Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin announced the city’s 2026 legislative agenda Monday, a package of proposals focused on revitalizing neighborhoods, expanding affordable housing and restoring neglected properties. Woodfin was joined by members of Jefferson County’s legislative delegation, the Birmingham City Council and the Jefferson County Commission in unveiling the proposals.
“The reason we stand before you today is because neighborhood revitalization has been, still is, and for the forseeable future will be, the number one priority of this administration,” Woodfin said.
“Birmingham’s 2026 legislative agenda is about one thing–simply one thing–and that is giving the city the tools it needs to hold negligent property owners accountable,” Woodfin continued. “But not only holding them accountable, but our ability to revitalize neighborhoods, and not only our ability to revitalize neighborhoods, but keeping housing affordable for the people who call Birmingham home.”
Woodfin explained that the city’s agenda consists of four pieces of legislation currently being considered in Montgomery: the Alabama Community Land Trust Act, the Jefferson County Land Bank Act, the Blighted Properties Registration Act and the Birmingham Housing Trust Fund.
“We need stronger laws to get abandoned properties back into productive use. We need stronger laws to prevent blight before it starts. We need stronger laws to ensure property owners do their part to keep our community viable. And we need stronger laws to make sure residents aren’t priced out of the revitalization that they literally help fight for every single day.”
The Alabama Community Land Trust Act seeks to promote community development and expand access to affordable home ownership in the city and across the state by authorizing municipalities to establish community land trusts that separate ownership of the land from the home itself.
Meanwhile, the Jefferson County Land Bank Act would create a streamlined pathway through which the city could more easily acquire tax-delinquent and abandoned properties–with Woodfin noting that there are currently over 15,000 such properties in Birmingham. The legislation would also create a Jefferson County Land Bank to allow municipal land banks within the county to collaborate across city lines.
“We’re not trying to take anybody’s property away, we just want them to be accountable for their property,” Woodfin stated.
The city’s third priority is the Blighted Property Registration Act, which would authorize Birmingham as a Class 1 municipality to establish mandatory vacant property registries, charge registration fees and enforce maintenance standards for long-neglected properties owned by absentee landlords.
“Absentee owners who let properties rot currently face almost no consequences in the state of Alabama…This registry creates transparency and gives the City of Birmingham the teeth to enforce upkeep in all of our neighborhoods,” Woodfin noted.
The city’s last priority is the establishment of a Birmingham Housing Trust Fund to ensure that housing costs remain affordable as revitalization efforts go into effect. The proposal would create a dedicated funding source for affordable housing development, preservation and homeowner assistance within the city.
“Too often, Birmingham taxpayers are forced to spend public dollars tearing down blighted buildings on private property,” Woodfin said. “We should be investing those resources into libraries, parks, and neighborhood amenities instead.”
The mayor added that Birmingham’s legislative delegation has shown strong bipartisan support for the policies, and that city leadership is hopeful the proposals will pass before the end of the 2026 Legislative Session.
“With this agenda, we’re not asking for special treatment,” Woodfin said. “We’re asking for the same tools cities across America already have — tools that allow us to protect neighborhoods, prevent blight, and invest in the people who live here.”
