NWRA State Update: Alabama Chapter Legislative Activity
Last week, the Alabama legislature held another two-day workweek, marking the halfway point in the 2021 regular legislative session. The House opened by adopting a large Special Order Calendar on Tuesday but failed to complete the calendar as it contained several controversial bills regarding voting and election law. The extended debate took legislators well into the night before finally adjourning with 19 bills left on the calendar.
The Alabama state legislature has met 16 of its 30 allotted calendar days. The legislature will take this week off for spring break. The House will reconvene on Tuesday, March 30 at 1 p.m. CT, and the Senate will reconvene on Tuesday, March 30 at 2 p.m. CT. To date, there have been 563 bills filed in the House and 351 bills filed in the Senate. Though it was rumored at the beginning of the legislative session that the session may be cut short in light of the pandemic, that is no longer the sentiment and both bodies are expected to use the allotted 30 legislative days.
Bills of focus have been related to the COVID-19 Recovery Capital Credit Protection Act of 2021. House Bill 211 sponsored by Rep. Kyle South (R-Fayette) and its companion bill, Senate Bill 274 sponsored by Sen. Bobby Singleton (D-Greene), passed through committees on March 16 and establish the COVID-19 Recovery Capital Credit Protection Act of 2021. The bills provide an extension to the employment and wage requirements for a qualifying project placed into service during 2019, 2020 and 2021. The amendment states that for taxable years 2020 and 2021, any amount received as unemployment compensation as a result of the Federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Securities Act shall be exempt from state, county or municipal income tax.
