Legislative Summary

As the Alabama Legislature settled into its third week, there was a full day of committee meetings on Wednesday, followed by session, resulting in another three-day week. Lots of bills began the journey of debate and review this week as even more legislation was introduced. There have now been 227 bills introduced in the House of Representatives and 154 in the Senate.

Sunset legislation involving various licensing boards were introduced this week, as well as changes to child labor laws, boating regulations, and expungement of certain youthful offender misdemeanors. There was also an Alabama Law Institute bill making revisions to the Alabama Business and Nonprofit Entity Code. New legislation was also filed in the House of Representatives proposing comprehensive ethics reform that will be heard in committee next week.

There were full slates of committee meetings with numerous bills receiving review and discussion. Senate Judiciary met for the first time, and bills involving false reporting and the commencement of actions relating to sex offenses against a minor were debated.

In the House Judiciary committee, we saw legislation involving new regulations on vaping, a prohibition of converting certain firearms to machine guns, and new penalties for false reporting. There were also bills involving the prohibition of pornographic AI images without consent and raising the age for obscene materials. A bill involving split sentences and a consumer protection bill relating to the online distribution of material harmful to minors also were debated in committee.

As always, the Alabama State Bar encourages all members to be aware of legislation that may impact court costs and fees. Access to justice is a priority. Please be aware of advertisements that may be occurring for local bills and those that may already be filed to use the courts as a fundraiser for non-court entities. We encourage you to be informed and notify us as well.

LEGISLATIVE TRACKING

The Alabama State Bar provides legislative status reports concerning pending legislation that may be of interest to our members, with direct links to the actual legislation. The reports divide legislation into the following categories for your convenience: civil/general, court costs, criminal, domestic relations, elections ethics and government relations (EEGR), tax, and judicial.

You can find our comprehensive updated bill-tracking spreadsheet here.

LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR

The 2024 regular session of the Alabama Legislature will continue as follows:

• The Senate has adjourned until Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 2:00 p.m.
• The House has adjourned until Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 1:00 p.m.