March marked the final full month of the 2026 legislative session for Alabama lawmakers, who spent the month passing several bills related to education policy, health policy and more.
With only five days remaining in this year’s session, it is unclear how much Alabama lawmakers will be able to push through, though several high-profile bills still remain on the floor.
Five bills passed in March:
Bill Name: HB78
Sponsors: Reps. Jeana Ross, R-Guntersville; Susan DuBose, R-Hoover; Bill Lamb, R-Tuscaloosa; Arnold Mooney, R-Indian Springs; Rick Rehm, R-Dothan; Mike Kirkland, R-Scottsboro; Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg; Jennifer Fidler, R-Silverhill; Donna Givens, R-Loxley; Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville; David Faulkner, R-Mountain Brook; Jamie Kiel, R-Russellville; Chris Sells, R-Greeneville; Scott Stadthagen, R-Hartselle; Alan Baker, R-Brewton; Terri Collins, R-Decatur; Leigh Hulsey, R-Helena; Frances Holk-Jones, R-Foley; and Brock Colvin; R-Albertville
Date passed: March 4
Passed at the end of February and signed into effect by Gov. Kay Ivey this month, HB78 tasks the Alabama Departments of Education, Human Resources and Early Childhood Education with establishing screen time limits for children in prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms in the state, as well as creating a training program for pre-K and kindergarten teachers about screen usage in the classroom.
Originally, HB78 stipulated specific screen time limits for children aged two through four. However, in the version of the bill that passed, those rules were dropped in favor of allowing those three departments to set the specific rules. The bill also says that screen time in daycare facilities must feature “high-quality programming,” which the bill outlines as age-appropriate, slow-paced programming that is free of violence and advertising.
Bill Name: HB300
Sponsors: Reps. Frances Holk-Jones, R-Foley; ennifer Fidler, R-Silverhill; Donna Givens, R-Loxley; Jeana Ross, R-Guntersville; Susan DuBose, R-Hoover; Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg; Laura Hall, D-Huntsville; Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham; Rolanda Hollis, D-Birmingham; Pebblin W. Warren, D-Tuskegee; Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile; Adline Clarke, D-Mobile; Leight Hulsey, R-Helena; Margie Wilcox, R-Mobile; Terri Collins, R-Decatur; TaShina Morris, D-Montgomery; M. Moore, D-Birmingham; Marilyn Lands, D-Huntsville; and Patrice McClammy, D-Montgomery
Date passed: March 5
This bill eliminates deductibles, copays and other out-of-pocket fees for breast cancer screenings such as mammograms and breast ultrasounds. The bill covers breast cancer screenings for all women ages 40 and over.
An estimated 4,900 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the state this year, according to a report from the American Cancer Society.
The legislature passed a similar bill covering prostate cancer screenings last month.
Bill Name: SB168
Sponsor: Sen. Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva
Date passed: March 5
SB168 prohibits using the three-cueing reading strategy in state schools, codifying a ban issued by the Alabama State Department of Education in 2024.
Three-cuing is a teaching technique used when teaching students to read. It encourages students to use context clues to learn unfamiliar words by drawing their attention to meaning, structure and syntax, and visual cues. Critics of the technique say it is not supported by reading science and encourage overreliance on context clues that can cause issues when a student encounters similarly spelled words.
““The goal of SB 168 is to strengthen the implementation of the Alabama Literacy Act which has yielded incredible results thanks to the partnership of the Alabama Reading Initiative, Gov. Ivey and this Legislature,”
Sponsors of the bill said it is meant to encourage better literacy education throughout the state in tandem with the success of the Alabama Literacy Act.
“We made a lot of progress in literacy in the state. We moved from 49th to 34th in reading, and letting go of this would make sure that we are using the science of reading in our teaching methods in our schools,” said the bill’s sponsor Sen. Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva, during floor debate.
Bill Name: SB242
Sponsor: Sen. Lance Bell, R-Riverside
Date passed: March 11
This bill requires commercial drivers to be proficient in English, creating a $1,000 fine for operators and a $2,000 fine for drivers if a driver who is not proficient in English receives a citation in the state. Fines are doubled for subsequent offenses.
The bill also makes presenting a false commercial driver’s license a Class D felony punishable by one to five years in prison.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Lance Bell, R-Pell City, has said the idea for the bill came after an 18-wheeler accident in Thomasville last year in which two people were killed after a truck crashed into multiple cars at a stop light. The driver of the truck was a Ukrainian man who was in the U.S. on a work visa.
Bill Name: HB332
Sponsor: Rep. Allen Treadway, R-Morris
Date passed: March 17
HB332 requires all licensed day care centers in the state to implement an anaphylactic response policy. The bill also requires that all employees of day care centers complete an anaphylaxis training program.
