Goat Hill Report- Week ending March 13, 2026
Your Goat Hill Report for the Week Ending March 13, 2026
This week the Alabama legislature completed Week 9 of the session. After a 3-day work week, the legislature has now completed 22 days out of a possible 30 legislative days. Next week will be a 2-day week and then the legislature will take spring break the week of March 23. The session is expected to conclude by April 9.
Details of this week’s notable action and news items are provided below.
Budgets Halfway to Passage
On Tuesday, The Alabama Senate passed a proposed $3.72 billion General Fund budget for FY2027. The budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1, includes a 2% raise for state employees and fully funds the expected increase in their health insurance costs. The $3.72 billion total is about $37.1 million more than what Gov. Kay Ivey sent to lawmakers two months ago, and about $8.5 million more than the current year’s budget. The General Fund budget includes slight increases for several state agencies, although some will see small decreases, including the Alabama Department of Mental Health. DMH will receive approximately $4 million less next year, although the Senate General Fund committee chairman, Senator Greg Albritton (R-Range) said that DMH’s other funding sources, including federal money, mean its services won’t be affected. Lawmakers also had to find $10 million for the first payment due this fall for the Legislature’s new State House, which is being paid for out of both the General Fund and Education Trust Fund budgets.
Education Budget
On Thursday, the Alabama House of Representatives passed the Education Trust Fund (ETF) budget for FY2027 by a vote of 104-0. As a related measure, the House also passed a bill to establish a framework for outcome-based funding in higher education. Lawmakers made no major changes on the House floor to the $10.9 billion budget that passed committee the day prior. The House also passed a $419.7 million supplemental spending bill for the current year, appropriating “extra” funds that the state collected over-and-above projected income.
Because of a 2010 law limiting growth in the Education Trust Fund budget to 5.75% over the previous budget year, lawmakers had about $570 million in additional revenue to work with. Much of that additional revenue was needed to cover major expenses like the Public Education Employees’ Health Insurance Program (PEEHIP) at $380 million and $100 million for 2% teacher raises – leaving about $80 or $90 million of the “new money” for other priorities. The House-passed budget also accounted for $37.5 million for construction and the ETF’s $10 million debt payment for the new State House that the Governor Ivey did not include in her proposed budget. Otherwise, the House largely kept Ivey’s Education Trust Fund budget intact – although they increased funding for some K-12 programs and created new initiatives such as microschool grants and innovation grants. The Senate is expected to take up the education budget and related items once lawmakers return from spring break in late March.
HB565 by education budget committee Chairman Danny Garrett (R-Trussville) provides bonus funds to the Alabama’s public colleges, universities and community colleges that meet performance goals through a new College and Higher Education Excellence and Results (CHEER) Act. Specifically, the bill ties tens of millions of dollars in funding to how well Alabama’s higher ed institutions help students graduate and find jobs and meet state workforce needs. The House version of the budget passed Thursday sets aside $65 million for the CHEER Fund. HB565 bill also establishes the Outcomes-Based Higher Education Funding Coordinating Committee, which will work with higher education officials to determine the specific performance measures for each institution.
PSC and Data Center Bills Return
Energy-related bills continued their high profile in this legislative session. After a controversial bill to change the selection process for the Alabama Public Service Commission (PSC) from elected to appointed was abandoned earlier in the session, a new bill to overhaul the PSC was swiftly introduced, passed out of committee, and approved by the full Senate, all this week. SB360 by Senator Clyde Chambliss (R-Prattville) would expand the current three-member PSC to seven members elected from the state’s congressional districts. It also creates a secretary of energy position as an appointee of the governor, to oversee the administration of the commission. SB360 has 34 Senate co-sponsors, meaning all 35 members of the Alabama Senate put their names on the bill. The bill stems from rising concerns about high energy rates in the state, with Chambliss stating in committee this week that only one southern state has higher energy rates. The bill also prohibits utility rate increases from Oct. 1, 2026 through June 1, 2029, and it maintains the longstanding ban on utilities from donating to PSC candidates’ campaigns. One frequent critic of the PSC and Alabama Power, John Dodd of the advocacy organization Energy Alabama, publicly objected that the bill does not take the steps needed to reduce Alabama Power’s power bills.
Meanwhile in the other chamber, a House committee gave a favorable report to HB475 by Rep. Mack Butler (R-Rainbow City) which requires the PSC to hold rate hearings and guarantees that utility companies cannot pass on lobbying expenses to ratepayers. The bill now awaits a vote on the House floor. Rep. Butler remarked that the PSC has not held a rate hearing since the 1980s, and he believes such hearings would likely lower Alabamians’ power bills. The bill adds a restriction on utility companies’ profits, and prohibits utilities that provide electricity to consumers from incorporating a return on equity higher than the regional average.
Bills of Interest to the Concrete Industry
On Wednesday, the ACIA along with AGC and the Alabama Road Builders testified in support of HB 566 in the Transportation, Infrastructure & Utilities Committee. The legislation would limit a home city (location of plant) and project city (where concrete is delivered) from calculating gross revenue business licenses on the same revenue. The currently allowed practice effectively double taxes concrete producers and contractors. The bill was not voted on Wednesday but is scheduled to be voted on Tuesday by the committee.
The Alabama Legislature will reconvene on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. If you have any questions, please contact our office. To view a list of bills the association is tracking, click here.