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The Alabama Legislature convened for Day 17 of its annual Regular Session on Tuesday, April 1 and convened in Session Thursday for Day 18. Twenty-nine committee meeting were held during the week. The Legislature will next convene for Day 19 on Tuesday, April 8 with the House convening at 1 p.m. and the Senate convening at 2 p.m.
829 bills have been introduced to date.
NOTABLE BILLS ENACTED
SB79, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, Sen. Chambliss: To include additional activity that would constitute the crime of impersonating a peace officer.
SB54, Sen. Roberts: To further provide for the term “critical infrastructure facility” to include communications service 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, 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, Rep. Brown: To exempt all property used by the Alabama State Port Authority from the state personal property inventory and audit requirements.
HB159, 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, 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, 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, Rep. Shirey: To authorize the Sheriff of Mobile County to establish procedures for using a credit or debit card to make purchases.
HB104, 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.
NOTABLE FLOOR ACTION THIS WEEK
HB1 by Rep. Brown: To assess a fee on certain seafood dealer licensees to be deposited into the Imported Seafood Safety Fund; to create the Imported Seafood Safety Fund to be used by the Alabama Department of Public Health to inspect imported seafood products for substances that are harmful to humans (as substituted).
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 (as substituted and amended).
HB185 by Rep. Reynolds: $12,706,065 Supplemental from the General Fund (as substituted). HB186 by Rep. Reynolds $3.7 Billion General Fund Budget (as substituted).
HB353 by Rep. Hill: To remove restrictions on district attorney salary increases, and to provide for the compensation of newly appointed district attorneys.
HB354 by Rep. Hill: A proposed Constitutional Amendment to provide that the compensation received by a district attorney may not be diminished during his or her term of office.
HB366 by Rep. Rehm: To authorize emergency medical services personnel to transport a police dog that is injured in the line of duty to veterinary clinic or hospital, and authorize emergency medical services personnel to provide emergency medical care to a police dog that is injured in the line of duty while at the scene of the injury or during transport (as substituted).
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 (as substituted).
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.
SENATE FLOOR
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 (as amended).
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 (as amended).
NOTABLE COMMITTEE ACTION THIS WEEK
HOUSE COMMITTEES
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 House Judiciary 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 (House Ways and Means Education Committee).
HB179 by Rep. Gidley: To allow a public K-12 school or public charter school to accept a campus chaplain who meets certain requirements as a volunteer, to prohibit certain individuals from volunteering as a campus chaplain, and to allow each local board of education and the governing body of each public charter school to vote on whether to allow the volunteer services of a campus chaplain (House Education Policy 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 but no vote in House Education Policy Committee).
HB246 by Rep. Stadthagen: To restrict the use of names or pronouns inconsistent with a student’s legal name or biological sex without consent from a parent or guardian, and to protect teachers and students from adverse actions for declining to use or identify pronouns (Public Hearing but no vote in House Education Policy Committee).
HB380 by Rep. Rigsby: To create the crime of human cloning and provide criminal penalties (amended in House Judiciary Committee).
HB445 by Rep. Whitt: To regulate the manufacture, wholesale distribution, and retail sale of consumable hemp products, to authorize the Alabama Beverage Control (ABC) Board to license manufacturers, wholesales, and retailers of these products, to impose restrictions on retail establishments, and to prohibit the sales to minors (Public Hearing but no vote in House Health Committee).
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 (Amended in House Judiciary Committee).
HB450 by Rep. Underwood: A proposed Constitutional Amendment to increase the age of eligibility to be elected or appointed to a judicial office from 70 to 75 years of age (House Judiciary 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 (House State Government Committee).
SB473 by Rep. Stringer: To prohibit boards of water and sewer commissioners from restricting public recreation uses of owned or controlled water bodies (Public Hearing but no vote in House Boards, Agencies and Commissions Committee).
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 (amended in House Judiciary Committee).
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 (amended in House Insurance Committee).
SENATE COMMITTEES
HB152 by Rep. Rafferty: To provide for a state sales and use tax exemption for purchases of certain baby supplies, bay formula, maternity clothing, and menstrual hygiene products, and to allow local governments to adopt exemptions (Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee).
HB281 by Rep. Almond: To further provide for the procedures for an aggrieved party to file an appeal of the final decision of a municipal zoning board of adjustment in the circuit court, and to provide for the decision of the board to remain in effect during the appeal unless the circuit court grants a stay (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
HB302 by Rep. Robbins: To require labor brokers who recruit a certain number of foreign workers for employment in the State to register with the Department of Workforce, and to require labor brokers and nonprofit organizations to inform the Department if they directly sponsor a foreign worker or identify individuals or organizations they may be using to act as sponsors (Public Hearing but no vote in Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee).
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 (Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee).
SB13 by Sen. Allen: A proposed Constitutional Amendment to require local boards of education to adopt policies requiring each K-12 public 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).
SB209 by Sen. Hatcher: 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 (Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee).
