2023 Alabama legislative session

The 2023 Alabama legislative session began with an "organizational session" starting on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. The regular session began on Tuesday March 7, but was quickly recessed in order to accommodate a Special Session called by the Governor. Regular business resumed on Tuesday, March 21.

Thirty-one new representatives and 6 new state senators who won office in the 2022 general election were sworn in for the first time. The Alabama House of Representatives consisted of 77 Republican members (76 of them white) and 28 Democrats (26 of them Black), and was presided over by Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-District 24, Rainsville), who appointed chairs for all House legislative committees. The Alabama State Senate had a 27-8 Republican majority (all 27 Republicans being white and 7 of 8 Democrats being Black), and was chaired by Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth, with Greg Reed (R-District 5, Jasper) serving as senator pro tem.

Among the other major issues taken up during the 2022 session were allocation of $580 million in federal relief funds distributed under the American Rescue Plan Act, part of which had already been committed to prison construction ($400 million) and hospitals ($80 million) in a 2021 special session. The legislature was expected to raise salaries for teachers and state employees. House Republicans are pushing a "Standing Tall for Alabama" agenda, the highlights of which include outlawing "critical race theory" in public schools, raising assault charges against first responders to automatic felonies, and eliminating the requirement to have a permit to carry a concealed firearm (a measure largely opposed by Sheriffs).

The session on April 4 was addressed by Angel Tîlvăr, Minister of National Defense minister of România. Tîlvăr urged Alabama businesses to invest in his country and commended the United States' commitment to national defense.

Notable Acts

• Act of Alabama No. 2023-22, the "Deputy Brad Johnson Act", restricted the accrual of "correctional incentive time" by which certain state prisoners could qualify for reduced sentences by demonstrating good behavior. It was introduced as "Senate Bill 1" by April Weaver (R-District 14) and was signed into law on April 14. (link)
• Act of Alabama No. 2023-23, allowed the City of Vestavia Hills to increase its property tax rate by 9.8 mills for public school purposes, subject to a municipal referendum. It was introduced as "Senate Bill 63" by Jabo Waggoner (R-District 16) and was signed into law on April 14. (link)
• Act of Alabama No. 2023-31, allowed members of the Shelby County Commission to participate in the Retirement Systems of Alabama's Employees' Retirement System, subject to a ballot referendum. It was introduced as "House Bill 119" by 7 representatives, but has not been signed by the govenor. (link)

Business incentives

A package of bills collectively termed "The Game Plan" by Governor Ivey's office would expand the state's investment in economic development projects by extending and increasing funding for tax incentive programs and other recruitment tools offered to private companies who operate in Alabama.

Individual house bills included in "The Game Plan" include:

• A transparency bill, (HB-240), sponsored by Rep. Cynthia Almond, R-Tuscaloosa, requires the Alabama Department of Commerce, Alabama Department of Finance and Alabama Department of Revenue to post on their websites "the aggregate amount of incentives committed by tax source on executed project agreements." The act also gave the Joint Legislative Advisory Committee on Economic Incentives the authority to commission "executive reports" from independent third parties, and specified that such reports would not be considered public records. The bill was introduced as "Senate Bill 151" with 22 co-sponsors, and was signed into law on April 20. (link)
• Act of Alabama No. 2023-34, the "Enhancing Economic Progress Act" (HB-241) renewed and expanded the 2015 Alabama Jobs Act and the 2021 Growing Alabama Act. Both acts were scheduled to expire in July 2023. The renewals also enlarged the cap on tax rebates tied to full-time payrolls under the Alabama Jobs Act from $350 million to $475 million by 2027, and the cap on incentives to donate to economic development agencies for site development under the Growing Alabama Act from $20 million to $35 million. The bill was introduced as "House Bill 241" by Danny Garett (R-District 44) with 3 co-sponsors, and was signed into law on April 20. (link)
• Act of Alabama No. 2023-33, the "Innovating Alabama Act", created the Innovating Alabama tax incentive program, a $25 million per year fund to encourage donations to economic development organization investing in technology companies. The act also exempted all working groups, task forces, and subcommittees of the Alabama Innovation Corporation from the Alabama Open Meetings Act. The bill was introduced as "House Bill 247" by Anthony Daniels (D-District 53) with 16 co-sponsors, and was signed into law on April 20. (link)
• The "Site Evaluation Economic Development Strategy" or "SEEDS Act" empowered the Alabama Industrial Development Authority to award grants to assess or prepare industrial sites for recruiting businesses. The bill was introduced as "Senate Bill 165" with 26 co-sponsors, and was signed into law on April 20. (link)

Redistricting

In January 2022 a panel of three federal judges heard arguments that the plan which was passed violated the Voting Rights Act, and ruled that the legislature would need to adopt a plan which achieved fairer representation within two weeks, or accept a plan drawn by a court-appointed expert. Attorney General Steve Marshall announced that he would appeal the ruling. On February 7 the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of the lower court's order pending its review of the appeal, thus allowing the 2022 election to be conducted using the districts ruled to be unlawful by the lower court.

