The Alabama Legislature convened for Day 26, out of 30, of its annual Regular Session on Tuesday, April 29 and convened in Session Thursday for Day 27. Thirty-one committee meetings were held during the week. The Legislature will next convene for Day 28 on Tuesday, May 6 with the House convening at 1 p.m. and the Senate convening at 2 p.m. The Legislature plans to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, then reconvene for the 30th and final day on Wednesday, May 14.
967 bills have been introduced.
NOTABLE HOUSE FLOOR ACTION THIS WEEK
HB297 by Rep. Fidler: To require money transmission businesses to report and maintain records relating to additional activity involving cash transactions beyond what is required by federal regulation, and would provide civil and criminal penalties for violations (as substituted).
HB298 by Rep. Colvin: To restrict certain English language learner students from being included in the average daily membership of public schools for purposes of classifying a school for athletic competition (as substituted and amended).
HB414 by Rep. Lamb: To increase the total annual expenditures of a municipality that determine if the municipality must undergo an annual or biennial audit, or submit an annual report to the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts.
HB449 by Rep. Robbins: To prohibit certain intentional collection, use, retention, or disclosure of a person’s DNA sample or genetic information without that person’s express consent, to provide for penalties, and to provide for exceptions (as substituted).
HB543 by Rep. Brown: To increase the market value threshold amount for which tangible personal property is exempt from the state ad valorem tax.
HB567 by Rep. Wilcox: To increase the percent of total value of equalized taxable property, within a Class 2 (Mobile) municipality, that may be included in tax increment districts created by the municipality.
SB110 by Sen. Williams: To add certain trucks to those that are excepted from certain weight limits, to further provide for an operator of a vehicle to verify the accuracy of portable scales, and to remove the authority of certain individuals to require vehicle operators to drive to stationary weigh scales to enforce those weight limits.
SB119 by Sen. Barfoot: To further provide for the list of persons prohibited from possessing a firearm, to prohibit firearm possession by a person charged with certain felony offenses when the person has been released pending or during trial, and to increase the penalty for the offense of discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling, building or other designated space.
SB140 by Sen. Waggoner: To require the Alabama Department of Public Health to notify youth athletic associations of noncompliance with the Coach Safely Act, to levy a fine if noncompliance is not remedied, and prohibit a youth athletic association that is noncompliant for 4 consecutive years from administering or conducting youth athletic activities on state property (as substituted and amended).
SB174 by Sen. Chambliss: To require counties and municipalities to provide certain annual reports on business license taxes and business privilege taxes, and to expand the jurisdiction of the Alabama Tax Tribunal to include appeals of business license tax determinations made by counties or municipalities.
SB186 by Sen. Chambliss: To require manufacturers of certain Internet-enabled devices, including smartphones and tablets, to require the devices to contain a filter that is enabled during the activation of the device if the user is a minor, and only allow a user with a password to deactivate or reactivate the filter, to subject a manufacturer of a device in violation of this act to civil liability and provide for penalties (as substituted).
SB194 by Sen. Melson: To authorize an agriculture authority to terminate or move easements on authority owned property using the power of eminent domain in the same manner as the state (as amended).
SB256 by Sen. Sessions: To authorize a Class 2 municipality to enter property on which it holds a tax lien certificate to make repairs, to clarify that the Class 2 municipality holds a lien for the cost of its repair that is not extinguished by a tax lien certificate, and to provide for the sale by the tax collecting official of a tax lien certificate that remains unsold for a period of time for the price to certain entities.
SB279 by Sen. Givhan: To authorize the Legislative Council to contract for the demolition of the building designated as the current Alabama State House, upon completion of the new Alabama State House, to provide for the disposition of certain property and materials affixed to the building, and to provide for the sale of items in the chambers that will not be relocated to the new Alabama State House.
SB304 by Sen. Orr: To establish the Alabama Energy Infrastructure Bank as a division within the State Industrial Development Authority for the purpose of selecting and assisting in the financing of qualified energy infrastructure projects necessary to meet the energy demands of economic development and industrial recruitment projects throughout the State of Alabama.
SB312 by Sen. Smitherman: To create a new alcoholic beverage license category that would allow businesses that sell and dispense alcoholic beverages at special events under an existing special event license to obtain an event storage license, and to create a new alcoholic beverage license category for businesses to sell and dispense alcoholic beverages at a special event held on state, county, or municipal owned property, such as concert venues, exhibition halls, historic properties, and parks.
