|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Alabama Legislature convened for Day 24, out of 30, of its annual Regular Session on Tuesday, April 15 and convened in Session Thursday for Day 25. Twenty-eight committee meeting were held during the week. The Legislature will next convene for Day 26 on Tuesday, April 29 with the House convening at 1 p.m. and the Senate convening at 2 p.m.
961 bills have been introduced to date.
NOTABLE HOUSE FLOOR ACTION THIS WEEK
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.
HB379 by Rep. Garrett: To exclude certain nonresident, remote workers from state income tax in certain circumstances (as substituted and amended).
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 (as substituted).
HB521 by Rep. Lipscomb: To define a new category of ready to drink mixed liquor beverages containing no more than seven percent alcohol by volume, called “mixed spirit beverages,” to institute a licensing structure in Alabama for mixed spirit beverages, which would require all mixed spirit beverages, other than those sold in Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board stores, to be distributed through licensed wholesalers to licensed retailers for on-premises and off-premises consumption, and to provide for the levy of a privilege or excise tax on mixed spirit beverages (as substituted and amended).
SB112 by Sen. Orr: $9.9 Billion Education Trust Fund Budget (as substituted and amended).
SB113 by Sen. Orr: Supplemental Appropriations from the Education Trust Fund totaling $524,276,588 (as substituted and amended).
SB305 by Sen. Orr: To create the Renewing Alabama’s Investment in Student Excellence (RAISE) Act to establish a process to provide additional funding for public K-12 schools for the purpose of addressing the educational needs of the student population and improving educational outcomes.
NOTABLE SENATE FLOOR ACTION THIS WEEK
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 31, 2030 (as amended).
HB258 by Rep. Carns: To change the primary election in off-presidential years to second Tuesday in May preceding Memorial Day (as amended, House concurred).
SB117 by Sen. Barfoot: To authorize certain municipalities to enter into memorandums of understanding with sheriffs regarding traffic enforcement (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 (as substituted).
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.
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 (as amended).
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 (as amended).
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 (as substituted).
NOTABLE HOUSE COMMITTEE 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. (substituted in House Financial Services 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 (Public Hearing but no vote in House Insurance Committee).
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 (House Mobile County Legislation).
HB596 by Rep. Sells: To prohibit persons from transporting out of this state a live catfish harvested in public waters (House State Government Committee).
SB171 by Sen. Chambliss: To prohibit an individual from operating a motor vehicle on land submerged below navigable waters (substituted in House Ports, Waterways and Intermodal Transit Committee).
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 (amended in House Commerce and Small Business Committee).
NOTABLE SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION THIS WEEK
HB3 by Rep. Brown: To provide that a criminal defendant who is an illegal alien who is convicted of a felony offense where the victim was a minor must receive an enhanced sentence, and to provide that a criminal defendant who is an illegal alien who is convicted of a misdemeanor where the victim was a minor shall be sentenced to a Class C felony (Public Hearing but no vote in Senate Judiciary Committee).
HB8 by Rep. Drummond: To revise the definition of “electronic nicotine delivery system” to include battery powered devices that deliver substances other than tobacco through the inhalation of vapor; to prohibit the distribution of tobacco, tobacco products, electronic nicotine delivery systems, e-liquids, and alternative nicotine products through a vending machine; to require an annual permit fee for the distribution of those products (Senate Healthcare Committee).
HB185 by Rep. Reynolds: $12,706,065 Supplemental from the General Fund (substituted in Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee).
HB186 by Rep. Reynolds: $3.7 Billion General Fund Budget (substituted in Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee).
HB202 by Rep. Reynolds: To expand immunity for law enforcement officers from civil liability and criminal prosecution, and to provide exceptions (Public Hearing but no vote in Senate Judiciary Committee).
HB319 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 (Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee).
HB353 by Rep. Hill: To remove restrictions on district attorney salary increases, and to provide for the compensation of newly appointed district attorneys (Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee).
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 (Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee).
HB357 by Rep. Hollis: To define “cigarette” and “heated tobacco product,” and to levy a tax on heated tobacco products (amended in Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee).
HB440 by Rep. Brown: To further provide for the collection of fire service fees in Mobile County to maintain firefighting districts in by providing a definition for “residence” (Senate Mobile County Legislation 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).
SB107 by Sen. Sessions: To provide for the recalculation of the distribution of the SSUT proceeds to municipalities as a result of annexation, deannexation, or incorporation (Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee).
SB213 by Sen. Williams: To exclude the use of natural gas or electricity in poultry houses from the utility gross receipts tax and utility service use tax (amended in Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee).
SB307 by Sen. Kelley: To require the online publication of all county and municipal financial statements, audits, monthly expenditures, and budgets (Public Hearing and amended in Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee).
NOTABLE HOUSE INTRODUCTIONS
HB605 by Rep. Robertson: To exempt the gross proceeds from the sale of certain agricultural production inputs, energy used in agriculture, certain diesel exhaust fluid, and agricultural machinery and equipment from state sales and use tax (House Ways and Means Education Committee).
HB610 by Rep. Harrison: A proposed Constitutional Amendment to authorize the Legislature to establish a state public bank to serve as the depository for all state government funds, to direct the Legislature to establish a commission as the primary governing authority of the bank or to designate an agency to oversee and operate the bank, and to delineate the manner in which the bank will collect and loan funds (House Financial Services Committee).
HB611 by Rep. Kiel: To prohibit Internet service providers, cell phone service providers, and content delivery networks from accepting or forwarding HTTP requests to any application that permits a person to obtain abortion producing drugs, to prohibit certain information technology providers, physical data centers, and payment providers from allowing their products or capabilities to be used to facilitate the sale or delivery of abortion producing drugs, and to require Internet service providers and cell phone service providers to block certain domain names known to sell abortion producing drugs (House Judiciary Committee).
NOTABLE SENATE INTRODUCTIONS
SB340 by Sen. Hatcher: To provide prohibitions on the disconnection of utility services to customers under certain conditions, including during extreme heat or cold weather, during a state of emergency, when the household has children under 12 years of age or elderly individuals, or when the household has an active service member or veteran, and to authorize civil remedies for a violation, including civil damages and a civil penalty (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
SB342 by Sen. Coleman-Madison: To provide for the creation of multi-jurisdictional local land bank authorities, to further authorize the acquisition of tax delinquent property and tax liens by local land bank authorities, to further provide for the exemption of local land bank authority property from taxes and fees, to provide for the allocation of a portion of the ad valorem taxes on certain property conveyed to a local land bank authority to the authority, to further provide for the conveyance of local land bank authority property, and to authorize the Governor to create local land bank authorities in the event of a state of emergency (Senate County and Municipal Government Committee).
SB344 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 an application for waiver within 90 days, to revise penalties for violations, and to authorize the Attorney General to commence a civil action under certain circumstances (Senate State Governmental Affairs Committee).
BUDGETS
HB186 by Rep. Reynolds: $3.7 Billion General Fund Budget Passed House; substituted in Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee; pending 3rd reading in Senate.
SB112 by Sen. Orr: $9.9 Billion Education Trust Fund Budget Passed Senate; passed House as amended and substituted; pending action by Senate.
SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS
HB185 by Rep. Reynolds: Supplemental from the General Fund ($12,706,065 ) Passed House; substituted in Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee; pending 3rd reading in Senate.
SB113 by Sen. Orr: Supplemental from the Education Trust Fund ($524,276,588) Passed Senate; passed House as amended and substituted; pending action by Senate.
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 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 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.
