MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Legislature on Tuesday made a number of modest changes to the 2025 general fund and education budget as it passed through committee, including an additional $75.3 million in general fund spending.
The changes include redirecting funds in the education spending bill (both the 2025 budget and the 2024 supplemental spending plan) to funding summer lunch programs for low-income children and workers' compensation for teachers. It also includes.
On Tuesday morning, members of the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee, chaired by Rep. Rex Reynolds (R-Hazel Greene), first began their discussion. Senate Bill 67a General Fund budget that runs through 2025. passed the senate 3.32 billion dollars.
Reynolds introduced an alternative version of the bill that would mean an increase of about $37 million across a number of state agencies.
“We used the additional revenue to increase the governor's budget,” Reynolds explained to committee members. “The governor's budget is a good, healthy budget, and it's certainly important to fund the agencies first, and we've tried to get them back on track.”
The Senate had previously made some cuts to Ivey's proposal.
Reynolds later told the Alabama Daily News that these increases were made possible thanks to what he said would be a 16.6% increase in state revenue in 2023, largely due to the state's easy sales. He said the revenue comes from personal use taxes and interest on state deposits.
“We knew (revenues) would go up because interest rates were going up,” Reynolds told ADN. “We didn't know how much the revenue would rise or how long the increase would last, so we're recognizing additional revenue all the way through September.”
Committee members also took up Senate Bill 66this year's General Fund Amendment Bill, passed the senate $215.4 million. An alternative version of the bill was submitted that included some modest increases.
“The only deduction from the Senate version was a transfer of $500,000 to the Senate. Dovetail Landing Veterans Program,” Reynolds said.
There was no discussion, and committee members voted in favor of adopting the alternative and the bill itself as an alternative.
Asked by ADN if he expected a backlash to the change, Reynolds said he had reason to believe his fellow lawmakers would approve the increase.
“The last five or six days, I've been in daily contact with Chairman (Greg) Albritton. I think we're in a good position,” he said. “The governor's budget was not suspended. We just authorized additional funding to retroactively restore what was primarily in the governor's budget.”
Later Tuesday, members of the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee took up two education spending bills. 2025 ETF budgetand the ETF additional budget For the current financial year.
Both budgets were replaced, and while neither saw any change in the total amount, some dollars were moved.
Regarding the 2025 ETF budget, committee chairman Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) summarized several differences.
“I would like to point out a few highlights of the budget here. One is at the request of this committee to install (automated external defibrillators) in schools, which includes 500 You can see that $1,000 has been allocated,” Orr said.
“We also added $14.9 million to workers' compensation for educators. (And) I know Sen. (Vivian) Figiaz has been a big advocate on the summer lunch program.” It's here. , $10 million. ”
“Praise the Lord!” shouted Sen. Figures, D-Mobile, who was a strong advocate for funding the summer school lunch program.
“Mr. Chairman, that's what I'm talking about!” quipped Sen. Roger Smitherman (D-Birmingham), another strong supporter of the program.
The additional funding was made possible by drawing down $40.5 million from a foundation program that funds basic K-12 education resources, including staffing.
Although the cuts are significant, Alabama House of Representatives members passed a 2025 ETF budget that includes: $200 million increase to programThis means the program will continue to see an increase of $159.5 million this year.
Regarding this year's ETF supplemental budget, the proposed alternatives include only modest changes, such as an $8 million reduction for the Department of Education's local school boards and a $2.5 million increase for capital projects. .
One item that remained unchanged in the ETF supplemental budget when compared to what was passed by the House of Representatives was the $5 million for the Department of Education. struggling reader programthe department was seeking $22 million.
The ETF supplementary budget ultimately passed the committee as an alternative.
Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, later told ADN that he would work to get the $5 million for the struggling readers program as close as possible to the $22 million the department requested.
Regarding funding for that program, Orr later told ADN that funding was not the main issue in refusing to comply with the Department of Education's requests.
“My understanding is that with the current system, it's very difficult to even find enough educators to hire to help kids in fourth and fifth grade who are struggling to read. So this is more of a talent issue than a money issue,” Orr said. ADN.
The general fund and education budgets are scheduled to be introduced in the House and Senate, respectively, on Thursday.
