Alabama House approves $3.7 billion General Fund budget for 2026
The Alabama House of Representatives approved a $3.7 billion 2026 General Fund budget 95-3 on Thursday morning.
HB 186, sponsored by Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville, is $347 million more than the current budget, about a 10% increase. Black Democrats criticized the budget for cutting appropriations for the Magic City Classic; Birmingham Civil Rights Museum and Jazz Hall of Fame.
Rep. A.J. McCampbell, D-Linden, said the programs were part of diversity, equity and inclusion and needed to be funded.
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'If we don't bring all of the minds, all of the cultures and all of the people together to work on things that affect all of the people, then we develop things in silos,' McCampbell said.
Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, said a senator held a luncheon at the Jazz Hall of fame last week and wondered what happened in a week to the support of the museum in Birmingham.
'A couple of days later, we find out that the small funds that they would be receiving would be cut,' she said.
The programs get a total of $2.2 million (0.06%) in the current budget. Reynolds told Givan that the programs would be funded through a Senate amendment. He said the budget was run through a computer program that cut one-time appropriations and that he would be willing to add funds back in for programs that needed it.
'When members came to me and asked me to reinsert those, we often did,' Reynolds said. 'But nobody had requested that those get put back in there.'
The House version of the budget is about $6 million higher than Gov. Kay Ivey's proposed budget, filed in February.
The chamber also adopted a committee amendment that appropriates money for a statue of Helen Keller on the Alabama State Capitol grounds.
Reynolds also offered a floor amendment that added $425,000 for a Transportation Pilot Program under the Alabama Department of Human Resources. It passed 97-0.
'The $425,000 is for SAFE, Mary Hill Family Services Center and Circle of Care Center for Families,' Reynolds said.
The Alabama Medicaid Agency, which provides health insurance for over 1 million Alabamians, nearly all children, elderly citizens and those with disabilities, will get $1.179 billion from the state, a $223.8 million (19%) increase over this year. Ivey requested $1.184 billion in February, about $5 million than what the House approved.
The Alabama Department of Corrections, which administers the state prisons, will get a $90.1 million increase (11%) to $826.7 million.
The Alabama Department of Human Resources, which provides child and adult protective services, enforces child support payments and administers food and family assistance, will get $148.9 million from the state in 2026, a $4.7 million (3%) increase from the current budget.
The Alabama Department of Mental Health, which provides mental health care services in the state, will get a $4.7 million increase (2%) to $244 million. The Legislature cut the funding from Ivey's recommendation by $3.7 million.
'Sustainability is always my priority when developing the budget—we must make decisions that the state can afford not only now but, in the future, as well,' Reynolds said in a statement. 'While high interest rates are driving revenue growth in state accounts, that will not always be the case, which is why we must continue to approach this process from a fiscally conservative standpoint.'
House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, applauded Reynolds and the committee for their work on the budget.
'Our budgeting process is calculated, transparent, and guided by the principle of not spending every dollar that comes in,' he said in a statement. 'I commend Rep. Reynolds and the members of the House for their work in developing the state's financial plan for 2026 and setting Alabama up for continued success.'
The budget now goes to the Senate.
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