SB236 by Sen. Barfoot: 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 (amended in Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
SB247 by Sen. Orr: To prohibit a person from picketing or protesting in certain circumstances, and to allow counties and municipalities to adopt ordinances or regulations regarding time and noise regulations in certain circumstances (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
SB249 by Sen. Allen: To provide that a municipality may only levy a new tax or license fee, or increase the rate of a tax or license fee, by ordinance, to provide that the ordinance may not be considered for adoption until after a public hearing, and to require at least 30 days’ notice before the public hearing (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
SB255 by Sen. Smitherman: To regulate the sale of products containing cannabinoids found in or derived from hemp, defined as novel connabinoid products (Public Hearing and favorable vote in Senate Tourism Committee).
SB268 by Sen. England: To define a new category of low-alcohol content liquor beverages call mixed spirit beverages, to levy an excise tax upon the distribution of mixed spirit beverages, and to provide licenses for retailers of mixed spirit beverages (Public Hearing but no vote in Senate Tourism Committee).
SB281 by Sen. Shelnutt: To declare that platforms that provide employees access to earned but unpaid income from employers, defined as providers of earned wage access services, are not deemed to be engaging in lending, money transmission, or debt collection if the providers meet certain consumer protection standards (Senate Banking and Insurance Committee).
NOTABLE INTRODUCTIONS
HOUSE
HB480 by Rep. Treadaway: To provide that foreign national driver licenses may not be used as photo identification for voting purposes (House Constitution, Campaigns and Elections Committee).
HB482 by Rep. Shaw: To authorize the State Treasurer to invest certain monies in digital assets (House Ways and Means General Fund Committee).
HB483 by Rep. Shaw: To exempt virtual currency from ad valorem taxation (House Ways and Means General Fund Committee).
HB501 by Rep. Pringle: 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 (House State Government Committee).
HB509 by Rep. Sorrells: To prohibit state agencies from killing, testing, and prohibiting the transfer of cervids due to disease, subject to exceptions (House Agriculture and Forestry Committee).
HB514 by Rep. Datcher: To provide that a municipal employee may be the recipient of a grant program, even though funds flow through the municipal treasury, if certain conditions are met (House Ethics and Campaign Finance Committee).
HB515 by Rep. Shirey: To regulate the use by insurers of artificial intelligence in making coverage determinations, to require that a health care professional make an insurer’s determination of medical necessity for treatments, and to provide a civil action for person who claim injury due to use of artificial intelligence by an insurer (House Insurance Committee).
HB516 by Rep. Chestnut: To provide that the use of a computer to interact with a consumer in a manner that deceives the consumer into believing that the interaction is with a human is an unlawful trade practice (House Commerce and Small Business Committee).
HB521 by Rep. Lipscomb: To define a new category of low-alcohol content liquor beverages called mised spirit beverages, to levy an excise tax upon the distribution of mixed spirit beverages, to provide a license for wholesaler of mixed spirit beverages, and to provide licenses for retailers of mixed spirit beverages (House Economic Development and Tourism Committee).
HB529 by Rep. Faulkner: To levy a tax on consumable vapor products and provide for the reporting, collection and distribution of the proceeds, and to provide for the permitting of retailers of these products (House Ways and Means General Fund Committee).
SENATE
SB270 by Sen. Weaver: To provide that any county sales and use tax authorized by local law, where any portion of the proceeds is distributed to a county board of education for capital projects, that portion of the tax to be distributed to the county board of education for capital projects may only be levied in areas served by the county board of education (Senate County and Municipal Government 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 (Senate Transportation and Energy Committee).
SB272 by Sen. Williams: To prohibit boards of water and sewer commissioners from restricting public recreation uses of owned or controlled water bodies (Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee).
SB275 by Sen. Roberts: To exempt mobile food vendors from obtaining licenses and other permissions to operate in various locations throughout the state so long as the vendors meet the requirements for operating in the jurisdiction when the vendors establish their permanent commissary (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
SB277 by Sen. Shelnutt: To require sex education and human reproductive process curriculum and programs to teach sexual risk avoidance and encourage abstinence from all sexual activity, to prohibit the promotion of abortions or any sexual activity, and to prohibit demonstrations of contraceptives (Senate Education Policy Committee).
SB278 by Sen. Shelnutt: To further provide for the provision on elective credit for students of public K-12 schools who attend religious instruction during the school day (Senate Education Policy Committee).
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 (Senate State Governmental Affairs Committee).
SB282 by Sen. Barfoot: To exempt virtual currency from ad valorem taxes (Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee).
SB283 by Sen. Barfoot: To permit the investment of certain funds in digital assets (Senate Banking and Insurance Committee).
SB291 by Sen. Givhan: To allow a political party and local or other affiliated party organizations to transfer funds among themselves (Senate State Governmental Affairs Committee).
SB296 by Sen. Kelley: To provide for the operation of off-road vehicles on certain public roads, and to provide for the registration and licensure of off-road vehicles (Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee).
BUDGETS
HB169, Rep. Garrett: Education Trust Fund Budget Pending in House Ways and Means Education Committee
HB186, Rep. Reynolds: $3.7 Billion General Fund Budget Passed House
SB112, Sen. Orr: Education Trust Fund Budget Pending in Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee
SB148, Sen. Albritton: General Fund Budget Pending in Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee
