Lawmakers give final approval to Juneteenth holiday
Juneteenth will be an official state holiday under a bill approved by the Legislature on Wednesday.
House Bill 165 by Rep. Rick Rehm, R-Dothan, would make Juneteenth an official state holiday in Alabama. Juneteenth was proclaimed as a state holiday the past four years by Gov. Kay Ivey. The bill makes permanent the holiday commemorating the emancipation of the last remaining slaves in the U.S.
The 34-member Alabama Senate gave final approval to the bill on a 13-5 vote and little discussion.
The holiday commemorates the emancipation of the last remaining slaves in the U.S.
Democrats in the House earlier in the session expressed frustration that a white Republican was successfully carrying the bill they’d sponsored in previous sessions.
Juneteenth has been a federal holiday since 2021. It’s celebrated on June 19.
Rehm’s original bill would have seen state employees have to choose between celebrating Juneteenth or Jefferson Davis Day, but that was removed.
The bill now awaits Gov. Kay Ivey’s signature.
Alabama to ditch national voter system under bill advanced in House
The Alabama House approved a Senate bill Wednesday that would see the state withdraw from the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, a national voter system for the purpose of identifying voter address changes.
The bill is Senate Bill 142, carried in the Senate by Sen. Wes Kitchens, R-Arab, and in the House by Rep. Bryan Brinyark, R-Fayette, and originated from the office of Secretary of State Wes Allen, who made it a campaign pledge to withdraw from ERIC. It would shift the state’s voter rolls to a new system, the Alabama Voter Integrity Database, and would facilitate the removal of individuals from the rolls who have moved out of state.
A substitute to the bill was introduced that would require the secretary of state to produce an annual report on the number of individuals removed from the voter rolls, and to send that report to impacted counties.
The bill ultimately passed with a vote of 82-13 with seven abstentions, and now only requires Senate concurrence before being sent to Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk for final approval.
Age of consent for medical treatment to be raised under House-approved bill
A bill that would increase the age of consent to authorize medical treatment from 14 to 16 advanced in the Alabama House on Wednesday after being substituted and amended, sending it to the Senate for concurrence as its final stop before reaching Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk.
“I’m here to present Senate Bill 101, which raises the age of medical consent in our state from 14 to 16,” said Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, who carried the bill in the House. The Senate version is sponsored by Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia.
“Just to give you a brief background: Since 1972, the age of consent for all medical care in Alabama has been 14; this is mental health, general health and dental health, and it’s the lowest in the nation. Only three states have an age of consent for general health care below 18 years old.”
The bill saw a substitute adopted that made minor changes, including additional protection for health care providers who treat minors under 16 that suspect abuse or neglect, as well as an technical amendment that added clarity to what constitutes mental health services, which was also adopted.
The bill passed in the House with a vote of 85-0 with 18 abstentions, and now heads to the Senate for concurrence.
Alabama lawmakers send bill prohibiting use of foreign national driver’s license for voting to governor
The Alabama House concurred on a bill Wednesday that would explicitly prohibit the use of a foreign national driver’s license for voting purposes, sending the legislation to Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk.
The bill is part of a larger legislative package of bills targeting illegal immigration, filed early on in the 2025 legislative session and designed to complement President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
Sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, and in the House by Rep. Rep. Allen Treadawy, R-Morris, Senate Bill 158 would also require foreign national driver’s licenses to show the holder’s immigration status and expiration date, and would go into effect on June 1 of this year.
“This was the bill that we passed about a week ago that does not allow a foreign national ID to vote,” Treadaway said, introducing the bill on the House floor.
With no discussion, members adopted the bill with a vote of 82-13, and seven abstentions. With no modifications made to the bill in the House, it now awaits final approval from Ivey.