ALABAM LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

The following bills were introduced in the House and are being tracked:

• HB515

• Relating to the state tax deduction granted to taxpayers for contributions made to a catastrophe savings account; to provide an increase in the state tax deduction awarded to taxpayers who made contributions to a catastrophe savings account; and to make technical corrections to remove ambiguities.

• HB526

• To amend Section 16‐25‐1, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to the Teachers' Retirement System of Alabama; to prohibit future employees and officers of the Alabama Education Association from participating in the system.

• HB532

• To amend Section 40‐18‐140, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to income tax refund check‐offs; to provide an income tax refund check‐off for a contribution to the Children First Trust Fund.

• HB541

• To provide an income tax credit for hiring students enrolled in a public high school who live within a 20‐mile radius of the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail, which crosses Dallas, Lowndes, and Montgomery County, under the age of 19 during school breaks, after school, or on weekends.

The following bills were introduced in the Senate and are being tracked:

• SB395

• Relating to schools; to authorize local boards of education to set policies providing for the transportation of students to and from extracurricular activities by modes of transportation other than bus.

The following bills received a favorable report from respective committees:

• HB5

• Flexible School Calendar Act, amendment that the 2013-2014 temporary calendar parameters be removed, local board of education may provide for 1080 instructional hours.

• HB23

• Education, public elementary school, instruction in handwriting, cursive writing by end of third grade year, Sec. 16-6B-2 am'd.

• HB434

• Relating to county superintendents of education; to require all county superintendents to be appointed by the county board of education, except as otherwise provided by the Constitution of Alabama of 1901.

• HB464

• Relating to the election of county superintendents of education; to exclude qualified electors of the county who reside within the corporate limits of any area of the county that has a separate city board of education and city superintendent of education from voting for the position of county superintendent of education.

• SB187

• Relating to school principals; to authorize public school systems to hire assistant principals through performance‐based contracts in a manner similar to principals.

• SB331

• Relating to education; to establish a pilot program for the operation of internal public charter schools; to provide for the extension of the program by the Legislature; to require internal public charter schools to report annually to the State Department of Education; to require the Alabama Public Charter School Commission to annually report to the Legislature and the Governor; and to provide rulemaking authority.

• SB383

• Relating to the purchase of school textbooks; to establish qualified depositories for textbooks, which would be facilities that receive textbook orders from boards of education, store sufficient quantities of textbooks, and distribute textbooks to local school systems; to prohibit a qualified depository for textbooks from charging a board of education for its services,but would authorize it to charge a publisher a fee for its services; to prohibit the price of any textbook to exceed the costs already prescribed by law; and to clarify that textbooks include digital textbooks for the purposes of public school textbook purchasing.

The following bill passed the House and now goes to the Senate:

• HB21

• Schools, enrollment date, age 6, before beginning of second semester of enrolling school district, Sec. 16-28-4 am'd.

The following bill is pending the Governor's Signature:

• SB72

• Relating to public K‐12 education; to require, at a minimum, each local board of education to adopt a policy for providing a virtual school option for eligible students in grades nine to 12, inclusive.

Adjourn/Convene Report

Senate

Adjourned: Thursday, April 23, 2015; 4:30 p.m.

Convene: Tuesday, April 28, 2015; 10:00 a.m.

House

Adjourned: Thursday, April 23, 2015; 4:11 p.m.

Convene: Tuesday, April 28, 2015; 1:00 p.m.