Transcript Highlights:

• And we ask that you give us wisdom and guidance as we serve the people of Alabama. Amen.
• Anyone representing the Alabama State 911 Board here today? No. Any questions about these?
• And the Alabama State 911 Board appointees are approved. Moving.
• The Alabama State 911 Board appointees are approved. Moving on.
• I live in Tallapoosa County and I have lived in Alabama since 1995.

Keywords: 923, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I'm Mandy Spears with the Alabama Department of Corrections. Today we have one renewal.
• <00:26:48.320> We the Geological Survey of Alabama. We the Geological Survey of Alabama.
• in the Black Belt of Alabama. Mr. in the Black Belt of Alabama. Mr.
• Afternoon, I'm James Horton with Alabama Medicaid Agency.
• Good afternoon, Patrick Samuelson with the Alabama Board of Nursing.

Keywords: 924, joint, all

Transcript Highlights:

• In Alabama, our First Class pre-K program provides funding to any of these programs.
• Department of Human Services, Alabama Department of Human Services, Alabama created<01:02:54.000
• In Alabama, different quality standards.
• Council of Alabama has shown that the Council of Alabama has shown that the academic<01:06:57.760>
• care in Alabama. care in Alabama.

Keywords: 958, all

Summary: The committee began with introductions of student guests, including an FCCLA national officer who spoke in support of career and technical education. She emphasized that CTE connects classroom learning to real careers, builds leadership and employability skills, and deserves continued state supplemental funding to keep programs current, expand offerings, and support student organizations. Members thanked her for her remarks and for representing FCCLA students. The committee then considered House Bill 67, a cleanup bill to address unintended consequences from last session’s Senate Bill 181 on traceable communication in schools. Rep. Josh Calloway explained that the substitute clarified definitions of family members, coaches, volunteers, certified/classified/contract employees, and virtual instruction; exempted group messaging, public social media posts, translation services, parent-provided phone numbers, emergency communications, and field trip/work-based learning contacts; and allowed teachers to disclose outside commercial or nonprofit involvement so they can communicate with students for those purposes. He said the bill was developed with input from school boards, administrators, KDE, school HR groups, Kentucky League of Cities, and Farm Bureau. The committee approved the substitute and passed HB 67 favorably. Next, the committee heard House Bill 759, which KDE described as a consistency bill for teacher certification pathways. The bill renames and standardizes alternative certification routes, clarifies content mastery requirements, allows teachers to add certifications more consistently, and lets educators extend certification into lower grade bands if they already hold higher-level certification and pedagogical knowledge. Members asked about chemistry majors, CTE occupational pathways, the veterans pathway, and grade-band “bandwidth”; KDE said the bill preserves the veterans route, does not create a new pathway but reorganizes existing ones, and will help make certification options easier to understand. HB 759 also passed favorably. Finally, Rep. Shane Baker presented House Bill 654, a follow-up to last year’s effort to reduce administrative burdens on schools. He said the bill would eliminate additional reporting requirements, bar KDE from requiring components of a comprehensive improvement plan not expressly required by statute or federal law, and allow EARS to temporarily authorize reports when the legislature is not in session while preserving necessary reporting tied to SEEK funding and school operations. The committee took up the substitute and began discussion of the bill.

Transcript Highlights:

• States ranked above Louisiana—Arkansas, Tennessee, and Alabama—implemented similar measures to this bill
• States ranked above Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Alabama implemented similar measures to this
• the election, which is consistent with recount and other laws that are established in the election code
• The 2007 election code had 298 pages in it.” “This year we have 419.
• which house gets coded which ballot so that when people come to vote, they're voting on the correct