Budgets

The House unanimously passed a $3,023,998,315 general fund budget for Fiscal Year 2024. The budget included a 2% cost-of-living raise for state employees (budgeted at $14.5 million), and bumps of around 6% to 13% for many state agencies (budgeted at $50 million).

New individual appropriations included $3,795,000 for increasing payments to jurors; $675,000 for a feral swine program; $5,000,000 for electric vehicle infrastructure planning grants; $300,000 for structure repairs in Faunsdale, Marengo County; $20,459,059 as a state match for federal funds for drinking water infrastructure projects; $31,468,090 increase for ALL Kids Insurance for Children; a $686,669 increase in funding for maintenance and repairs to the state capitol and Governor's mansion; $2,500,000 for the Freedom Farm group home for foster children in Coker; $500,000 for 988 call center upgrades; a $3,000,000 increase for rural crisis care programs; a $7,500,000 increase to funds available for community providers; $2,000,000 for the Armory Commission of Alabama; a $6,769,419 increase for the Department of Senior Services; a $500,000 increase for the Department of Youth Services; a $317,025 increase for distribution of public documents; an $894,000 increase for emergency active duty military wages; and a $5,600,000 allocation to the State Employees Insurance Board.

Special sessions

With the legislature having recessed that morning for two weeks, Governor Ivey called a Special Session to begin at 1:00 PM on March 8 to authorize the distribution of a second tranche of federal funds allocated to the state under the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, and intended to offset unplanned public costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The amount of the second allocation was $1.06 billion. Funds from the first allocation were already assigned to prison construction, expansion of broadband internet, and various water and sewer projects.

• Act of Alabama No. 2023-1, appropriated $1,060,181,797.72 in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023. Specific appropriations included $400 million for water and sewer projects, $339 million for healthcare (including $100 million for hospitals), $260 million for broadband internet access, and $55 million for a community grant program. The Governor's proposals went largely unchanged in the special session, and the measure was signed into law on March 16. (link)

Other proposed legislation

Senator Andrew Jones (R-District 10) introduced a "Family Income Protection Act" which would prohibit municipalities from collecting occupational taxes. Senator Linda Madison-Coleman (D-D20) introduced an amendment which would exclude Class I municipalities, a category which consists solely of the City of Birmingham, from the bill.

Senator Larry Stutts (R-District 6) introduced a "Parental Rights in Children's Education (PRICE) Act" which would allow for the establishment of "education savings accounts" with up to $6,900 in public funds per child to offset the cost of private school or home-schooling for parents who withdraw their children from public schools. (report)

References

• Cason, Mike (December 14, 2022) "Incoming Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter names 8 committee chairs." AL.com
• Cason, Mike (January 8, 2023) "Alabama Legislature begins another 4-year term with 37 new lawmakers." AL.com
• Cason, Mike (January 10, 2023) "Alabama House elects Nathaniel Ledbetter as speaker; Greg Reed re-elected Senate pro tem." AL.com
• Cason, Mike (January 29, 2023) "Outlook murky for Alabama lottery, casino bill this year." AL.com
• Cason, Mike (February 18, 2023) "Bills to allow votes on Alabama lottery, casinos, might be on hold for another year." AL.com
• Cason, Mike (March 8, 2023) "Gov. Kay Ivey calls special session for Alabama to allocate $1.1 billion in federal funds." AL.com
• Cason, Mike (March 16, 2023) "Plan for Alabama to spend $1 billion in ARPA funds wins final passage." AL.com
• Cason, Mike (April 12, 2023) "Tax incentives to recruit industry advance in Alabama Legislature." AL.com
• Cason, Mike (April 25, 2023) "Alabama House unanimously passes record $3 billion General Fund budget." AL.com

External links

• Legislative Acts by Year at sos.alabama.gov
• Alabama Legislature | 2023 | Regular Session at legiscan.com