The Alabama Legislature convened for its annual Regular Session on Tuesday, January 13. As the annual Session is limited by law to 30 session days within a 105 calendar day period, the Session must conclude by April 20, 2026. The Legislature generally meets Tuesday through Thursday of each week. Both Houses convened in Session for Days 1, 2 and 3 of the Session.
The Legislature will next convene for Day 4 on Tuesday, January 20, with the House convening at 1 p.m. and the Senate convening at 3 p.m. 449 bills, including those pre-filed, have been introduced to date.
NOTABLE HOUSE INTRODUCTIONS
HB2 by Rep. Standridge: To rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” and to require all state and local entities to observe and implement the name change where practicable (House State Government Committee).
HB3 by Rep. Brown: To exempt certain retail sales of fish or other seafood from state sales and use tax and to provide for municipalities and counties to exempt these sale from local sales and use taxes if approved by resolution or ordinance (House Ways and Means Education Committee).
HB12 by Rep. Yarbrough: To prohibit an employer, prospective employer, a place of public accommodation, a hospital, health plan insurer or an occupational licensing board from discriminating against an individual who refuses certain drugs, vaccines, or facial coverings for reasons of conscience, including religious convictions (House Judiciary Committee).
HB14 by Rep. Lands: A proposed Constitutional Amendment to provide that the citizens of the state may propose the enactment of general laws and constitutional amendments by an initiative measure subject to the same limitations imposed on the Legislature and the Legislature may offer an alternate proposal (House Constitutions, Campaigns and Elections Committee).
HB15 by Rep. Shirey: To exempt the gross proceeds from the sale of optical aids, including eyeglasses and contact lenses, from sales and use tax (House Ways and Means Education Committee).
HB23 by Rep. Butler: To prohibit classroom instruction or discussions related to gender identity or sexual orientation from being provided to public school students in prekindergarten through 12 grade, to prohibit school employees from displaying a flag or relating to sexual orientation or gender identity on school property, and to prohibit school employees from referring to a student by pronouns inconsistent with the student’s biological sex at birth (House Education Policy Committee).
HB31 by Rep. Ingram: To exclude soda, energy drinks, candy, and prepared desserts from the definition of “eligible food” for purposes of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (House Health Committee).
HB36 by Rep. Ingram: To authorize the Attorney General and Governor to jointly appoint an interim police chief of certain municipal police departments, and provide procedures and requirements for a municipality with an interim police chief (House County and Municipal Government Committee).
HB43 by Rep. Ingram: A proposed Constitutional Amendment to require each local board of education to adopt a policy requiring that The Pledge of Allegiance be conducted to the United States flag at the commencement of each school day, and to require each local board of eduction to vote whether to adopt a policy allowing employees and students to voluntarily participate in a daily prayer and a reading of the Bible or other religious text (House Education Policy Committee).
HB44 by Rep. Givens: To add hot rotisserie chickens to the definition of eligle food for purposes of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (House Ways and Means General Fund Committee).
HB45 by Rep. Clarke: To allow a disabled voter to designate an individual to deliver to the absentee election manager the voter’s application for an absentee ballot (House Constitution, Campaigns and Elections Committee).
HB67 by Rep. Kiel: To limit the reproduction cost for the list of registered voters, to prohibit certain information from being disseminated in a list of registered voters, and to prohibit the use of voter data or information for commercial purposes (House Constitution, Campaigns and Elections Committee).
HB76 by Rep. England: A proposed Constitutional Amendment to provide that no crime shall be punishable by death (House Judiciary Committee).
HB78 by Rep. Ross: To require the Department of Early Childhood Education to develop guidelines and training for appropriate screen time use in early childhood education settings and to provide limits on the use of screen time in licensed child-care facilities, certain prekindergarten classrooms, and public kindergarten classrooms (House Education Policy Committee).
HB79 by Rep. Crawford: To consolidate vessel registration fees and to provide for the distribution of the fees (House Ways and Means General Fund Committee).
HB81 by Rep. Gidley: To prohibit any government entity from using the term “West Bank” to refer to Judea and Samaria (House State Government Committee).
HB82 by Rep. Simpson: To alter the corporate limits of the City of Daphne in Baldwin County (House Baldwin County Legislation Committee).
HB106 by Rep. Givens: To further provide that a person commits the crime of doxing if he or she intentionally electronically shares personal identifying information of another individual with the intent that others will use that information to harass or harm the other individual, regardless of whether the individual is actually harmed (House Judiciary Committee).