SB322 by Sen. Waggoner: To authorize the annexation of a certain type of community development district by a wet municipality in the county where the district is situated, and to further provide for the establishment of a certain type of community development district.
SB330 by Sen. Roberts: To further provide for the composition, manner of appointment, and length of terms of members of certain municipal water works boards, to provide qualifications for and place limits on the employment of board members, to provide for conversion of these boards to regional boards, to further provide for these boards to amend their articles of incorporation, to subject these boards to the ethics laws of Alabama and require training on the subject, to provide duties and unlawful actions of these boards, to require a consulting engineer be retained by a board, and to require these boards to produce certain financial and statistical records.
NOTABLE SENATE FLOOR ACTION
HB185 by Rep. Reynolds: $67,906,065 Supplemental from the General Fund (as substituted and amended; House concurred).
HB186 by Rep. Reynolds: $3.7 Billion General Fund Budget (as substituted and amended; House concurred).
HB199 by Rep. Hendrix: To authorize the Board of Pardons and Paroles or other state agency to provide electronic monitoring to children released from custody in certain circumstances (as amended).
HB315 by Rep. Lovvorn: To require the Department of Revenue to adjust the dollar value of “covered items” that are exempt from sales tax during certain weekends based on changes in the Consumer Price Index, and to increase the number of days prior to which a local government must pass a resolution or ordinance to adopt such exemptions for local sales tax.
HB320 by Rep. Pringle: To provide certain additional methods of publication that would serve as a safe harbor for the award of a contract for public works in the event a publication by newspaper fails to be completed, and to establish the Study Commission on Public Notice of Title 39 Advertisements to study and make recommendations regarding the establishment of a centralized website for notice of advertisements for certain public bids (as substituted).
HB437 by Rep. Faulkner: To establish a shark alert system for Baldwin and Mobile Counties, to provide for the development, implementation and operation of the alert system by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources with assistance from other agencies of the state and political subdivisions (as amended).
HB477 by Rep. Faulkner: To authorize a nonprofit agricultural organization to offer health benefits to its members and their families, to specify that the nonprofit agricultural organization would not be engaged in the business of health insurance, and would specify health care benefits that must by offered, to require a nonprofit agricultural organization to create a complaint system for members receiving health benefits, and to impose a tax measured by premiums received by a nonprofit agricultural organization (as amended).
SB265 by Sen Elliott: To authorize peer-to-peer car sharing programs, which are business platforms that connect vehicle owners with drivers, to enable the sharing of vehicles for financial consideration in this state, and to provide requirements for the operation of a peer-to-peer car sharing program, including insurance requirements, notification requirements, tax requirements, record-keeping and reporting requirements, liability requirements, consumer protection disclosure requirements, and safety recall requirements. (as substituted).
SB318 by Sen. Singleton: To require certain disclosure when advertising service contracts, and to further provide for the limitations, exceptions, and exclusions of contracts that must be disclosed (as amended).
NOTABLE HOUSE COMMITTEE ACTION THIS WEEK
SB34 by Sen. Smitherman: To require instruction in violence prevention, conflict resolution, and mediation before graduation from high school (House Education Policy Committee).
SB85 by Sen. Orr: To specify that a parent or guardian’s written declaration is sufficient documentation to his or her child from a vaccine requirement for religious reasons, and to provide that if a public institution of higher education requires students to be vaccinated, a student may exempt because he or she objects for religious reasons (House Health Committee).
SB142 by Sen. Kitchens: To remove the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) as a voter registration database that the board of registrars or the Secretary of State may use to identify voters whose addresses may have changed, and to require the Secretary of State to conduct a voter registration list maintenance program through the Alabama Voter Integrity Database (substituted in House Constitution, Campaigns and Elections Committee).
SB158 by Sen. Barfoot: To provide that foreign national driver license may not be used as photo identification for voting purposes (House Constitution, Campaigns and Elections Committee).
SB177 by Sen. Bell: To rename the Alabama Film Office as the Alabama Entertainment Office, to include music albums as a qualified production, increase the maximum expenditure threshold eligible for a rebate, establish a minimum spend threshold for musical albums to qualify, and increase the annual cap for incentives (amended in House Ways and Means General Fund Committee).
SB271 by Sen. Allen: To prohibit municipalities from imposing certain fees or charges on natural or manufactured gas utilities in connection with the granting of consent to use public streets and places (House Transportation, Utilities and Infrastructure Committee).
