BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Alabama lawmakers are busily bringing back bills for the 2026 legislative session that didn’t make it to the finish line earlier this year. Nearly all of the first batch of education-related pre-filed bills are repeats from past sessions.
Many are focused on ongoing debates over what happens inside public schools, while others take on broader questions of safety, parental rights and health.
Senate Bill 5 – National anthem
Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, is again sponsoring a bill to require all K-12 schools to play the first stanza of the Star-Spangled Banner at least once a week during the school day. This is the seventh time Allen has filed some version of this bill. Last year’s attempt made it the farthest yet, clearing a House committee before stalling in the final days of the session.
Senate Bill 4 – Religious instruction release time
Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, has pre-filed Senate Bill 4 that would require all public school districts to adopt a policy allowing students to leave campus during the school day for religious instruction.
Known as “religious instruction release time,” or RIRT, the bill mirrors Shelnutt’s 2025 proposal, which passed the Senate but stalled in the House. Shelnutt filed this year’s version just a week after the 2025 session ended, signaling it remains a priority.
Senate Bill 3 – Sex education curriculum
Shelnutt also pre-filed Senate Bill 3, which requires public schools’ sex education curriculum to prioritize abstinence and “sexual risk avoidance” as the best way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. It, too, is a repeat from the 2025 session, where it stalled on the Senate floor.
House Bill 7 – Terrorist threats
Sen. Matt Woods, R-Jasper, filed House Bill 7 while still a member of the House of Representatives, which looks to comprehensively address terrorist threats, defining what a threat is and spelling out consequences. The bill also increases criminal penalties and sets specific requirements for how schools respond when threats are made against K-12 campuses.
Woods filed a similar bill last year, as did Rep. Alan Baker, R-Brewton. Baker has signed on as a co-sponsor this year. The proposal would require principals to immediately notify law enforcement when a threat is made.
Students charged would be automatically suspended for at least one year or until charges are dismissed. A conviction would require expulsion, with parents responsible for restitution to law enforcement and others who incurred costs related to the crime.
Woods pre-filed the bill before he won in late June a special Senate election. He can file the same bill in the Senate.
House Bill 8 – Volunteer chaplains
Rep. Mark Gidley, R-Hokes Bluff, has filed House Bill 8, which would give K-12 schools the option to allow a volunteer chaplain access to teachers when requested. The bill sets conditions for chaplain credentials and limits their access to teachers rather than students.
Gidley sponsored a similar bill last year that passed the House on a 91-to-4 vote but stalled in the Senate in the final days of the session.
House Bill 21 – Parental leave for school events
Rep. Patrick Sellers, D-Birmingham, has for a second year filed a bill to allow parents to take leave from work to attend school events. House Bill 21, called the Parental Right to Participate in Schools Act, would give parents up to 48 hours of leave annually. Employers who fail to post required notices could be fined $100 for each day the notice remains unposted. Last year’s bill did not make it to a vote in a House committee.
House Bill 23 – Gender identity and pronouns
Rep. Mack Butler, R-Gadsden, has, for the fourth year in a row, filed a bill to expand the state’s ban on classroom discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation – sometimes dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law – to include all grades, preK through 12. The current law, passed in 2022, applies only to kindergarten through 5th grade.
House Bill 23 would also prohibit public school teachers from displaying flags or other insignia related to those topics on school property. Another provision prohibits teachers from using pronouns other than those consistent with a student’s sex at birth.
In each of the past two sessions, Butler’s expansion bill has made it to the Senate floor but did not get a vote.
House Bill 24 – Vaccine and medical testing exemptions
Butler also filed House Bill 24, another repeat measure, which would allow students to be exempted from vaccine and testing requirements based solely on a parent’s written statement that vaccinations or medical testing conflict with the parent’s religious beliefs. No additional documentation would be required.
The bill also extends to public colleges and universities, requiring them to allow students to be exempt from vaccine or testing requirements for religious or medical reasons.
House Bill 33 – Driver’s license requirements
House Bill 33, sponsored by Rep. Ron Bolton, R-Northport, is the only new bill so far among the pre-filed education-related measures. It would remove the requirement, in place since 1993, that students under age 19 must present proof they are enrolled in school to apply for or renew a driver’s license or learner permit.
Under current law, students who drop out of school or accumulate disciplinary points can lose their licenses. The bill would eliminate that connection between school status and driver’s licenses.
The 2026 legislative session starts in January and more education-related bills will be filed before and during the 15-week stretch.