HB109 by Rep. Givens: A proposed Constitutional Amendment to provide for the continuation of the existing levy of a two mill ad valorem tax for public hospital purposes (House Baldwin County Legislation Committee).
HB111 by Rep. Rigsby: To create the crime of human cloning (House Judiciary Committee).
HB119 by Rep. Brown: Relating to Mobile County; to further provide for the collection of fire service fees to maintain firefighting districts by providing a definition of residence (House Mobile County Legislation Committee).
HB126 by Rep. Brown: To require a pretrial detention hearing without exception if the defendant is charged with committing certain offenses, including any Class A felony resulting in death and attempted murder (House Judiciary Committee).
HB135 by Rep. Brown: To create the Alabama Port Infrastructure Grant Program and Alabama Port Infrastructure Fund, to provide for the administration of the program by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs and to provide for funding of the program (House Ports, Waterways and Intermodal Transit Committee).
HB136 by Rep. Pringle: To require the Governor to certify immediate danger to the public health, safety, or welfare justifies the need for the emergency rule adopted by an agency before the rule may become effective (House State Government Committee).
HB142 by Rep. Wilcox: To increase the percent of total value of equalized taxable property within a Class 2 municipality (Mobile) which may be included in tax increment districts created by the municipality (House Mobile County Legislation Committee).
HB148 by Rep. Paschal: A proposed Constitutional Amendment which provides that parents have a fundamental right to direct the education, upbringing, care, custody, and control of their children (House Judiciary Committee).
HB150 by Rep. Wilcox: To remove the Alabama Improvement Districts Board’s discretion to charge a higher interest rate on the assessment than interest on the bond issued to fund the project, to provide that improvement districts may petition the county commission to use alternate means of collection and enforcement of assessments, to provide that improvement districts may use county tax officials and judges of probate to collect and enforce assessment liens to provide that an assessment would be collected in the same manner as delinquent ad valorem taxes and to allow the county tax collector to charge a fee for collection (House Boards, Agencies and Commissions Committee).
HB157 by Rep. Lee: To exempt the operation of certain regatta, motorboat, or other boat races, maritime parades, tournaments, or exhibitions from state permit requirements (House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee).
HB163 by Rep. Stubbs: To allow local governments to allow private financing of qualified energy projects, to allow local governments to assess the qualifying properties with a lien to secure repayment of the private financing, to allow assignment of the repayment to the private financier, to revise the application process for qualifying projects, to provide that imposition of the local assessment is voluntary and to provide that the local government shall not guarantee the repayment of the financing (House County and Municipal Government Committee).
HB171 by Rep. Robbins: To provide age-verification requirements for social media platforms that hose addictive feeds, to prohibit social media platform operators from notifying minors during certain hours, to require social media platform operators to disclose certain information regarding media-prioritization algorithms used on their platforms and to authorize the Attorney General to enforce this act (House Children and Senior Advocacy Committee).
HB177 by Rep. Robbins: To provide for the enforcement of the crime of abandonment of a dog or cat, to prohibit a person from abandoning a dog or cat and to provide criminal penalties for violations (House Agriculture and Forestry Committee).
HB185 by Rep. Colvin: To exempt certain general aviation aircraft and any machinery or equipment installed on these aircraft from ad valorem taxes (House Ways and Means Education Committee).
HB187 by Rep. Baker: To require designated school employees who have access to students during the school day to be equipped with mobile emergency rapid response systems that meet certain requirements, to require the State Superintendent of Education to approve vendors and to authorize the use of various funding sources for the systems (House Ways and Means Education Committee).
HB202 by Rep. Fidler: To alter the corporate limits of the Town of Magnolia Springs in Baldwin County (House Baldwin County Legislation Committee).
HB211 by Rep. Givens: To alter the corporate limits of the City of Loxley in Baldwin County (House Baldwin County Legislation Committee).
HB213 by Rep. Lomax: To authorize the Code Commissioner to change references to the State Port Authority, the Alabama State Docks Department, and the Alabama State Port Authority to the Alabama Port Authoriry (House State Government Committee).
HB214 by Rep. Lomax: To define “foreign national” and prohibit foreign national contributions and donations to fund Alabama campaigns and non-candidate elections (House Ethics and Campaign Finance Committee).
HB216 by Rep. Gidley: To require certain local boards of education to display the Ten Commandments and certain other documents related to the formation of this nation, to provide for the use of donations to comply with the display requirement and to authorize the State Board of Education to adopt rules (House Education Policy Committee).
