An Update from the Alabama State House for the Week of February 9, 2026 - February 13, 2026

REQUIRING ACCOUNTABILITY FROM APPOINTEES

• The Alabama House awarded approval on Tuesday to legislation sponsored by Speaker

Pro Tem Chris Pringle (R - Mobile) and Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R - Rainsville)

that provides the governor, the speaker of the House, and the president pro tempore of

the Senate with the authority to remove and replace board and commission members

that they appoint.

• Pringle said the bill is necessary in case an appointed individual habitually fails to

show up to meetings or requires removal for other reasons.

• The legislation applies to “any board, authority, or commission comprised of individual

members, of which some or all members are appointed, as established under state law”

and notes that all appointees “serve at the pleasure” of their appointing authority.

• The bill, which passed unanimously, now goes to the Senate for consideration.

HOMESTEAD EXEMPTIONS FOR DISABLED VETERANS

• The Alabama House awarded passage on Tuesday to Legislation being sponsored by

State Rep. Paul Lee (R - Dothan) that removes the current requirement for permanently

and totally disabled military veterans to reverify their disabled status each year in order

to receive a full ad valorem tax exemption on their primary homes.

• Under the provisions of House Bill 155, once a veteran has initially established

their permanent disability, the property tax homestead exemption becomes per-

manent without need for renewal.

• The legislation now heads to the Senate for consideration.LIMITING EMERGENCY RULE DECLARATIONS BY BOARDS AND COM-

MISSIONS

• Boards, agencies, and commissions would be more limited in declaring emergency

rules under legislation that is sponsored by State Rep. Chris Pringle (R - Mobile) and

was passed by the House on Tuesday.

• Under the Alabama Administrative Procedures Act, an agency may adopt an emergency

rule if the agency finds that an immediate danger to the public health, safety or welfare

requires the adoption of the emergency rule.

• The provisions of Pringle’s legislation require the governor to certify the

immediate danger to the public health, safety, or welfare justifies the need for the

emergency rule before the rule may become effective.

• I’m so sick and tired of these licensure boards and these agencies self-declaring

emergencies so they can do whatever they want to do outside the standard procedure

project,” Pringle said. “We’re going to stop it. We’re going to make it so the governor

has to declare the emergency and then and only then can you enter into emergency

contracts and emergency meetings.”

• The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

PROVIDING TAX CREDITS FOR FOOD BANK DONATIONS

• Farmers who donate farm products to local qualified food banks will be entitled to a tax

credit in return, according to HB175 being sponsored by State. Rep. Ben Robbins (R -

Sylacauga) and passed by the House on Tuesday.

• The “Farm-To-Food Bank Act of 2026” farmers donating edible crops, dairy products,

poultry products, livestock, fruit, and vegetables to qualifying food books would re-

ceive, in return, state income tax credits equal to 15% of the value of the products or

$5,000, depending upon which amount is lesser.

• The tax credits, if the measure is passed, would got into effect for the 2027 tax

year.

• The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

INCREASING PENALTIES FOR HIT AND RUN WITH INJURIES

• Leaving the scene of an accident in which serious injuries result will face stiffer penal-

ties if legislation sponsored by State Rep. Margie Wilcox (R - Mobile) and passed by

the House on Thursday becomes law.• On February 18th, 2023, Jasman Johnson struck 19-year-old John Wesley Holt with a

vehicle on Old Shell Road in Mobile, and the University of South Alabama engineering

student died days later.

• Johnson left the scene of the accident, tried to conceal the damage to the car, and

wound up serving only six months in county jail.

• Eventually pleading guilty to leaving the scene of an accident with injuries, a

Class C felony, Johnson was sentenced to five years split to serve one year behind

bars.

• Working with Holt’s parents, Wilcox’s bill increases the penalty for leaving the scene of

an accident when there are serious injuries or a death from a class C felony, which car-

ries a minimum 1 year in prison, to a class B felony, which is a minimum of two years

in prison.

