Alabama House passes package of bills on board appointments, emergency-rule oversight, tax exemptions and health forms
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Summary
The Alabama House on Feb. 10 passed a broad slate of bills, including measures allowing removal of inactive appointees, requiring gubernatorial sign-off on emergency rules, exempting a portion of National Guard drill pay from state income tax, and allowing certain nurse practitioners and physician assistants to sign K–12 athletic physicals.
The Alabama House convened Feb. 10 and approved a series of bills affecting government appointments, administrative rulemaking, tax policy and school health forms, concluding the day’s work with the House standing adjourned to Feb. 12.
The chamber approved legislation (HB 220) that clarifies removal authority for appointing officials. The Pro Tem said the bill “allows the speaker and the pro tem, the governor to remove people from their appointed positions who aren't doing their job,” and the House adopted a committee substitute and a floor amendment before passing the measure as amended. Members asked whether minority-leader appointments would be affected; the sponsor said the minority’s recommendations still flow through the speaker’s office and that reappointment procedures would follow existing processes.
Lawmakers also passed HB 136, aimed at administrative oversight of emergency rules and contracts. Sponsors said the bill requires agencies and licensure boards to notify and obtain a letter of approval from the governor before self-declaring an emergency that would allow them to bypass usual rulemaking or contracting processes. Proponents described the measure as a stopgap to prevent repeated “self-declared” emergencies that have been used to avoid competitive bidding or public notice; legislators asked about how the governor’s office would handle time-sensitive requests and were told the process would be a short letter rather than a long delay.
On tax policy, the chamber passed HB 341, part of the Military Stability Commission package, to exempt the first $5,000 of drill pay earned by Alabama National Guard members from state income tax beginning in tax year 2027. The sponsor said the change benefits traditional guardsmen who drill intermittently and includes technical code updates.
Health and school-policy changes included HB 276, which deems endorsements on K–12 athletic physicals signed by certified nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and licensed physician assistants as equivalent to a physician’s signature when acting within existing authority and supervisory requirements. Sponsors emphasized the bill was a signature-equivalency clarification, not an expansion of clinical scope.
Other measures approved included tax-credit rules for farmer donations to food banks (HB 175, with a statewide cap and per-farmer caps set in the substitute), revisions to pretrial detention procedures and recording for Anaya’s Law hearings (HB 228, substituting a 10‑day window in some circumstances and clarifying recording and appeal routes), updates to the habitual-offender statute (HB 226), a lifetime hunting and fishing license for the permanently disabled (HB 271), and a tourism-investment housekeeping bill (HB 359). Several local bills concerning Randolph County (HB 366–369) and others on homestead exemptions (HB 155) and specialty license plates (HB 107) also passed.
Votes at a glance (selected items): - HB 220 (multi-member boards — final passage as amended): adopted after committee substitute and floor amendment (final recorded vote announced as passed; recorded tally: 82 ayes, 3 nays reported on the floor vote announcement). - HB 136 (emergency-rule oversight): passed (recorded vote announced on the floor; totals recorded during proceedings consistent with passage). - HB 341 (National Guard drill-pay exemption): final passage recorded as 100 ayes, 0 nays. - HB 359 (Alabama Tourism Investment Act): final passage recorded as 99 ayes, 5 nays. - HB 155 (homestead exemption substitute and final passage): adopted and passed (recorded vote totals announced during proceedings). - HB 276 (signature equivalency for K–12 athletic physicals): passed as substituted; the committee substitute was adopted by recorded vote (reported outcomes announced on the floor). - HB 175 (farmer food-donation tax credit): substitute and floor amendment adopted; final passage recorded and announced on the floor. - HB 228 (Anaya’s Law revisions): committee substitute adopted and final passage recorded and announced on the floor.
The House also adopted ceremonial resolutions, including recognition of Alpha Phi Alpha Day at the Capitol and a House joint resolution supporting establishment of a state veterans cemetery in North Alabama. The chamber recognized guests including Pleasant Grove Elementary students and the CSG South staff, and the Pro Tem announced upcoming caucus breakfasts and receptions.
The House adjourned after the final bills were disposed, leaving the journal open for clerical matters and noting reconvening on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 9 a.m.
Provenance and key evidence spans for the above reporting are drawn from the House proceeding transcript for Feb. 10, 2026 (see timeline entries for topic start/finish segments). Direct quotes in this report are attributed to roles or named legislators as they appear in the transcript (for example, the Pro Tem and named representatives).