SB316 by Sen. Singleton: To require the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board to issue an educational tourism distillery license, to regulate retail sales of alcoholic beverages by the licensee, to levy a tax on liquor manufactured by the licensee, and to provide for storage of liquor manufactured by the licensee (substituted in House Economic Development and Tourism Committee).
NOTABLE SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
HB7 by Rep. Yarbrough: To allow state and local law enforcement agencies to enter into memorandums of understanding and agreements with federal agencies to enforce federal immigration laws (amended in Senate Judiciary Committee).
HB67 by Rep. Stadthagan: To prohibit public K-12 schools and public libraries from knowingly presenting or sponsoring drag performances in the presence of a minor without the consent of the minor’s parent or legal guardian, and to prohibit certain state entities from allowing minors to share certain facilities with members of the opposite sex during overnight programs operated or sponsored by the state entity, unless the other individuals are family members of the minor and the minor’s parent consents (amended in Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
HB90 by Rep. Clarke: To further provide for a municipal housing authority’s power to manage housing projects and community facilities, participate in lawful forms of business organizations, make loans, create subsidiaries or other lawful business organizations, and enter into contracts, to ratify the creation of any wholly-owned subsidiary of a municipal housing authority, to further provide for a municipal housing authority’s power to evaluate and award contracts, and to exempt public housing authorities from all taxes (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
HB91 by Rep. Clarke: To provide further powers to a county housing authority to manage housing projects and community facilities, including powers to participate in lawful forms of business organizations, make loans, create subsidiaries or other lawful business organizations, and enter into contracts (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
HB176 by Rep. Shirey: To exempt the gross proceeds from the sale of optical aids, including eyeglasses and contact lenses, from sales and use tax (Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee).
HB161 by Rep. Lipscomb: To require the Division of Construction Management to periodically update the state building code in accordance with the most recent model building code published, to expand the state building code to include all nonresidential buildings, to provide that the expanded applicability of the building code to such nonresidential buildings would not supersede any rules, regulations, or building codes of a Class 1, Class 2, or Class 3 municipality unless the municipality gave its consent, to allow the governing body of a county or municipality to adopt a local amendment or modification to the state building code to authorize increased protections within the applicable county or municipality, and to allow a local governing body to request the Division of Construction Management to amend or modify the state building code to be less stringent and would authorize the amendment, if adopted, to be applied statewide or only locally (substituted in Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
HB165 by Rep. Rehm: To add Juneteenth as a state holiday (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
HB166 by Rep. Hulsey: To prohibit the use, operation, and possession of wireless communication devices on certain public school properties, to require local boards of education to adopt an Internet safety policy, and to require students to complete a social media safety course prior to entering the eighth grade (Senate Education Policy Committee).
HB202 by Rep. Reynolds: To establish immunity for law enforcement officers from civil liability and from criminal prosecution, and to provide exceptions (amended in Senate Judiciary Committee).
HB244 by Rep. Butler: To prohibit classroom instruction in public school preK-12 related to gender identity or sexual orientation, prohibit education employees from displaying certain flags and insignia in public preK-12 schools, and to prohibit education employees from referring to a student by pronouns inconsistent with the student’s biological sex (Public Hearing and favorable report in Senate Education Policy Committee).
HB247 by Rep. Standridge: To rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” and to require all state and local entities and all employees of those entities to observe and implement the name change, where practicable (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
HB283 by Rep Shaw: To authorize a consumer to take certain actions regarding the consumer’s personal data, to regulate the manner in which a controller may process personal data, and to regulate the processing of de identified data (Public Hearing but no vote in Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee.
HB363 by Rep. Lomax: To prohibit foreign nationals from contributing to campaigns, ballot measures, political parties, or political action committees and prohibit political parties, political action committees, principal campaign committees, and others from soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals, and to impose penalties for violations (substituted on Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
HB379 by Rep. Garrett: To exclude certain nonresident, remote workers from state income tax in certain circumstances (Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee).
HB386 by Rep. Garrett: To reduce the state sales and use tax rate on food to 2 percent on September 1, 2025, and to revise the provisions authorizing a county or municipal governing body to reduce their sales and use tax on food to eliminate the 25 percent limitation on the rate cut and remove the growth requirement (substituted in Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee).
