It can be easy to miss the events of state government with all of the important events occurring at the national level. State-level legislation, however, has a huge impact on local residents. This Tuesday, June 6, marked the end of the 2023 Alabama legislative session. Here is a quick update on some of the bills that passed this session, as well as some of the notable bills that did not pass.

Major bills passed this legislative session:

• The Alabama legislature has officially passed HB479, which will cut the state’s grocery tax from 4% to 3% this September. If the Alabama Education Trust Fund sees an estimated growth in revenue of at least 3.5%, then the tax will be cut to 2%. If fully implemented, the tax cut is expected to save the average Alabama family $300 per year from their grocery bill. 

• HB217, a bill to remove the tax on any “hours worked above 40 in any given week from gross income,” was passed by legislators after they approved an executive amendment by Ivey. Ivey’s amendment removed a cap of $25 million for total taxes exempted.

• The legislature passed SB261, a bill to prohibit state entities from entering into contracts with businesses that choose not to contract with other companies for reasons tied to environmental or social issues. 

• Ivey signed into law HB261 on May 30, which amended the code of Alabama regarding public institutions of higher education “to prohibit biological males from participating on an athletic team or sport designated for females and prohibit biological females from participating on an athletic team or sport designated for males.”

Bills of note that didn’t pass this legislative session:

While there are a multitude of bills which did not pass this legislative session, these bills are likely to return in future sessions and would have a large impact on Alabamians. 

• SB196, a bill which would have overhauled Alabama’s public records law, did not make it to a vote this legislative session. The state of Alabama is considered to have some of the weakest open record laws in the country. According to the non-profit MuckRock, which focuses on open governments, public entities Alabama take an average of 148 days to respond to requests for public information. The bill would have set time limits on how long agencies could take to respond, grant or deny request and, if approved, provide the material. 

• HB43, which would require students to demonstrate “first-grade readiness” before advancing to the first grade, did not make it to the senate floor this session. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Pebblin Warren, D-Tuskegee and had the support of Gov. Kay Ivey, but was strongly opposed by Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham. Smitherman told reporters that he wanted to see guarantees for kindergarten funding and mandatory kindergarten to ensure that the law wouldn’t have a negative impact on students in poorer neighborhoods. Currently, Alabama does not mandate kindergarten or require all schools to have kindergarten programs. 

• HB209, a bill which would criminalize handling another person’s absentee ballot or ballot application except in the case of voters with disabilities, passed the house, but did not come up for vote in the senate. 

• HB7, a bill to prohibit schools from “promoting or endorsing, or requiring affirmation of, certain divisive concepts relating to race, sex, or religion,” was delayed indefinitely . A version of the bill was previously introduced during the 2022 legislative session in both the house and senate and failed to pass before the session expired. 

• HB405, also known as the What is a Woman Act, was passed by the House Health Committee, but was delayed on the house floor. The bill would have codified definitions of what it means to be a man, woman, boy, girl, husband and wife into Alabama law. The bill was among several protested by LGBTQ+ activists in May.

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