the conduct of the general election shall be at least six months before the general election. 

HB391 Rep. Stadthagen: To provide that public K-12 schools may not participate in,sponsor, or provide coaching staff for interscholastic athletic events at which athletes are allowed to participate in competition against athletes who are of a different biological gender. 

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SB117 Sen. Coleman: To expand the offenses and provide procedures for a person to have criminal records expunged under certain conditions. 

SB167 Sen. Jones: To provide for licensure for wine festivals and authorize a winery to provide tastings and sell its wine for on-premises or off-premises consumption at a wine festival. 

SIGNIFICANT BILLS ENACTED 

HB385 Rep. Hall: To revise the focus of the content, course materials, and instruction provided to public school students in any program or curriculum that includes sex education or the human reproductive process. 

SB107 Sen. Elliott: To limit the police jurisdiction of a municipality to territory in the police jurisdiction of the municipality on the effective date of this act and to provide for the reduction or elimination of a police jurisdiction. 

SB11 Sen. Givhan: To exempt airport authorities and their contractors from paying sales and use taxes and includes airport authorities in the list of governmental entities that may be issued an annual certificate of exemption. 

HJR96 Rep. Faust: To recognize the importance of clean water access in the State of Alabama and endorsing the mission of Clean Water Alabama. 

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HB177 Rep. Reynolds: To authorize a municipality to use electronic records and signatures in the conduct of its affairs. 

SB261 Sen. Chambliss: To provide certain prohibitions, authorizations, and requirements for contracts for the services of a design professional. 

SB275 Sen. Givhan: To authorize the use of remote notarization for acknowledgments and to validate remote notarizations which occurred before July 1, 2021. 

BUDGETS 

HB309 Rep. Clouse: General Fund Budget In Conference Committee SB189 Sen. Orr Education Budget Passed by both Houses.

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