HB387 by Rep. Garrett: To reduce the sales and use tax rate on machinery to one and one quater percent, on September 1, 2025 (substituted in Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee).
HB388 by Rep. Garrett: To phase in an increase in the income tax exemption amount for taxable retirement income of individuals who are 65 years of age or older from $6,000 to $12,000 over a 3 year period (substituted in Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee).
HB389 by Rep. Garrett: To increase the optional standard income tax deduction and expand the adjusted gross income range allowable for the maximum optional standard income tax deduction, and to expand the adjusted gross income range allowable for the maximum income tax dependent exemption (Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee).
HB403 by Rep. Bedsole: To provide for the establishment, development, management, and maintenance of the Alabama Criminal Enterprise Database (amened in Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee).
HB425 by Rep. Bedsole: To require each executive committee delegated by a regional mental health authority board to include at least one active sheriff and one active judge of probate, prohibit a board of directors from creating additional qualifications for directors through the corporation’s constitution and bylaws, and to provide for a quorum (Senate Healthcare Committee).
HB479 by Rep. Brinyark: To remove the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) as a voter registration database that the board of registrars or the Secretary of State may use to identify voters whose addresses may have changed, and to require the Secretary of State to conduct a voter registration list maintenance program through the Alabama Voter Integrity Database (amended in Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
HB480 by Rep. Treadaway: To provide that foreign national driver licenses may not be used as photo identification for voting purposes (Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee).
HB481 by Rep. Shaw: To exempt the purchase and installation of certain material and equipment by local boards of education and certain public procurement units from certain procedures for entering into contracts for public works (Public Hearing but no vote in Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee).
HB506 by Rep. Lovvorn: To provide that if an off-road vehicle is publicly owned by a state, county, or municipal law enforcement agency, fire department, volunteer fire department, or rescue squad and meets certain requirements, the vehicle may be designated as an authorized emergency vehicle and may be operated on public streets and highways to perform emergency services (Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee).
HB509 by Rep. Sorrells: To prohibit state agencies from killing, testing, and prohibiting the transfer of cervids due to disease, subject to exceptions (Senate Agriculture, Conservation ad Forestry Committee).
BUDGETS
HB186 by Rep. Reynolds: $3.7 Billion General Fund Budget Passed both Houses; pending action by Governor
SB112 by Sen.Orr: $9.9 Billion Education Trust Fund Budget Passed both Houses; pending action by Governor
SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS
HB185 by Rep. Reynolds: Supplemental from the General Fund ($67,906,065), passed both Houses; pending action by Governor
SB113 by Sen. Orr: Supplemental from the Education Trust Fund ($524,276,588), passed both Houses; pending action by Governor
NOTABLE BILLS ENACTED
SB79 by Sen. Weaver: To define man, woman, boy, girl, father, mother, male, female and sex for purposes of state law, to provide policy of the differences between sexes, to provide that state and local public entities may establish separate single-sex spaces or environments in certain circumstances, and to require the state or political subdivisions that collect vital statistics related to sex as male or female for certain purposes to identify each individual as either male or female at birth.
SB70 by Sen. Jones: To create the Alabama Veterans Resource Center, provide for a board of directors to manage the center as a comprehensive, coordinated system of support for veterans and their families.
SB36 by Sen. Kitchens: To provide further for who is subject to state competitive bid laws, to provide further for electronic bid submissions, to provide further for the procedures for protesting certain competitive bid contracts, and to revise requirements for disclosure statement forms.
SB67 by Sen. Jones: To authorize the Governor to appoint the Commissioner of the Department of Veterans Affairs to serve at the pleasure of the Governor, and to revise membership and powers of the board.
SB4 by Sen. Elliott: To authorize certain public entities to contract with a nonpublic K-12 school to provide school resource officers in certain circumstances, and to require public entities to charge the nonpublic school for the full cost of employing any school resource officer.
SB64 by Sen. Livingston: To require persons engaging in the business of cutting or uprooting aquatic plants in public waters to use certain methods to remove this plant matter.
SB116 by Sen. Barfoot: To prohibit persons from possessing a part or combination of parts designed or intended to convert a pistol into a machine gun.
SB115 by Sen. Chambliss: To include additional activity that would constitute the crime of impersonating a peace officer.
SB54 by Sen. Roberts: To further provide for the term “critical infrastructure facility” to include communicationsservice infrastructure and facilities, and further provide for the crimes of unauthorized entry of a critical infrastructure facility and criminal tampering in the first and second degrees.