HB218 by Rep. Reynolds: $3.7 billion General Fund (House Ways and Means General Fund Committee).
HB219 by Rep. Shaw: To establish certain requirements for developers and app store operators regarding the age of users and to authorize enforcement (House State Government Committee).
HB223 by Rep. Givens: To provide a cost-of-living increase for state employees for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2026 (House Ways and Means General Fund Committee).
HB238 by Rep. Garrett: $9.9 billion Education Trust Fund Budget (House Ways and Means Education Committee). To provide for a revision of the State Minimum Salary Schedule to reflect a pay increase of 2 percent beginning with the fiscal year 2026-2027 (House Ways and Means Education Committee).
HB239 by Rep. Collins: To provide for a revision of the State Minimum Salary Schedule to reflect a pay increase of 2 percent beginning with the fiscal year 2026-2027 (House Ways and Means Education Committee).
HB244 by Crawford: To exclude the use of natural gas, propane, or electricity in poultry houses from the utility gross receipts tax and utility service use tax (House Ways and Means Education Committee).
HB254 by Rep. Stringer: To require law enforcement officers to have probable cause to believe a violation of law has occurred before stopping and boarding a vessel (House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee).
HB262 by Rep. Lawrence: To further provide for the state privilege tax on certain local gambling revenues, to establish a uniform local privilege tax on certain local gambling revenues and to restrict the operation of historical racing activities to certain authorized locations (House Economic Development and Tourism Committee).
HB269 by Rep. Underwood: To exempt certain awarding authorities from competitive bidding requirements for repairs to vehicles under certain circumstances (House County and Municipal Government Committee).
HB270 by Rep. Clarke: To provide a process for early voting in certain elections, to prescribe the number, location, and hours of operation of early voting centers in each county and to authorize electors to cast a vote, without excuse, by paper ballot and tabulator at an early voting center (House Constitution, Campaign and Elections Committee).
HB277 by Rep. Wilcox: To authorize oyster aquaculture licensees to harvest and serve oysters from the aquaculture facility for product tasting (House Ports, Waterways and Intermodal Transit).
NOTABLE SENATE INTRODUCTIONS
SB3 by Sen. Shelnutt: To require sex education and human reproductive process curricula and programs to teach sexual risk avoidance and encourage abstinence from all sexual activity, to prohibit the promotion of abortions, any sexual activity, or demonstrations of contraceptives and to authorize parents or guardians to opt their child out of sexual education or human reproductive process curricula or programs (Senate Education Policy Committee).
SB5 by Sen. Allen: A proposed Constitutional Amendment to require local boards of education to adopt policies requiring each public K-12 school to broadcast or sanction the performance of the first stanza of The Star Spangled Banner at least once per week during school hours (Senate Education Policy Committee).
SB6 by Sen. Allen: To require a controlling governmental entity that replaces a memorial building to maintain the original name or erect a marker memorializing the name, to provide that a petition for waiver is deemed denied if the Committee on Alabama Monument Protection fails to act on a application for waiver within 90 days and to revise penalties for violations (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
SB9 by Sen. Allen: To rename the Alabama Clean Indoor Air Act the Vivian Davis Figures Clean Indoor Air Act and to prohibit the smoking of electronic nicotine delivery systems in the same manner as the smoking of tobacco is prohibited (Senate Healthcare Committee).
SB13 by Sen. Williams: To exclude the use of natural gas, propane, or electricity in poultry houses from the utility gross receipts tax and utility service use tax (Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee).
SB18 by Sen. Beasley: To levy a state privilege tax on the net gambling revenues from certain pari-mutuel wagering activities (Senate Tourism Committee).
SB21 by Sen. Chesteen: A proposed Constitutional Amendment to provide that only natural born citizens of the United States may serve as Governor, Lt. Governor, Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, judge of the Alabama Courts of Civil and Criminal Appeals, judge of a circuit or district court, member of the Legislature, Attorney General, State Auditor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, members of the State Board of Education, or local sheriff, district attorney, circuit clerk or constable (Senate State Governmental Affairs Committee).
SB23 by Sen. Gudger: To authorize a new special primary election for district affected by the redistricting of legislative or congressional districts under certain circumstances (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
SB34 by Sen. Kitchens: To create the Imagination Library of Alabama Program to provide free age appropriate books to children through Dolly Parton‘s Imagination Library (Senate Education Policy Committee).
SB36 by Sen. Albritton: To require municipalities to refund local sales taxes paid by Alabama residents from a different jurisdiction upon proper proof of payment and residency (Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee).
