Goat Hill Report-Week Ending April 3, 2026
The Alabama legislature returned from its Spring Break this week to complete Week 11 of the session. The legislature was in session for a three-day week conducting business on the House and Senate floor on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The legislature has now completed 27 days out of a possible 30 legislative days, and they will meet for the final three days next week with Sine Die on Thursday (April 9).
Details of this week’s notable action and news items are provided below.
Budgets Poised for Final Passage
General Fund – On Wednesday, the Alabama House voted 104-0 to pass the $3.7 billion General Fund budget, which now travels back to the Senate for concurrence with changes made in the House. If the Senate opts to non-concur, the General Fund budget will go to a conference committee to reconcile differences between the two chambers. The GF budget, SB146 by Sen. Greg Albritton (R-Atmore), the Senate Finance & Taxation General Fund Chairman, received a $12.6 million increase over the Senate-passed version of the bill – an increase of less than 1%. The House-passed version included slight increases for the Department of Human Resources (DHR), the Department of Mental Health (ADMH), and the Airport Development Grant Program. More notably, the General Fund budget also includes $16 million for a 2% pay raise for state employees, $18 million for the State Employees Insurance Board to offset the rising healthcare costs, and also bonuses for retired state employees. State retirees have not gotten a cost-of-living adjustment added to their benefits since 2007, and these bonuses will be based on how long the retiree worked for the state.
Education Trust Fund – The Alabama Senate passed a $10.5 billion Education Trust Fund budget on Thursday with minor changes. Like the General Fund budget, the ETF budget must now go back to the other chamber for final approval. The Senate version of the education budget maintained pay raises for teachers and less money for a health insurance program for education employees that Gov. Kay Ivey had proposed. Senators made small changes on the Senate floor to the ETF budget that came out of Senate committee. Notably, the Senate increased the funding weights for the Renewing Alabama’s Investment in Student Excellence (RAISE) program for students in poverty, Tier 1 special education and gifted students, in a floor substitute budget offered by Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), the Senate Finance & Taxation Education Committee Chairman. Similar to the General Fund bonus for state retirees, Orr’s substitute included a $32.9 million appropriation for a one-time bonus for retirees of the Teachers’ Retirement System, subject to any leftover revenue to the ETF. The bonus will be $1 for every month served (an education retiree who worked for public schools for 30 years would get a bonus of $360). As part of the education budget package, current public education employees are due to receive a 2% raise. The budget also included $251.2 million for CHOOSE Act, the Education Savings Account program – an increase of 38%. providing $7,000 to qualifying children for non-public education expenses, including private school tuition, a 38% increase from fiscal year 2026. About $1.2 million will come directly from the ETF. The remainder of the funds comes from the ETF transfer and the CHOOSE Act fund. The Senate passed the Education Trust Fund budget by a vote of 32-0.
Revised PSC Reform Bill Passes, Signed by Governor
Gov. Kay Ivey has now signed into law a bill passed to reform the Alabama Public Service Commission. HB475, by Rep. Mack Butler (R-Rainbow City), with substantial changes in the Senate, changes the PSC from three members elected statewide to seven members elected by congressional district, creates a new secretary of energy position in the governor’s cabinet, places a freeze on electric rates until 2029, and adds a requirement for an annual public hearing with utilities regulated by the agency, including Alabama Power.
The House passed HB475 on March 17, before the Legislature took a week-long break. The Senate had previously passed a similar measure, SB360 by Sen. Clyde Chambliss (R- Prattville), on March 12. In committee on Tuesday, HB475 was substituted with language that significantly tracked the language of SB360, removing a requirement for formal rate case hearings for each regulated utility, which the PSC has not done for decades. The Senate also removed a cap on return on equity by utilities that is a factor in setting rates. The expansion of the PSC from three members to seven will be phased in, starting with four appointments by the governor. Two will serve two-year terms and two will serve four-year terms. Commission elections are staggered and by 2032, all members will be elected. The appointed energy secretary will “direct the activities of the commission and shall set the agendas for all meetings of the commissioners.” Commissioners can amend the agenda if at least five of the seven vote to do so. Five of seven commissioners are also required to call for a rate hearing after the rate freeze expires in 2029 under the Senate passed version.
Career Tech-focused TRAIN Act Passes Senate Committee
This week, the Senate Finance & Taxation Education Committee gave a favorable report to HB517 by Rep. James Lomax (R-Huntsville), establishing the Talent Readiness and Industry Needs (TRAIN) Act. This bill would incentivize employers to temporarily loan qualified industry employees to teach CTE courses at eligible educational institutions, such as Alabama community colleges and public high schools. HB517 would create up to $10 million in annual income tax credits to offset a portion of the salary employers continue paying employees during their teaching assignments, with a cap of $250,000 per employer. The credits would be available beginning in the 2027 tax year. Lomax’s bill also creates the Workforce Teaching Certificate, which specifies minimum requirements, including a background check. Having already passed the House, HB517 is due for consideration and final passage in the Senate in the final week of session, although it will have to go back to the House for concurrence in some changes made in Senate committee.
Bills of Interest to the Concrete Industry
SB 304 by Senator Greg Albritton appeared before the House Transportation and Utilities Committee on Tuesday morning. Representatives from the ACIA, AGC, and Alabama Road Builders spoke in support of the legislation. Representatives from the Alabama League of Municipalities and cities spoke in opposition to the legislation. The bill received approval by the full committee on Wednesday and now moves to the full house for consideration this week.
The legislation establishes that gross revenue business licenses should be calculated on the project city location and not the company location. In the case of ready-mix companies, we frequently pay gross revenue business licenses for the business location plus where the concrete is delivered. The problem arises when both municipalities calculate gross revenue on the same yard of concrete. We are effective paying twice on the same yard of concrete in these scenarios.
The legislature will reconvene on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Please let us know if you have any questions about this report. To view a complete list of bills the association is following, click here.