Alabama House Bill HB239

Alabama 2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/14/26
• Refer: 1/14/26
• Report Pass: 3/11/26
• Refer: 3/12/26
• Report Pass: 4/1/26
• Enrolled: 4/7/26
• Passed: 4/17/26

Caption

FY27 2% Teacher Pay Raise and Retiree Longevity Bonus

Summary

HB239 increases pay for public education employees beginning in fiscal year 2026-2027. The bill revises the State Minimum Salary Schedule to provide a 2% salary increase for certificated K-12 personnel, including teachers in city and county systems and teachers in the Department of Youth Services School District, with the increase applied across all experience steps and tied to degree and experience placement on local salary schedules. It also provides a 2% increase for K-12 education support personnel, including adult bus drivers and certain program staff, and requires local boards to maintain salary schedules reflecting those increases. The bill extends similar 2% pay increases to employees of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind and to employees of two-year postsecondary institutions under the Community College System. It also includes administrative rules on salary placement, credit for prior public education experience, pro rata pay for extended work beyond 187 days, treatment of local supplements and bonuses, optional exclusion of certain part-time community education employees, and a requirement that superintendent pay increases be approved separately by recorded vote. The act is effective immediately upon passage, but the pay increases begin in fiscal year 2026-2027 and continue thereafter without authorizing additional increases in later years beyond what the act provides.

Impact

HB239 would amend how state-funded salary schedules are set for a broad range of public education employees in Alabama, including K-12 teachers, support staff, AIDB employees, and community college personnel. It requires corresponding increases in the annual Education Trust Fund budget and directs the State Budget Officer and education governing bodies to implement the new pay scales. The bill affects state minimum salary schedules, local school board salary schedules, and compensation practices for certain public educational institutions, while expressly excluding superintendents and some local supplements from the automatic increase provisions.

Sentiment

The available voting history shows strong, unanimous support for the bill at each recorded stage, with no recorded opposition in either chamber. The bill was passed by the House of Origin, passed by the Second House, and then concurred in by the House on the Senate amendment, all by overwhelming or unanimous margins. The caption and structure of the bill indicate it is a broadly supported education pay measure, and the vote totals suggest little public or legislative resistance to the general goal of increasing educator compensation.

Contention

There is little evidence of major controversy in the available record, but the bill does contain several policy boundaries that could be points of interest. It excludes superintendents from the automatic raise, leaving any increase to a separate recorded vote, and it allows local boards to exclude certain part-time community education or child care employees. The bill also limits the increase to 2% and states that no additional pay increases are authorized in subsequent years beyond what the act provides, which may matter to stakeholders seeking larger or more flexible compensation adjustments. Another practical issue is funding, since the bill does not itself appropriate money and instead relies on the annual Education Trust Fund budget.