SB78 by Sen. Weaver: To prohibit the possession, use, or sale of butyl nitrite or any mixtures containing butyl nitrite, commonly known as “whippets,” except under certain circumstances, and to prohibit the possession, use, or sale of nitrous oxide, commonly known as “laughing gas,” and amyl nitrite, commonly known as “poppers” or “snappers,” except under certain circumstances.
HB93 by Rep. Brown: To exempt all property used by the Alabama State Port Authority from the state personal property inventory and audit requirements.
HB159 by Rep. Lovvorn: To rename the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission as the U. S. Space and Rocket Center Commission, to provide that the Governor serve as an ex officio nonvoting member of the commission, to authorize interested public and private partners to provide facilities for U. S. Space and Rocket Center exhibits, and to specify that the commission operates outside of the State Treasury.
SB199 by Sen. Figures: To provide for paid parental leave for eligible employees following the birth, stillbirth, or miscarriage of a child or the placement of a child for adoption.
HB243 by Rep. Whitt: To unabate a portion of state noneducational ad valorem taxes and state abated construction related transaction taxes pursuant to abatements granted on or after June 1, 2026, and require the local tax collecting official and the Department of Revenue to collect the unabated portion and deposit the revenue into the Alabama Development Fund.
HB101 by Rep. Shirey: To authorize the Sheriff of Mobile County to establish procedures for using a credit or debit card to make purchases.
HB104 by Rep. Drummond: To provide that a Class 2 municipality (Mobile) may declare certain abandoned or discarded debris a nuisance and require its abatement or removal at the expense of the owner of the property.
SB40 by Sen. Kelley: To provide for the recognition of firearm hold agreements between a federal firearm licensee or a municipal or county law enforcement officer and in individual firearm owner where the licensee or law enforcement officer agrees to hold a lawfully possessed firearm for a specified period of time.
SB60 by Sen. Albritton: To allow the Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority to increase the amount of bonds issued to implement the existing prison modernization plan from $785,000,000 to a total of $1,285,000,000.
SB130 by Sen. Melson: To provide that refined gold and silver bullion, specie, or certain coins may be recognized as legal tender.
SB252 by Sen. Beasley: To further provide for the regulation of pharmacy benefits managers by the Commissioner of Insurance, to provide a civil action to person injured by pharmacy benefit managers, to provide a minimum reimbursement amount for independent pharmacies, and to regulate rebates from drug manufacturers to pharmacy benefits managers.
SB91 by Sen. Kelley: To require a person seeking to construct a tall structure within a minimum distance of a military installation to receive approval from the local government before construction may begin, and authorize a local government to seek enjoinment of the construction of a tall structure if prior approval was not granted.
SB83 by Sen. Orr: To require public entities to install and maintain powered, height-adjustable, adult-size changing tables accessible to both males and females in newly constructed or renovated public buildings, to provide for grant award payments to public entities with preexisting public restrooms subject to appropriation, and to encourage the installation and maintenance of adult-size changing tables in private sector facilities across the state.
SB224 by Sen. Sessions: To further provide for the electronic monitoring of certain individuals in Mobile County.
SB200 by Sen. Jones: To rename “drug courts” to “accountability courts” and to expand the scope of whom accountability courts would serve to include offenders with mental illness and offenders who are veterans.
SB221 by Sen. Williams: To further provide for the compensation of the Mobile County Judge of Probate.
SB46 by Sen. Sessions: To authorize the governing body of a Class 2 municipality (Mobile) to establish a delegation agreement with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to enforce the Alabama Scrap Tire Environmental Quality Act.
SB102 by Sen. Coleman-Madison: To extend the existing pregnant women benefit under the state Medicaid plan for up to 60 days to women who have not been formally approved for Medicaid coverage but who submit proof of pregnancy and household income information to a qualified provider of ambulatory prenatal care.
SB118 by Sen. Barfoot: A proposed Constitutional Amendment to provide for additional offenses that would allow a judge to deny bail under certain circumstances.
HB253 by Rep. Colvin: To exempt the gross receipts from the sale of certain aircraft and aircraft parts from state sales and use tax, to provide conditions regarding the application of rental or lease taxes to the rental or lease transactions of commercial aircraft, to authorize county or municipal governing bodies to adopt a local sales and use tax exemption by resolution or ordinance, and to provide for effective dates from September 1, 2025 to August.