The bill tasks the Alabama Department of Human Resources to create the policy that all day care centers will follow, giving the department a deadline of August 1, 2027 to establish their policy and a deadline of January 1, 2028 for day centers in the state to adhere to the new guidelines.
HB332 stipulates that ADHR’s policy must include procedures that must be followed by employees when a child is thought to be suffering from anaphylaxis and guidelines on how individual day care centers should develop individual emergency plans for children with severe allergies, as well as strategies for reducing exposure to anaphylaxis causing agents in day care facilities.
Others bills that passed in March:
- SB149 — a bill that grants temporary teaching certificates to veterans, regardless of if they have a bachelor’s degree, as a way to address Alabama’s teacher shortage
- SB155 — a bill outlining how coal mining royalties from mines in the state will be allocated to state entities and communities where mines are located
- HB182 — a bill that allows education and training from military service to count as credit towards an emergency medical services personnel license
- HB110 — a bill allowing the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency to issue digital driver’s licenses and identification cards
Three bills to watch in April:
Bill Name: HB541
Sponsors: Reps. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity; Scott Stadthagen, R-Hartselle; Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City; Cindy Myrex, R-Cullman; Ben Harrison, R-Elkmont; Jamie Kiel, R-Russellville; Kerry Underwood, R-Tuscumbia; Matthew Hammett, R-Andalusia; Ritchie Whorton, R-Owens Cross Roads; Allen Treadaway, R-Morris; Phillip Pettus, R-Killen; Rick Rehm, R-Dothan; Kenneth Paschal, R-Pelham; Arnold Mooney, R-Indian Springs; Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville; Jim Carns, R-Vestavia Hills; and Shane Stringer, R-Citronelle
Status: Passed by House; moving to Senate
This bill would move Alabama from an open primary voting system to a closed primary system, meaning that party membership would be a requirement for voting in a party’s primary election. Alabama is currently one of eight states that have open primary elections, where a voter does not have to be a registered party member in order to vote in that party’s primary election.
Some Alabama Republicans are pushing to close primary elections to registered party members. The Alabama Republican Party passed a resolution earlier this month calling for closed primary elections in order to protect the “integrity, credibility, and legitimacy” of the party’s candidates. However, the measure has also drawn criticism from some Republican lawmakers.
“In this piece of legislation, what we’re saying to the voter is we want to force you into identifying, and not just identifying, but being registered publicly for a party,” one Republican critic of HB541, Rep. Phillip Rigsby, R-Huntsville, said of the bill during floor debate.
HB541 passed the House 65-35. It is unclear if the bill will have enough momentum to pass the Senate in the few remaining legislative days in this year’s session.
Bill Name: HB511
Sponsor: Rep. Reed Ingram, R-Pike Road
Status: Passed by House; waiting on Senate vote
HB511 proposes a constitutional amendment that would require schools in the state to start their day with a prayer and with the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Under the bill, school districts who fail to mandate daily prayer or and pledge recitation would have 25% of their state funding withheld.
HB511 outlines some conditions that daily prayers would have to follow. Prayers would have to be led by a student, and no student would be forced to participate in prayer. The bill makes a similar stipulation regarding the Pledge of Allegiance: no student would be forced to recite the pledge if they object to it.
HB511 is part of a larger trend of some states trying to diminish the gap between church and state in public schools. The 1962 Supreme Court case Engel v. Vitale said it was unconstitutional for school officials to lead a mandatory prayer during the school day. However, in 2022, the court ruled in favor of a high school football coach who led a prayer on the field, saying that the government can not suppress personal expression of religion. Since then, there has been a wave of states pushing religious imagery and practices into public schools — such as displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
It is unclear how HB511 will fair in the Senate as the legislative session draws to a close, but, if it were to pass, voters would then have the opportunity to vote on the measure during the upcoming November election.
Bill Name: SB57
Sponsors: Sens. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur; Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva; Josh Carnley, R-Ino; Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills; Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road; Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia; Jay Hovey, R-Auburn; Keith Kelley, R-Anniston; April Weaver, R-Brierfield; Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville; Gerald H. Allen, R-Tuscaloosa; and Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City
Status: Passed by Senate; waiting on House vote
SB57 seeks to place limits on what foods can be purchased in the state using SNAP benefits. If passed, SNAP recipients would not be able to purchase candy or soda using their benefits. Eighteen other states have recently passed similar restrictions in recent months.
Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, one of the bill’s sponsors, said that the goal of the bill is to prevent obesity in the state.
“We’re one of the most obese states in the country, particularly among children, and hopefully it might have a small impact,” Orr said of the bill after it passed the Senate.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention ranked Alabama as the state with fourth highest rates of adult obesity in 2024.
The bill passed the Senate 24-2, and is now awaiting a vote from the Senate.
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