Summary: The committee first heard Senate Bill 319, which would tighten and standardize voter identification rules at polling places. Senator Presley and Secretary of State Nancy Landry said the bill replaces the current “generally recognized” photo ID standard with a specific list of acceptable IDs, removes the affidavit-only option, and allows voters without a photo ID to cast a conditional paper ballot at the registrar of voters office or during early voting if they later provide approved documentation within two days after the election. Supporters argued the bill improves consistency, election integrity, and poll-worker guidance while still preserving access through alternative documents and free state IDs; opponents warned it could create confusion and burden seniors, students, homeless voters, and others without easy access to the required documents. After debate, the committee reported SB 319 favorably by a 7-2 vote. The committee then approved Senate Bill 202, which adds one day of compensated meeting time for parish boards of election supervisors in certain elections, and Senate Bill 25, which revises the compensation schedule for registrars of voters and related staff. SB 25 was amended to remove outdated step references and make conforming technical changes, and supporters said the pay structure has not been updated since 2007 despite increased duties and workload. The committee also adopted and reported favorably Senate Concurrent Resolution 29, creating a legislative study committee on water quality in the Chafalalaya Basin, and House Concurrent Resolution 85, creating a task force on illegal dumping, both with technical amendments. In addition, the committee advanced Senate Concurrent Resolution 63, which asks the legislative auditor to review how fiscal notes are prepared during session, and Senate Concurrent Resolution 33, which creates a work-based learning coordination task force to improve alignment among education, workforce, and employer partners. SCR 33 was amended to change the appointing authority for two members. The committee also approved Senate Concurrent Resolution 5, establishing the Louisiana-Ireland Trade Commission, and House Resolution 196, which creates a study committee on the impact of fallen trees on residential property and insurance issues. Several of these measures were supported by agency representatives or outside groups, and the committee adopted technical amendments where needed before reporting the bills and resolutions favorably.

Transcript Highlights:

• Louisiana and Alabama echo this concern. This resolution... ...of Commerce and NOAA.
• Louisiana and Alabama echo this concern.
• However, Section 8857.056 of the Special District Local Laws Code explicitly prohibits directors of the
• nutshell, it's updating something that was long before any of us existed, so we were bringing the code
• Well, it's newer than the Alcohol Code. That came to prohibition.

Summary: The committee met with limited attendance at first, then took up a series of water, agriculture, and rural affairs measures. HB 3898 would allow the Texas Water Development Board to provide financial assistance for brackish water desalination projects in certain border counties and related nonprofit suppliers even if the projects are not in the state water plan. Supporters said it is needed to address severe water shortages in places like Webb County and to support future planning; opponents, including the Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts, argued it bypasses the regional and state water planning process. The bill was left pending after testimony. The committee also heard HB 5339, which would create a higher-education grant program for regenerative agriculture research. A rancher testified that regenerative methods improved soil health, water retention, and farm viability, while a senator noted existing university research but said better coordination could help. Public testimony was closed and the bill was left pending. Members then heard HB 1523, a temporary prohibition on TCEQ issuing Austin a Class 5 injection well permit for an aquifer storage and recovery project in Bastrop and Lee counties until December 2027. Local officials from Bastrop supported the pause, citing unanswered questions about water treatment, recovery rates, and impacts on the aquifer, while Austin Water opposed the substitute, saying the project is central to its long-term water plan and that stakeholder talks were already underway. TCEQ explained its ASR permitting process and said public participation is possible but not always used in the current authorization process. The bill was left pending. HB 5659, concerning the Northeast Texas Municipal Water District and requiring majority city-council approval before certain water sales or interbasin transfers, drew testimony from district officials who said the change could interfere with existing contracts and district authority, but the chair emphasized the need for local buy-in and said the stakeholders had reached a workable compromise; testimony was closed and the bill was left pending. The committee also heard HB 1690, which would expand notice requirements for groundwater export permits so neighboring landowners and potentially affected aquifer areas are informed by certified mail and publication. The sponsor tied the bill to impacts from the Vista Ridge project, and no one testified against it; it was left pending. HB 3333 would prohibit TCEQ from issuing new wastewater discharge permits directly into the Devils River in Val Verde County. The sponsor and a conservation witness said the bill protects one of Texas’s most pristine rivers and reflects a local stakeholder agreement, while TCEQ said it can ensure water quality but acknowledged the river’s unique sensitivity; the bill was left pending. The committee also heard HCR 108 urging continuation of the U.S.-Mexico tomato suspension agreement, with supporters warning of major Texas job and consumer-price impacts if it ends, and HCR 76 urging federal action on imported shrimp, citing public health and industry concerns; both were left pending. Additional measures heard and left pending included HB 4158 on compensation for Texana Groundwater Conservation District directors, HB 654 creating a dismissal path for certain first-time deer hunting violations after self-reporting and hunter education, HB 4530 requiring Texas Water Development Board review of groundwater rights placed in the Texas Water Trust, HB 2128 directing a study of rural versus urban firefighting and rescue disparities, and HB 278 requiring groundwater districts and management areas to track progress toward desired future conditions over shorter intervals. On HB 278, witnesses split over whether the bill’s interim tracking would improve accountability or create new triggers that could be used against local districts, but no final vote was taken and the bill was left pending.

