Tuesday, the Alabama State Legislature returned to Montgomery for the start of the 2024 Alabama Regular Legislative Session. The Alabama House of Representatives and the Alabama Senate gaveled in at noon for the first legislative day and then joined the governor that night for a joint session where she presented her state of the state address.
Senate Pro Tem. Greg Reed told members of the Senate, “I appreciate you being willing to serve the people of Alabama.”
“The sacrifices made by the family of those who serve is not insignificant,” Reed added, thanking the families of the 35 Senators for their sacrifices.
The Senate opened the journal to introduce bills, selected a committee to inform the governor that the Senate was now in session, and passed a resolution in honor of March being Women’s History Month. The resolution “celebrates the contribution that Alabama women have made to American history.”
The resolution honors a number of Alabama women, including Rosa Parks, Helen Keller, and Condoleezza Rice, for their contributions to the state as well as the governor.
“Current governor Kay Ivey is the longest serving woman governor in history and the second after Lurleen Wallace.”
State Sen. Rodger Smitherman said, “This resolution inspired me. That resolution is a cosmic picture of the state of Alabama. It does not matter whether you are Black or White. It was a cosmic picture of all the people of Alabama.”
“That’s our state,” Smitherman said. “All of us, we represent the state. Look around this room. This is what our state looks like. I am looking forward to voting for this resolution with a smile on my face.”
Senate Joint Resolution 4 passed unanimously.
Senate Joint Resolution 5 honoring former U.S. Senator Richard Shelby for his decades of service to the state passed. State Sen. Gerald Allen sponsored this.
A second resolution supporting the oil and gas exploration by Allen was held over and referred to the Rules Committee after State Sen. Bobby Singleton asked for more time to study it.
Reed announced that the Senate needed to address statutory requirements at the start of the session.
The Senate held a Legislative Council election and selected Sens. Clyde Chambliss, Steve Livingston, and Vivian Figures to represent the Senate on the Council.
For the Committee on Public Accounts, the Senate elected Sens. Arthur Orr, Clay Scofield, and Jabo Waggoner.
On the Sunset Committee, Sens. Garlan Gudger, Keith Kelley, and Figures were elected.
Sens. Orr, Scofield, Waggoner, Figures, and Singleton were elected to the Senate Ethics and Conduct Committee.
Ivey called a special session beginning on Wednesday for the Legislature to focus on appropriating over one billion dollars in American Rescue Plan Act funds that the federal government sent to the state of Alabama.
“This evening, I am calling a Special Session of the Alabama Legislature to begin tomorrow so that we can urgently address these endeavors,” Ivey said. “We are, once again, tasked with allocating our taxpayers’ dollars that are part of the second round of the American Rescue Plan Act from Congress.”
“This is not free money,” Ivey warned legislators. “And we must invest these one-time funds wisely. Last year, thanks to you, members of the Alabama Legislature, we put these dollars to work, meeting some of Alabama’s biggest challenges. I commit to the people of Alabama we will once again take a smart approach and put it towards major and needed endeavors like expanding broadband access, improving our water and sewer infrastructure, and investing in our health care – including telemedicine.”
Tuesday was the first day of the 2023 Alabama Regular Legislative Session, but since Ivey has called a special session, the second legislative day of the regular session will not begin until Tuesday, March 21.
The Alabama Constitution of 1901 limits the Legislature to just thirty legislative days in a regular session.
Members worked on Tuesday, introducing their bills for the regular session. At the close of the day on Monday, 98 bills had been pre-filed ahead of the session. By the end of the day on Tuesday, that had grown to 174 bills.
Reed explained to reporters that it takes a minimum of five legislative days for a bill to pass both Houses of the Legislature, so it will take the rest of this legislative week and next week for the ARPA appropriations bill to pass and go to Gov. Ivey for her signature. Once that is done, the special session can end, and the Legislature will be poised to remove the 2023 Alabama Regular Legislative Session.
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