Senate Bill 174, sponsored by Sen. Clyde Chambliss (R-Prattville), unanimously passed committee last week and is poised for a floor vote after a friendly amendment clarifying some of its language was added.

A REALTOR®-priority bill, this legislation would require local governments to report business license schedules to the Alabama Department of Revenue, providing a one-stop-shop for owners to determine how much cumulative tax they owe. In an effort to ease costs for license taxes charged, the bill would also allow taxpayers to appeal business license charges to the Alabama Tax Tribunal in Montgomery. Another aim of the bill is to cut down on mass collection letters from third party collection firms on business license taxes by creating a cause of action against firms for sending collection letters when they knew or should have known the charges are not lawfully due.

A broad coalition of business groups are supportive of SB 174. AAR's Public Policy Team and the National Federation of Independent Businesses spoke in favor of its passage during a public hearing.

Reported on last week, HB 280 dealing with public nuisances passed out of the House with a REALTOR® amendment. The bill is intended to deter the occurrence of un-permitted house parties that attract hundreds of ticket-buying attendees and, as amended, would allow public institutions of higher education, like the University of Alabama, and cities to recoup costs for shutting down and cleaning up after these unpermitted events. AAR and other interested groups worked with the sponsor to strike counties from the bill and provide protections for property and business owners, landlords, and property managers who are not involved in the nuisance events.

Senate Bill 199 and House Bill 327 are companion bills that provide paid parental leave to state employees and public educators. Specifically, those bills would give eight weeks of fully paid leave to female employees and two weeks to male employees after the birth, stillbirth, or miscarriage of a child. Leave is provided for adoptive parents as well.

Another bill, HB 326, was filed last week and is one to watch. The bill would mandate private sector employees receive 48 hours of annual leave to attend school-related activities. The bill has raised concerns among the business community. 

Pushed by the Alabama Homebuilders Association, HB 335would allow local governments to adopt and add a fee of up to $20 on every permit associated with residential construction or renovation. The fee would go to the Alabama Construction Trade Academy Fund and support the training of skilled labor for the homebuilding industry. Sponsored by Rep. Andy Whitt (R-Ardmore), the bill passed out of the House Economic Development and Tourism committee, which Rep. Whitt chairs.

A variety of bills or issues advanced last week, including:

1. Cell Phone Bans in Schools – Companion bills, HB 166 and SB 92, would mandate that K-12 students store cell phones in lockers, vehicles, or designated areas during school hours. Both bills passed out of committee last week. If the bill passes, the restriction would take effect for the 2025-2026 school year. 
2. Public Safety Bills Advance – Two bills in the governor’s public safety package advanced. SB 116 passed the Senate unanimously and would prohibit so-called “Glock switches” or devices that allow firearms to fire at high rates comparable to machine guns. The devices are illegal by federal law. Also, HB 202, which would expand law enforcement immunity for official actions, passed out of the House Judiciary committee after much debate.  
3. Occupational Licensing Reform – A bill consolidating the functions of between ten and twenty small occupational licensing bodies passed through a Senate committee. The bill is intended to streamline the administrative functions of these small bodies, increasing efficiencies and decreasing costs spent hiring private contractors to run these bodies. The bill does not affect larger occupational licensing bodies.

The Legislature will meet for three days this week before adjourning for the first of two spring breaks, which lawmakers refer to as “district work weeks.” From a legislative standpoint, we anticipate several REALTOR®-priority bills to be in the mix, so look for social media posts or an email update!

Both Republicans and Democrats are promoting government efficiency this week. The Democrats announced two bills — the DOGE Act and the Government Efficiency Commission Act — to place reviews on government programs and operations. Republican leadership touted the Alabama Commission on the Evaluation of Services, ACES, created in 2019, as the entity that will assess the effectiveness of programs and services and make recommendations on how the state can better operate.