Transcript Highlights:

• Oklahoma and Alabama, according to federal data, these two states, led by Republican governors, lead
• colleagues truly want to fight fraud, I invite them to join me in condemning Mississippi, Oklahoma, Alabama
• of... ...some of the governors of the states that I outlined where massive fraud has taken place: Alabama
• And this whole notion of convict leasing, which would allow people who violated some code to be placed

Keywords: U.S. House of Representatives Floor Proceedings on Thursday, June 11, 2026, 1012, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The remainder of 3 essentially mirrors the language of Code of Criminal Procedure Article 878.1, Paragraph
• Alabama and Montgomery v. Louisiana.
• response to the constitutional mandates established by the United States Supreme Court in Miller versus Alabama
• Alabama and Montgomery v. Louisiana, it was clearly laid out by the U.S.

Summary: The Criminal Justice Committee met on May 12 and took up a series of bills, mostly on juvenile justice, gaming-related background checks, bail/electronic bonds, and corrections policy. Early in the meeting, the committee reported favorably SB 258 on juvenile traffic violations, SB 321 on electronic bonds, SB 134 on limiting certain child sexual abuse material offenses for juveniles under 17 in specific circumstances, HB 75 on promotional play for racetracks as amended, and SB 422 on unsupervised probation for certain fourth-offense impaired driving cases. Later, the committee also advanced SB 440 on the Renaissance District board membership, SB 393 on explosives regulation, SB 487 on charitable gaming rental arrangements, SB 339 and SB 288 on criminal background check procedures in the gaming and related regulatory systems, and SB 325 on excluding certain persons from sports wagering. A major portion of the hearing focused on SB 201, which would change juvenile homicide sentencing procedures, including first- and second-degree murder cases, and how reviewing courts consider parole eligibility and prior death sentences converted to life. Supporters said the bill aligns sentencing with existing Supreme Court precedent and gives courts clearer guidance; opponents from children’s rights and civil liberties groups argued it weakens the “rarest and uncommon” safeguard for juvenile life-without-parole sentences and could expand harsh sentencing beyond constitutional limits. After debate and testimony, the committee adopted an amendment and reported SB 201 favorably by a 7-3 vote, with Representatives Adams, Knox, Moore, and others voting no. The committee also heard SB 523 on clemency and sentencing considerations for defendants who are victims of domestic abuse, human trafficking, or sexual assault. Survivors’ advocates and domestic violence organizations supported the bill’s overall purpose but objected to the mandatory pre-sentence investigation language, warning it could introduce biased information and harm survivors; the Board of Pardons and Parole said its staff and trauma-informed victim assistance coordinators are trained to handle these cases. The committee adopted an amendment narrowing the bill and then reported SB 523 favorably. Finally, SB 320 on DNA detection and crime lab reporting was advanced without opposition, and SB 470 on pregnant women in custody passed after testimony from the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association and discussion of pregnancy testing, bonding options, and prohibiting shackling during delivery and postpartum periods.

Transcript Highlights:

• If you will please call the appointees for the Alabama Family Trust Board of Trustees: Adrien Brown,
• Moving on to the University of South Alabama Board of Trustees.
• The appointees for the University of South Alabama Board of Trustees are approved.
• Moving on to the Alabama Community College System Board of...
• Moving on to the Alabama Securities Commission: Hope Marshall. I know that Ms.

