Alabama House committee approves General Fund budget; chamber vote expected Thursday
An Alabama House committee Tuesday unanimously approved a $3.7 billion General Fund budget for 2026 on Tuesday morning, a $347.9 million (10%) increase over the current year's budget.
The House Ways and Means General Fund Committee's approved budget is about $6 million higher than Gov. Kay Ivey's recommendation. Chairman Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville, said the proposed budget reduced Alabama Medicaid by $5 million and the Alabama Department of Mental Health's allocation by $3.7 million.
Reynolds said the decrease was removing one-time appropriations to those agencies that are no longer needed.
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'Don't read anything into that. They absolutely still need the money,' Reynolds said. 'We just worked with those agencies and we'll spread that allocation out over 2026 and 2027.'
The representative said most of those funds came from COVID appropriations that are going away, but the state would likely increase those agencies' budgets next year.
The Department of Commerce's budget will be cut by $10 million from 2025 to 2026. The committee substitute and Ivey's recommendation cut funding for every line item under the department completely except for the Port of Mobile. That appropriation decreased from $5 million to $3 million.
'We anticipate that to be an annual line item going forward in our General Fund budget,' Reynolds said.
Rep. A.J. McCampbell, D-Linden, brought up the $350,000 difference in the budgets for each of the legislative chambers. The Alabama Senate is set to receive $300,000 for reapportionment litigation expenses.
'I'm just trying to get an understanding why, if the budget starts here, why do they get more?' McCampbell asked.
Reynolds said that it was no different than the 2025 budget. He said the additional $300,000 is for the congressional redistricting trial. He said the funds could be used for paying attorneys or for a potential settlement.
'When they come out of that, we may have to redraw them and there's a big cost associated with that,' Reynolds said in an interview.
HB 186 is expected to receive a vote in the House on Thursday, House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said.
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