House Ways and Means Education advances $9.9 billion education budget, funds career-tech centers and RAISE Act transfers

The Alabama House Ways and Means Education committee on Tuesday gave favorable reports to a package of education spending bills, advancing a $9.9 billion Education Trust Fund budget, a $524 million supplemental appropriation and related measures that shift and add funding for school choice, student-weighted funding and regional career-technical centers.

Committee members said the 2026 education budget reflects a constrained growth cap while absorbing new costs for state employee and teacher workers’ compensation, parental leave and other mandated increases. The package includes a $100 million grant program for regional career-technical centers in the A and T fund, a $58 million transfer into the RAISE fund from existing student-needs allocations and a $375 million draw from the education reserve fund to seed the RAISE fund for three years.

Why it matters: The package reconfigures where recurring education dollars are held and directs large, one-time and multi-year reserve transfers to new programs. That includes the RAISE Act (Renewing Alabama Investment in Student Excellence Act), which moves student-weighted funding into a separate fund, and the Choose Act (education savings accounts), where the committee set aside contingency money to meet unexpectedly high demand in the program’s first year.

Key outcomes and funding moves - Education Trust Fund (ETF): The committee advanced the main appropriations bill reflecting a $560 million, roughly 6 percent, increase in the education budget to about $9.9 billion compared with last year. - Supplemental appropriation: The committee approved a supplemental package totaling approximately $524 million in cash for varied education priorities and earmarks, with line-item adjustments for schools, arts organizations and local projects. - RAISE fund: The committee moved legislation that enables a $375 million transfer from the education reserve fund into the RAISE fund to support student-weighted funding over the next three years. - Choose Act (education savings accounts): The committee approved transferring up to $80 million from the reserve fund to the Choose fund on a contingent basis to meet high applicant demand. The Choose program’s initial appropriation was $100 million; committee members said final needs may be verified by the Department of Revenue and could end up near $100 million or be modestly higher but any unused money will revert to the reserve fund. - Regional career-technical centers: The advancement-in-technology/A and T appropriation includes a $100 million grant program to support regional career-technical centers; grants require proposals from at least two education entities and will use a sliding-scale local match up to 50 percent, with individual grants capped (committee discussion noted a $20 million cap in the bill language).

Discussion highlights and clarifications - Demand for Choose Act funds: Committee members described far higher application volume than projected — the transcript cited applications rising to roughly 36,000 — and approved the $80 million contingency to avoid turning away eligible applicants before May 1, when final revenue estimates would be available. Committee members repeatedly said any funds not needed would revert to the reserve fund. - Budget pressure points: Members identified several non-discretionary cost drivers that reduced the amount available to appropriate elsewhere, including $99 million for PHIP increases, roughly $60 million for workers’ compensation changes, parental leave costs (about $10 million) and other previously passed obligations. - Program restorations and earmarks: The supplemental moved funds for a number of one-time and recurring items the committee and members requested — examples cited in committee discussion included grants for community service projects, school repairs in Selma, arts and film camps, and line items for the Alabama School of Deaf and Blind and other institutions. - Principal stipend eligibility: Committee members discussed clarifying language in a separate bill to limit an additional “hard-to-staff” stipend so it targets a smaller set of schools next year; they noted the earlier federal definition change had made a far larger share of schools eligible than originally intended.

Votes at a glance - Senate Bill 113 (supplemental appropriation, Senator Orr): Substitute adopted; bill given a favorable report as substituted (motion by Representative Collins; second by Representative Baker). Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 114 (advancement in technology / A and T appropriations, Senator Gore): Amendment adopted to add several Senate earmarks and one House request; bill as amended given a favorable report. Outcome: approved. - Bill 305 (RAISE Act, Senator Moore): Substitute adopted; committee gave favorable report. Outcome: approved. The bill establishes the Renewing Alabama Investment in Student Excellence (RAISE) Act and moves student-weighted funding into the RAISE fund. - Senate Bill 111 (Senator Ward): Substitute adopted to authorize transfers (including the $375 million reserve-to-RAISE transfer and the contingent $80 million reserve-to-Choose transfer); bill given a favorable report. Outcome: approved. - House Bill 600 (Representative Almond): Amendment adopted to add the School of Healthcare Sciences Foundation to the list of statutorily exempt residential specialty schools; bill given a favorable report as amended. Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 112 (main appropriations, Senator Orla): Substitute adopted; bill given a favorable report as substitute (advanced the FY2026 education appropriation totaling about $9.9 billion). Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 150 (Senator Bell) — Talladega College appropriation: advanced with favorable report; amount specified in committee: $1,326,157. Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 109 (Senator Beasley) — Tuskegee University appropriation: advanced with favorable report; amount specified: $15,816,000, including $2,000,000 for agricultural research/extension. Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 122 (Senator Hoey) — Southern Preparatory Academy appropriation (formerly Lyman Ward): advanced with favorable report; amount specified: $450,000. Outcome: approved.

What the committee did not decide - The committee set contingency allocations and transfers but repeatedly emphasized that final Choose Act totals will depend on May 1 revenue and application verification by the Department of Revenue. Members emphasized that unused contingency funds will revert to the education reserve fund.

Next steps and implementation notes - The bills advanced by the committee were given favorable reports and will proceed to the House floor and other committee stages as required. Several items (for example, final Choose Act allocations and implementation details for the RAISE fund) depend on Department of Revenue estimates and agency rulemaking or guidance.

Ending note: Committee members closed by thanking staff and colleagues for the work on a complex package; the committee chair adjourned the meeting after the final votes.