Keywords: 923, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• you'll join me: Dear Lord, we thank you for this day and for the opportunity to serve the people of Alabama
• Committee today, help us all to make the best decision for the people of Alabama that we serve.
• to come tell this committee a little bit about this board and why it's important to the state of Alabama
• The people of Alabama are dependent on us to do it, those that want a good job and need good training
• The Alabama Workforce Board will be moving on to the next step.

Keywords: 923, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We thank you for the opportunity to serve the people of Alabama.
• Help us all to make the best decisions for the people of Alabama that we serve.
• Do any members have any questions for the University of Alabama Board of Trustees?
• The University of Alabama Board of Trustees confer are approved by the committee.
• Now we are down to the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind Board.

Keywords: 923, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Whereas an extraordinary occasion exists in the state of Alabama which requires the legislature to convene
• Now, therefore, I, Kay Ivey, as Governor of the state of Alabama, do hereby proclaim and direct that
• the legislature of the state of Alabama shall convene in special session in the Alabama State House in
• Montgomery, Alabama, at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, May the 4th, 2026, to take up the following specifically
• , Alabama at 4:00 House in Montgomery, Alabama at 4:00 p.m.<00:10:29.280> on<00:10:29.440>

Keywords: 1136, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Ladies and gentlemen, first of all, this bill does not prohibit anyone from doing business in Alabama
• Protecting Alabama from hostile foreign influence is what we title the bill. Why do we need this?
• So keep that in the back of in Alabama. So keep that in the back of your<00:02:58.319> mind.
• Uh protecting Alabama from your mind.
• They have in Alabama? >> We care about the ones where they actually own 20% of the business.

Bills: HB358, HB358

Keywords: juvenile justice, detention, age of majority, jurisdiction, child welfare, foreign influence, political activity, transparency, registration, civil penalties, hostile foreign principals, state ethics, 1136, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I got time to sit down with you, and you truly care about all veterans in Alabama, and we appreciate
• We are also working with Northwest Alabama Mental Health Center to expand mobile crisis services in Walker
• The only addition was the Alabama Society of Addiction Medicine, which is related to a $130,000 request
• Is there any place in Alabama that has that?
• We brought them to Alabama, and this particular program is amazing to me because, besides their setup

Keywords: 924, joint, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Welcome to Alabama Senate.
• In the end, God's work is going to be done in the Alabama State Senate.
• In the end, God's work is going to be done in the Alabama State Senate.
• We can make it the Alabama State Senate.
• ladies and gentlemen of the Alabama ladies and gentlemen of the Alabama State<00:42:16.319> Senate

Keywords: 920, all

Summary: The Senate convened with a quorum, approved excusing absent members, dispensed with the previous day’s journal, and allowed bill introductions and committee reports throughout the day. Members also recognized guests in the gallery, including Judge Smitherman and later Karen Butler, wife of Senator Tom Butler. The chamber adopted Senate Joint Resolution 11, honoring Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated on its Founders Day and 118 years of service, after reading the resolution at length and hearing brief remarks from Senator Figures. The Senate then adopted the Rules Committee’s special order calendar and took up several bills. Senate Bill 12 by Senator Gudger, repealing a prior community development districts law tied to a Coleman County project, passed. Senate Bill 19 by Senator Livingston, dealing with health insurance/prostate cancer screening, also passed. Senate Bill 89 by Senator Sessions, repealing the 1931 State Pilotage Commission statute, passed; Senate Bill 134 by Senator Beasley, concerning taxation and interstate warehousing of tobacco products, passed after a committee amendment was adopted; Senate Bill 100 by Senator Kelly, extending the State Board of Pharmacy sunset for one year with appointment changes, passed; Senate Bill 114 by Senator Bell, expanding Alabama’s handling of out-of-state warrants to additional felonies, passed; Senate Bill 122 by Senator Stewart, regarding the State Board of Registration for Foresters, passed; Senate Bill 35 by Senator Kitchens, updating vessel registration language for Coast Guard compliance, passed; and Senate Bill 127 by Senators Coleman-Madison and Stewart, continuing the Board of Examiners in Counseling for four years, passed. Senate Bill 28 by Senator Elliott, which would raise the earnings cap for retired law enforcement officers and district attorneys returning to work and address school bus driver staffing, was discussed at length but carried over at the sponsor’s request. Senators raised concerns about the bill’s impact on RSA/retirement system funding and the possibility of broader pressure for similar retiree reemployment arrangements, while supporters emphasized staffing shortages, training savings, and benefits for schools and public safety. The session concluded with the calendar completed and a new resolution introduced by Senator Orr recognizing the 250th anniversary of the United States Postal Service, which was taken up for immediate consideration and adopted.

