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The Alabama House Ways and Means General Fund Committee on Tuesday passed HB186, the proposed General Fund budget for the 2026 fiscal year.
As Chairman Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville, explained, the bill includes some changes to the recommended budget put forward by Gov. Kay Ivey at the beginning of this year’s legislative session. Among the changes are increases in funding for the Department of Transportation’s Airport Development Grant Program and the Capitol Police as well as decreases in funding for state conservation and economic development seed programs.
Reynolds also noted the budget’s decreases for the Alabama Medicaid Agency and the Alabama Department of Mental Health, but attributed the decreases to pandemic-related funds which have continued to roll over.
The committee’s budget was ultimately $6,252,600 larger than the governor’s original proposal. Despite this, Vice Chair Chris Blackshear, R-Phenix City, emphasized that this year’s budget process marked a first step toward tightening the state government’s expenditures in anticipation of an expected loss in revenue from interest on state deposits.
In addition to the proposed budget, the committee also passed several other bills during their meeting including HB185, the substitution for Ivey’s recommended supplemental appropriations bill. The bill does not allocate any new supplemental funds, but does move some pre-existing funding to various programs and departments.
The committee also passed HB184, which appropriates $169,633 from the General Fund to the Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and HB183, which distributes over $36 million from Children First Trust Fund to various agencies and appropriates over $44 million from additional tax settlement funds to the Department of Early Childhood Education and other departments.
HB181, which allows the Alabama Building Renovation Finance Authority to issue up to $50 million in bonds for the renovation and maintenance of public offices including the State Capitol was also quickly passed.
The committee also approved several bills extending various funding programs that would otherwise sunset this year. HB312 extends the provider tax which funds the Alabama Medicaid Agency; HB405 extends the supplemental privilege assessments and surcharges on nursing facility beds; and HB182 extends the assessment period for medical transport providers which provides “additional Medicaid enhancement payments for maintenance and expansion of emergency medical transport services.”
Lastly, the committee passed HB460, which allocates supplemental appropriations from the Opioid Treatment and Abatement Fund in accordance with the recommendations of the Alabama Oversight Commission on Opioid Settlement Funds. The funds will go to various programs addressing opioid treatment in the state.
All of the legislation passed by the committee will now move to the House floor to be considered for passage to the Senate. House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said a vote on the budget package is expected Thursday.
