Alabama State House. Courtesy of Pixabay. By Kendall Ledlow, News Editor
The Alabama State Legislature met from Feb. 24 to Feb. 26, where the House of Representatives and the Senate held committee meetings and floor hearings to progress a myriad of bills. Here is a summary of some of the standout bills passed in either chamber during the seventh week of the 2026 regular session.
HB2, sponsored by Rep. David Standridge, will require all state and local entities, as well as their employees, to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” to comply withPresident Donald Trump’s executive order. The bill passed 74-30 and will advance to the Senate.
HB78, or the Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act sponsored by Rep. Jeana Ross, will impose a screen time limit for children below the age of five in public school classrooms. The bill cites research concluding that excess exposure to screens in young children delays critical skills like communication, problem solving and social interaction. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and goes to Governor Kay Ivey’s desk.
HB98, sponsored by Rep. Allen Treadaway, establishes the Alabama Law Enforcement Officers’ Family Scholarship Program, offering financial aid to children and spouses of law enforcement officers who were disabled or killed in the line of duty. The bill passed unanimously in the House and will advance to the Senate.
HB 360, sponsored by Rep. Chris Sells, will create an annual Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday during the last weekend of August. Ammunition, firearms and hunting supplies would all be tax exempt during this holiday. The exemption will only apply if a county or municipality that opts into it. The bill passed 73-29 in the House and will advance to the Senate.
HB363, sponsored by Rep. Greg Barnes, was voted on in the House of Representatives. This bill aims to make disrupting any scheduled worship service a class C felony. In Alabama, A class C felony is a crime punishable by one to 10 years in prison and $15,000 in fines. The bill defines disruption as engaging in a riot, disorderly conduct or the harassment of any participant in the service. The bill ultimately passed 75-27 and will advance to the Senate.
SB168, sponsored by Senator Donnie Chesteen, would ban the teaching of the three-cueing system in public schools. Three-cueing is a controversial method, alternative to phonics, used when teaching children how to read. It suggests that when a student encounters a written word they don’t know, they should use context clues to guess what the word is instead of sounding it out. The bill passed unanimously in the House and goes to Governor Kay Ivey’s desk.
SB200, sponsored by Senator Rodger Smitherman, will rename the Alabama Office of Minority Affairs to the Alabama Office of Civic Engagement. Last August, Senator Chris Elliott claimed that the Trump Administration expressed concerns over the office’s name. There is no change to the office’s operations. The bill passed 98-1 in the House and goes to Governor Kay Ivey’s desk.
SB230, sponsored by Senator Sam Givhan, would allow political candidates in Alabama to use campaign funds to cover reasonable security expenses that protect themselves, their immediate family or their staff. This bill was proposed in response to increased political violence and threats across the country. It passed the House unanimously with changes that the Senate also approved unanimously. The bill goes to Governor Kay Ivey’s desk.
To monitor any other bills that were passed this week or have yet to be voted on, visit alison.legislature.state.al.us.
