MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The House passed 24 bills Thursday to end the second week of the 2026 legislative session.
Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said the House has had a “very good” and productive start to session.
“The work in the body has been tremendous,” Ledbetter said Thursday. “…I think today was one of those days where we’ve moved very well. I applaud our members for the work that they’ve done in being prepared when they come in the chamber. It’s pretty evident when you see what happens on days like today.”
The House is planning to reconvene on Tuesday afternoon if weather conditions are safe for travel.
Here’s what passed Thursday.
App store age verification bill
House Bill 161, which requires app stores to verify a user’s age and link parent accounts for minors, passed by a vote of 103-0.
The bill would sort children into age categories when they make an account on app stores. If users are under age, guardians would have to set up a linked account to approve the minor to download apps and make in-app purchases. If developers make major changes to apps, parents would also have to reauthorize their children’s usage of them.
“(House Bill) 161 is about protecting children online and putting parents back in control,” sponsor Rep. Chris Sells, R-Greenville, said. “App stores are a gateway to what our children see online.”
It also stops app stores from being able to enforce contracts or terms of service agreements against minors without their parents’ permission.
Rep. Prince Chestnut, D-Valley Grande, introduced an amendment on the floor to specify that in-app purchases are different from other purchases, like buying food from a restaurant’s app. The amendment also clarifies how app stores can exercise reasonable care when verifying a user’s age. The amendment was approved.
The bill now heads to the Senate.
Repeal of Smith Lake annexation
Representatives gave final approval to a bill repealing a 2025 law allowing the annexation of land around Smith Lake in Cullman County.
That bill – sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger – was passed into law last session and opened the door to a major resort development on the lake. The effort to repeal the bill in the House was carried by Rep. Cindy Myrex, R-Cullman.
Opposition to the project, which included golf courses, housing, restaurants and hotels, was a major issue in the House District 12 special election that Myrex won last year. A realtor for 19 years in Cullman County and Smith Lake, Myrex told ADN recently that she and her colleagues could have profited from the development. Though she supports economic development, Myrex said not over the widespread pushback of the community.
“After receiving many questions and complaints from the constituents back home, Senator Gudger and I decided to discuss these concerns with our constituents and between ourselves and decided that we needed to repeal this legislation,” Myrex said when introducing the repeal on the floor.
Gudger also sponsored the repeal bill that passed the Senate last week.
Democrats grilled Myrex about why the bill was being repealed for around 45 minutes. They questioned why the community had changed its mind so quickly, but Myrex repeatedly said people in the area never supported the bill in the first place. She said she has never supported the bill, even before she took office.
The repeal passed with a vote of 98-0.