April 4, 2022 Group Watch: Legislature Day-by-Day, Play-by-Play

• The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee approved bills to revise the definition of shotgun and to further provide for the removal of disabled vehicles.
• The full House approved several bills of local application only, and general bills to require the State Board of Education to phase in the employment of auxiliary teachers to assist classroom teachers; to require criminal justice agencies to submit reports concerning reported and unreported sexual assault cases; and a Senate-passed bill to create the Alabama Numeracy Act to improve math performance in grades K-12.
• The Senate Finance and Taxation Committee approved bills to establish a grant program for awarding funds to public schools to provide no-cost feminine hygiene products to students and to require each school board to employ a mental health service coordinator, subject to an appropriation by the legislature.
• The full Senate passed several bills of local application only, debated several general bills and passed some bills, including one to further provide for telehealth and telemedicine.

• The House Ways and Means Education Committee approved a bill to expand the income tax credit available to individuals who adopt a child.
• The House Judiciary Committee approved a bill to further provide for definitions associated with human trafficking.
• The House State Government Committee approved bills to require certain emergency rules, orders or directives issued by the State Health Officer to be approved by the Governor and filed with the Secretary of State before taking effect, and to allow the board of trustees of the Alabama Trust Fund to hold virtual meetings and to further provide for the operation of the board.
• The House passed several bills including bills to: expand scholarship awards by the Board of Optometry and retroactively authorize remote meetings of the board; authorize the Board of Dental Scholarship and Loan Awards to make loans to further dental education and further provide for the membership of the board; and to require public K-12 schools and local boards of education to accept certain forms of payments for admission to school sporting events.
• The Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee approved several bills relating to education funding including the state education budget, a four-percent raise for education employees, a one-time lump sum bonus for retired educators and appropriations to non-state entities such as Lyman Ward Military Academy, Tuskegee University and Talladega College. It also approved two supplemental appropriation measures affecting a number of state entities for the current fiscal year.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee approved bills to authorize the service of notice of a garnishment by the posting of a garnishment order, and to further provide for judicial redemption civil actions brought by the owner of property attempting to recover that property.
• The Senate passed several bills including bills to: establish the State Employees’ Trust Fund Funding Act as a permanent trust and investment account to fund periodic bonuses for state retirees and to increase the loan repayment award for qualified math and science teachers per semester.

• The House Urban and Rural Development Committee approved a Senate-passed bill that prohibits the issuance of bonds by a county or municipality without authorization by the qualified voters of the county, city, town or other political subdivision.
• The House State Government Committee approved a Senate-passed bill to require an unemployed individual to search for work a certain number of times per week to be eligible to receive unemployment benefits.
• The House Health Committee approved a Senate-passed bill to abolish the special purpose license for physicians who practice medicine or osteopathy across state lines via telecommunications and would now require any physician who provides telehealth medical services to any person in the state to possess a full and active license.
• The House passed several bills of local application only and general bills to: require parenting plans in child custody cases and remedies for violations of the plan; increase the loan repayment award for qualified math and science teachers per semester; prohibit false or secret compartments in motor vehicles; and to limit the use of facial recognition to ensure artificial intelligence is not the only basis for arrest.
• The Senate Children, Youth and Human Services Committee approved a bill to establish certain requirements for medical cannabis use by women of childbearing age. The Senate approved a number of budget bills including the state education budget, a four-percent raise for education employees, a one-time lump sum bonus for retired educators and appropriations for non-state programs such as Tuskegee University, Lyman Ward Military Academy and Talladega College. It also gave final approval to House-passed bills to reduce the minimum business privilege tax and to update and clarify practices in the Education Trust Fund Rolling Reserve Act.

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