SB37 by Sen. Albritton: To exempt sales of tangible personal property to an Alabama resident who does not reside within the municipality from municipal sales and use taxes (Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee).
SB38 by Sen. Givhan: To authorize the Governor to remove from office any individual serving as the executive director of an occupational or professional licensing board (Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee).
SB57 by Sen. Orr: To require the Department of Human Resources to prohibit the purchase of candy and soda with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee).
SB61 by Sen. Orr: To provide further for eligibility determinations for Medicaid, to require the Department of Human Resources to enter into data matching agreements with certain state agencies to cross-check food assistance eligibility, to further provide for gross income standards and allowable financial resource standards for eligibility for food assistance and to require regular reviews of certain federal data for purposes of confirming eligibility for public assistance (Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee).
SB63 by Sen. Orr: To impose limitations on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by insurers in making determinations of coverage under health benefit plans (Senate Healthcare Committee).
SB75 by Sen. Chesteen: To provide an exception to the public works law for the purchase of certain materials and equipment made pursuant to a cooperative purchasing agreement (Senate Education Policy Committee).
SB91 by Sen. Melson: To authorize the governing body of a county or municipality to withdraw from a multijurisdiction authority, establish a successor entity, further provide for the distribution or use of certain monies previously distributed to an authority, and increase or decrease the rate of any tax collected in conjunction with the authority; and to require a multi-jurisdiction authority to remit certain monies to a withdrawing entity (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
SB99 by Sen. Kelley: To require certain local boards of education to display the Ten Commandments and certain other documents related to the formation of this nation, to provide for the use of donations to comply with the display requirement and to authorize the State Board of Education to adopt rules (Senate Education Policy Committee).
SB105 by Sen. Kelley: To require the governing body of each county and municipality to publish online all financial states, audits, monthly expenditures, and budgets (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
SB109 by Sen. Elliott: To provide requirements for the operation of peer-to-peer car sharing programs and to provide for the taxation of peer-to-peer char sharing programs under certain conditions (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
SB115 by Sen. Coleman-Madison: To exempt certain awarding authorities from competitive bidding requirements for repairs to vehicles under certain circumstances (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
SB117 by Sen. Bell: To allow a county procurement program to apply to purchases of services, to allow county commissions to consider administrative savings, and to allow county commissions to designate another individual to oversee a procurement program (Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee).
SB119 by Sen. Elliott: To require persons annually dredging over 1 million cubic yards of material in coastal areas to cause at least 70 percent of the dredged material to be beneficially used (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
SB123 by Sen. Sessions: To provide an exemption from state sales and use tax for certain retail sales of fish or other seafood and to provide for counties and municipalities to exempt these sales from local sales and use taxes (Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee).
SB124 by Sen. Sessions: To create the Alabama Seagrass Restoration Task Force to address and remediate the loss of seagrass with state marine waters (Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee).
SB125 by Sen. Sessions: To provide a state income tax credit for restaurants that recycle oyster shells (Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee).
SB135 by Sen. Stewart: To create the Alabama Retirement Savings Program for the purpose of promoting greater retirement savings for private sector employees in a convenient, low-cost, and portable manner (Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee).
SB141 by Sen. Orr: $9.9 billion Education Trust Fund Budget (Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee).
SB146 by Sen. Albritton: $3.7 billion General Fund Budget (Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee).
SB148 by Sen. Allen: To provide that a municipality may only levy a new tax or license fee, or increase the rate of the tax or license fee, by ordinance, to provide that the ordinance may not be considered for adoption until after a public hearing and would require at least 30 days notice before a public hearing (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
SB154 by Sen. Albritton: To provide a cost-of-living increase for state employees for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2026 (Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee).
SB159 by Sen. Williams: To exclude the use of natural gas or electricity in commercial greenhouses, pivot irrigation systems, and poultry houses from the utility gross receipts tax and utility service use tax (Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee).
SB171 by Sen. Stewart: To establish a state minimum wage and to exempt certain small businesses (Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee).
NOTABLE FLOOR ACTION THIS WEEK
HOUSE FLOOR
HB50 by Rep. Collins: To create the Imagination Library of Alabama Program to provide free age appropriate books to children through Dolly Parton‘s Imagination Library (House Education Policy Committee).
HB95 by Rep. Lovvorn: To require the judge of probate of each county to conduct a post-election audit after every county and statewide general election to determine the accuracy of the originally reported results of the election (as substituted).