Transcript Highlights:

• You guide our hands and our voices as we seek to do your will here in the legislature of Alabama.
• I've been the administrator of schools in Florida and Alabama.
• I do want to thank the folks at the Alabama Community College System.
• I want to say Alabama law is 16, where they can actually... 17? Okay, so it's 17 now.
• So, it's something that's not done in Alabama, but it's done nationally.

Bills: SB140, HB102, SB133, SB34

Keywords: Coach Safely Act, youth athletics, noncompliance penalties, Department of Public Health, youth athlete, dual enrollment, high school, community college, university, educational access, high school credit, violence prevention, conflict resolution, mediation, public education, high school graduation, 1136, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I mean, Alabama ranks at or near... ...Alabama ranks at or near the bottom in any category where you
• They take millions of dollars a year out of the healthcare system in the state of Alabama.
• This is HB283, the Alabama Personal Data Protection Act.
• Chairman, I'm Ben Baker with the Alabama Association of Justice, and we oppose the bill in its current
• We also have a bill on the books called the Alabama... a bill on the books called the Alabama Genetic

Keywords: 923, senate, all

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• I'm Teresa, the Chief Administrative Officer of Alabama.
• What's important about health in Alabama is...
• So, lowering the incidence of chronic diseases is the purpose of our initiative in Alabama.
• That's what Live Health Smart Alabama focuses on. We do that in a number of...
• The Milan Institute reported in 2020 that Alabama was number one in lost economic productivity due to

Bills: HB269, HB73

Keywords: firearm regulation, trigger activator, civil penalties, Jefferson County, law enforcement, 1136, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Appointed by the secretary of the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency and employed in the classified
• Appointed by the secretary of the Appointed by the secretary of the Alabama<00:13:08.480> State
• State Law Enforcement Agency and Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency and employed<00:13:10.959>
• <00:14:37.120> And<00:14:37.199> it's over in the state of Alabama.
• And it's over in the state of Alabama.

Bills: HB97, HB455, HB97, HB455

Keywords: absentee ballot, voting, elections, voter registration, electoral process, defective affidavit, voting rights, HB455, Clarke County, coroner, coroner's office, county commission, local act, local legislation, mileage reimbursement, county vehicle, office expenses, operating expenses, retroactive ratification, remedial and curative

Transcript Highlights:

• that their product will be in convenience stores, grocery stores, and other locations throughout Alabama
• grocery chains, convenience stores, boutique wellness shops, and hospitality venues across major Alabama
• That way we actually know the facts. ...actually know how it’s impacting Alabama.
• I mean to say this is all self-funded and our Alabama Department...
• Self-funded and our Alabama Department of Insurance does not regulate self-funded insurance plans.

Bills: HB441

Keywords: speech-language pathology, licensure, clinical supervision, educational qualifications, healthcare assistant, sessions, 2025-R, 1, 219

Transcript Highlights:

• that their product will be in convenience stores, grocery stores, and other locations throughout Alabama
• grocery chains, convenience stores, boutique wellness shops, and hospitality venues across major Alabama
• That way, we actually know the facts... actually know the facts, how is it impacting Alabama.
• Representative Faulner, as far as my thought process would be to make the bill in the state of Alabama
• I mean, this is all self-funded and our Alabama Department Self-funded and our Alabama Department of

Bills: HB445, HB477, SB274, HB441

Keywords: hemp-derived cannabinoids, CBD, THC, delta-8, delta-9, delta-10, consumable hemp products, psychoactive cannabinoids, cannabinoid regulation, hemp licensing, ABC Board, Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, retail hemp sales, wholesale hemp distribution, hemp tax, excise tax, age verification, underage sales, product testing, certificate of analysis