Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the State Legislation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate passes board-training, competitive-bidding and adoption-code bills; adopts several resolutions
Summary
The Alabama Senate passed three bills affecting boards and commissions training, competitive bidding procedures and technical updates to the adoption code, and adopted multiple commemorative and mourning resolutions during the same legislative day.
The Alabama Senate during its legislative day passed three bills that the chamber’s sponsors said will require training for board members, streamline competitive bidding and tidy the state adoption code, and adopted several ceremonial resolutions.
The bills passed on voice or recorded votes after brief floor explanations from sponsors. Senators approved an amendment to the board-training bill to exclude cabinet members and statewide elected officials from the training requirement.
Senate Bill 39, sponsored by Senator Kelly, requires members of boards and commissions that come before the sunset committee to receive training from the state auditor’s department. Senators adopted an amendment that clarified the bill’s scope to exclude cabinet members and statewide elected officials and then passed the bill as amended. Senate Bill 36, sponsored by Senator Kitchens, was described as a carryover from last year that streamlines vendor disclosure and the competitive-bid process. Senate Bill 94, sponsored by Senator Orr and submitted by the Alabama Law Institute, was presented as a cleanup bill addressing several minor items in the state adoption code.
Votes at a glance: - Senate Bill 39 (Kelly) — training for boards and commissions; amendment adopted to exclude cabinet members and statewide elected officials (amendment adopted 31 ayes, 0 nays); final passage as amended 31 ayes, 0 nays. - Senate Bill 36 (Kitchens) — streamlines vendor disclosure and competitive bidding; final passage 32 ayes, 0 nays. - Senate Bill 94 (Orr) — technical cleanup to adoption code from the Alabama Law Institute; final passage 32 ayes, 0 nays.
Procedural action: The rules committee special-order calendar that set the three bills as priority business was adopted earlier in the day (28 ayes, 0 nays).
The Senate also adopted several resolutions by unanimous consent or voice vote, including a resolution honoring Judge Carol Smitherman on her retirement, a joint resolution mourning and celebrating the life of Tammy Teague, a resolution honoring Lieutenant Colonel Harry Thaddeus Stewart Jr. of the Tuskegee Airmen, and a joint resolution mourning William Raines “Bill” Battle III. Sponsors read those resolutions on the floor and senators added their names as co-sponsors in several cases.
What happened on the floor: Sponsors gave brief floor explanations of each bill; the SB39 sponsor described the training as coming from the state auditor’s office and said the amendment was intended to correct an overbroad scope that would have included some elected officials. SB36’s sponsor said the measure mirrors a bill from the prior session to streamline disclosure and bidding. SB94’s sponsor said the bill implements small, noncontroversial cleanups following a major 2023 overhaul of the adoption code. No floor debate opposing the bills was recorded in the transcript and votes were unanimous where counts were recorded.
Background and next steps: The bills will proceed according to legislative process (committee and engrossment steps already completed on this legislative day as recorded). The resolutions are ceremonial and were adopted with unanimous consent or voice vote.
