MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Legislature on Tuesday met for the 15th day of its 2021 regular session.
This marked the halfway point in legislative days for the session.
Here is a rundown of the day’s proceedings:
Alabama Senate
After gaveling in at 3:00 p.m., the upper chamber on the day passed 24 bills and completed 20 confirmations.
However, the Senate’s biggest activity on the day came in committee, when Finance and Taxation Education advanced the Education Trust Fund budget package. Included is a 2% pay raise for teachers and other educators, as well as a new program to incentivize STEM teachers, especially those in rural and other hard-to-staff schools. You can view a spreadsheet on the substitute version of the ETF budget approved by the committee here. The budget does not grant any additional funding to broadband expansion in the state year-over-year.
The ETF budget package will now be in position to pass the Senate on Thursday, just in time for the legislative spring break next week.
View the Senate’s full activity from the day here.
Alabama House
The House had a banner day on Tuesday, starting with two high-profile committee meetings at 11:00 a.m.
Judiciary, in a party-line vote, gave a favorable report as substituted to HB 445, Rep. Allen Treadaway’s (R-Morris) anti-rioting bill.
At the same time, Health gave a favorable report to SB 10 as amended three times. This is the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act sponsored by Sen. Shay Shelnutt (R-Trussville) and Rep. Wes Allen (R-Troy).
The lower chamber convened at 1:00 p.m. and did not adjourn until after 9:00 p.m. Partially working through a special order calendar, the House largely had a productive day on the floor.
A significant amount of time post-dinner was spent on HB 167.
View the House’s full activity from the day here.
Looking ahead
This is a two-day legislative week, so only committee meetings will occur on Wednesday.
The day features a packed slate of committee agendas, starting with Senate Judiciary at 8:30 a.m. On that docket, among other criminal justice reform measures, is HB 131. Sponsored by Rep. Chip Brown (R-Hollingers Island), this bill would create Aniah’s Law.
At 9:30 a.m., Senate Education Policy’s agenda includes HB 208, the bill by Rep. Pebblin Warren (D-Tuskegee) related to admission requirements for the first grade.
Looking ahead to 1:00 p.m., the Senate Tourism Committee will consider lottery proposals offered by Sens. Garland Gudger (R-Cullman) and Jim McClendon (R-Springville). A public hearing is scheduled.
Over on the House side of the equation, Constitution, Campaigns and Elections at 9:00 a.m. will have an interesting agenda. This includes a new bill by Rep. Becky Nordgren (R-Gadsden) allowing the legislature to call itself into a special session; the same committee just two weeks ago shot down another bill by Nordgren on this topic.
The House’s committee schedule is relatively light on the day, however this is expected to be more than offset by Thursday’s floor action. The House is currently planning on a pre-spring break special order calendar that is filled with controversial bills.
Livestreams are available for certain committee rooms and both chambers here.
UPDATE: On Wednesday, Sen. Del Marsh’s (R-Anniston) enabling legislation — broken into three separate bills — for his previously defeated comprehensive gaming proposal was added to Senate Tourism’s agenda for the day.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