SENATE FLOOR
SB12 by Sen. Gudger: To repeal Act 2025-294 which had authorized the annexation of a certain type of community development district by a wet municipality in a dry county where the district was located.
SB35 by Sen. Kitchens: To consolidate vessel registration fees and to provide for the distribution of the fees.
SB89 by Sen. Sessions: To repeal Sections 33-4-1 through 33-4-14, Code of Alabama, 1975 establishing the State Pilotage Commission and to repeal Sections 33-4-30 through 33-4-57, Code of Alabama, 1975 establishing requirements for bar pilots in this state.
NOTABLE COMMITTEE ACTION THIS WEEK
HOUSE COMMITTEES
HB17 by Rep. Lamb: To increase the threshold of annual expenditures which determine if a municipality must undergo an annual or biennial audit (House County and Municipal Government Committee).
HB28 by Rep. Brown: To provide a state income tax credit for restaurants that recycle oyster shells (House Ways and Means Education Committee).
HB35 by Rep. Bolton: To create the Alabama Squat Truck Law and prohibit the alteration of a motor vehicle in such a manner that the height of the front fender is raised four or more inches greater than the height of the rear fender (House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee).
HB38 by Rep. Brown: To create the Alabama Seagrass Restoration Task Force to address and remediate the loss of seagrass with state marine waters (Substituted in House Ports, Waterways and Intermodal Transit Committee).
HB39 by Rep. Brown: To further provide for the seafood dealer license fee to be paid by state residents who already hold other licenses authorizing the taking of certain seafood (House Ports, Waterways and Intermodal Transit Committee).
HB71 by Rep. England: To provide that a medical examiner commits a Class C felony if he or she retains a deceased individual’s organ or organs without the notification and consent of the next of kin in certain circumstances (House Judiciary Committee).
HB87 by Rep. Sells: To exempt the gross proceeds from the sale of deer feed from sales and use tax (Substituted in House Ways and Means Education Committee).
HB91 by Rep. Hill: To allow the court fees allocated to the sheriff’s office to be expended to support the functions of his or her office (House Judiciary Committee).
HB96 by Rep. Pringle: To increase the homestead exemption for residents over 62 years of age and individuals with disabilities and would require the exemption amounts used in bankruptcy cases to be determined as of the filing date of the petition rather than the date of the debt (House Ways and Means Education Committee).
HB100 by Rep. Brinyark: To mandate the collection and dissemination of biometric identifiers by certain entities and to authorize the use of certain approved biometric identifiers by law enforcement to identify individuals (Substituted in House Judiciary Committee).
HB117 by Rep. Hill: To allow a county procurement program to apply to purchases of services, to allow county commissions to consider administrative savings, and to allow county commissions to designate another individual to oversee a procurement program (House County and Municipal Government Committee).
HB140 by Rep. Sells: To provide that the exemption from certain regulations governing the submission, approval, and permitting of subdivision plats following the transfer of land from a developer to an immediate family member would expire after 24 months from the date of the transfer (Substituted in House County and Municipal Government Committee).
HB153 by Rep. Garrett: To authorize a Class 8 municipality with a population of 25,000 or more and that has a corporate limit lying in two counties to opt out of the county personnel board’s jurisdiction after six months notice, and to opt back in to the jurisdiction of the county personnel board not less than 10 years thereafter at the sole discretion of the municipality (House County and Municipal Government Committee).
HB161 by Rep. Sells: To require an app store provider to take certain actions regarding age verification, parental notification, and data protection, to prohibit an app store provider or developer from taking certain actiosn that allow minors to access apps without parental consent, to require the Attorney General to adopt rules and to authorize the Attorney General to bring an action for a violation as a deceptive trade practice (House State Government Committee).
HB181 by Rep. Marques: To require persons annually dredging over 1 million cubic yards of material in coastal areas to cause at least 70 percent of the dredged material to be beneficially used (House Ports, Waterways and Intermodal Transit Committee).
SENATE COMMITTEES
SB42 by Sen. Kitchens: To further provide for second or runoff municipal elections (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
SB93 by Sen. Melson: To provide that the Mayor of a municipality with an even number of council members shall vote as council member in the case of any tie vote (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
The Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee gave favorable reports to several Sunset bills, extending certain boards, agencies and commissions, including the Alabama Sickle Cell Oversight and Regulatory Commission, the Alabama Massage Therapy Licensing Board, the Justice Information Commission, the 911 Board and the Alabama Board of Home Medical Equipment.