• The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

PLACING RESTRICTIONS ON SEX OFFENDERS

• The Alabama House approved a bill by State Rep. Mack Butler (R - Rainbow City) on

Thursday that authorizes parole and probation officers to restrict individuals listed on

the sexual offense registry from using a post office box or electronic media, including

computer tablets and cell phones and smart phones.

• It also allows the court or the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles to require them to

complete polygraph examinations.

• HB 26 also allows the court or the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles to order an

offender to receive mental health treatment, which could also include recurring poly-

graph examinations.

• Individuals who fail to report to treatment could be found guilty of a Class C felony,

punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

• The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration

EXCLUDING TRUMP ACCOUNTS FROM STATE TAX

• Legislation to align Alabama’s tax code with new federal savings “Trump Accounts”

established by the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill” was sponsored by House Ways and

Means Education Chairman Danny Garrett (R - Trussville) and passed by the House on

Thursday.• The provisions of Garret’s bill exclude employer contributions to new birth-to-retire-

ment custodial accounts from an individual’s Alabama gross income.

• In addition, it makes the state tax exclusion for employer-paid student loans permanent,

providing long-term relief for workers whose companies help pay down their debt.

• The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

KEEPING PARENTS INFORMED OF TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS

• Law enforcement agencies will be required to inform parents when teenage drivers

receive traffic tickets if a bill by State Rep. Jamie Kiel (R - Russellville) that passed the

House on Thursday becomes law.

• Kiel’s legislation stipulates that “if a minor under 19 years of age is cited for any

traffic infraction, the citing [law enforcement] agency shall make a reasonable

effort to notify the minor’s parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian of the

infraction unless the minor has been emancipated by court order or operation of

law.”

• The proposed law is named “T.J.’s Law” after T.J. Morgan, a 21-year-old from

Tuscumbia who died in a car wreck in 2022 while not wearing a seatbelt.

• Morgan’s mother later discovered three citations for failure to wear a seatbelt that

her son had received while a teenager. and she believes he might be alive today if

she had been aware and taken corrective action.

PROHIBITING NDAS IN SEX ABUSE CASES

• The Alabama House awarded final and unanimous approval to a bill carried by State

Rep. David Faulkner (R - Mountain Brook) on Thursday that ensures no contract,

settlement, or employer agreement can legally silence someone who has experienced

sexual abuse.

• Nondisclosure agreements, commonly known as NDAs, and confidentiality

clauses have been used to prevent survivors from sharing their stories and often

keeps them from warning others or finding closure.

• Faulkner’s measure makes nondisclosure provisions unenforceable when they are

related to sexual abuse.

• Trey's Law is named after Trey Carlock, who committed suicide after being barred by

an NDA from discussing the abuse he suffered at the hands of an church camp

counselor sentenced to three life terms in prison.MAKING THE STATE ARCHIVES BOARD MORE ACCOUNTABLE

• The House State Government Committee awarded a favorable report on Wednesday to

legislation by State Rep. Jamie Kiel (R - Russellville) that moves the board of the

Alabama Department of Archives & History from a self-sustaining board that picks its

own members to one that is appointed.

• Boards are supposed to provide oversight to state agencies, so allowing the agency to

pick and determine its own board members completely undermines the oversight

responsibility.

• Under the provisions of Kiel’s legislation, the governor would appoint eight board

members with the Speaker and the President Pro Tem of the Senate each appointing

four.

• The House and Senate minority leaders would each submit three nominees to the

leaders of their chambers, who would pick one name to be included among their

four appointments.

• The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

INCREASING SAFETY FOR CAMPERS IN ALABAMA

• The House State Government Committee awarded a favorable report on Wednesday to

legislation by State Rep. David Faulkner (R - Mountain Brook) that establishes safety

plans for summer camps located across Alabama.

• The Sarah Marsh Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act is named after eight-year-old Al-

abamians Sarah Marsh, who died during flash flood at a camp in Texas last sum-

mer.

• Marsh’s mother, Jill, told the committee that her daughter and the 26 other children

killed by flooding at the Christian camp would likely still be alive today if the provi-

sions in Faulkner’s bill had been enacted in Texas at the time.

• The legislation now goes to the full House for consideration.