MONTGOMERY, Ala. – After hours of deliberation at the State House Thursday that went well into the next morning, the Alabama Legislature passed more than $11.5 billion in education spending; approximately $8.8 billion for the 2024 education budget, and an unprecedented $2.8 billion in surplus education spending for the current year.
The long-proposed taxpayer rebates were one of the most drastic budget alterations Thursday, which were changed for a fourth time to be $150 for individuals and $300 for couples, down from the proposal earlier in the day of $210 per person. That cut made room for lawmakers to shift extra funding back toward school capital projects, among other things.
The two spending bills have come a long way from the initial proposals from Gov. Kay Ivey in early March.
One of the largest expenditures in the supplemental budget were the proposed one-time rebates to Alabama tax filers. Originally proposed as $400 rebates for individuals and $800 for couples, the Senate had reduced them to $105 per person, only for a House committee to raise them to $210.
On Thursday, the joint conference committee changed them a fourth time, reducing them to $150 per person, or $300 for couples. The change amounts to a $393 million hit to the ETF, down from the $550 million hit incurred from the House committee-passed $210 rebates.
With the extra $157 million saved from reducing the rebates, the joint conference committee allotted those extra funds instead to the Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund – a special education savings account – to the tune of $74.7 million, increasing the total spending to $354 million, up from the House committee-passed $279.3 million
Other increased expenditures were to the K-12 Capital Grant Fund – a program that awards grants to schools for construction projects – to the tune of $75 million, up to $179 million from the House committee-passed $104 million.
Rep. Tracy Estes, R-Winfield, who was the sole no vote on the ETF supplemental budget when it appeared in the House Thursday afternoon, ultimately voted in favor of the bill once it had returned to the House later that evening after being approved by the joint conference committee.
Estes told Alabama Daily News that he stood by his original vote, which he said was due to $103 million from the ETF being spent on prison education, but voted in favor of the bill the second time around to merely approve the reconciliation between the House and Senate versions of the bill.
“Yes, I voted for the supplemental because by that time, I had already expressed my concerns,” Estes told Alabama Daily News.
“My concerns were about taking $100 million out of the ETF to the prisons because right now, I’m fearful that the prisons seem to be turning into a dark whole of money. We were told we could build three (prisons) for $1.2 billion, and I understand inflation is taking its toll some, but not to the point that we’re seeing with these numbers.”
Estes was referring to the price spike announced in March where a prison in Elmore County, originally estimated to cost approximately $623 million, would instead cost $975 million.
When appearing in the Senate, Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, vocalized his support for the reduced rebates in exchange for more funding to the Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund and school capital projects and, saying that “the goal is to push money where the greatest needs are.”
More ETF supplemental budget changes can be viewed below.
Governor’s proposal | Senate passed | House committee passed | Legislature passed | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tax rebates | $967 million | $275 million | $550 million | $393 million |
Dept. of Education, one-time expenses | $604 million | $473 million | $480 million | $480 million |
Dept. of Commerce, one-time expenses | $164.5 million | $111.5 million | $108.5 million | $111.6 million |
Demopolis School of Health Care Sciences | $31 million | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Main Street Program for rural municipalities | $200 million | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Commission on Higher Education | $100,000 | $33.7 million | $46.7 million | $46.7 million |
Alabama Community College System | $252.4 million | $498.7 million | $485.6 million | $486.4 million |
Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund | $0 | $500 million | $279.3 million | $354 million |
K-12 Capital Grant Fund | $0 | $180 million | $104 million | $179 million |
Distressed Higher Education Schools | $0 | $30 million | $30 million | $30 million |
Executive Commission on Community Service Grants | $0 | $23 million | $23 million | $23 million |
The 2024 ETF budget on the other hand, only saw modest changes, mostly related to technical language rephrasing.
A breakdown of the largest 2024 ETF budget changes can be viewed below.
Governor’s proposal | Senate passed | House committee passed | Legislature passed | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dept. of Education | $530.3 million | $534.6 million | $534.7 million | $534.7 million |
Community College System Board of Trustees | $549.3 million | $551.3 million | $551.3 million | $551.3 million |
Commission on Higher Education | $63.3 million | $64.7 million | $64.8 million | $64.8 million |
Historical Commission | $4.2 million | $5.2 million | $5.2 million | $5.2 million |
Dept. of Mental Health | $69.8 million | $76.9 million | $77 million | $77 million |
Dept. of Rehabilitation Services | $52.1 million | $54.7 million | $54.7 million | $54.7 million |
With both the House and Senate approving and concurring on the two education budgets, both bills now make their way to the governor’s office for final approval.
