SB7 Alabama 2014 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Dick Brewbaker

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2014

Title

Boards of Education, city and county, unfunded mandates by legislative act, supermajority vote required to enact, exception for local boards of education deleted from Amendment 621, Amendment 621, (Section 111.05 of Recompiled Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended), am'd., const. amend.

Summary

SB7 would amend Amendment 621 to require local approval or funding before state-imposed expenditures affect municipalities, counties, or their boards of education, removing the local board of education exemption.

What This Bill Does

If passed, the amendment would prevent any general law or state executive order that requires new or increased expenditures from taking effect for a municipality, county, or their instrumentalities (including boards of education) unless the local governing body approves it with an ordinance or resolution or the Legislature provides funds or a local revenue source. It would apply to city and county boards of education as well. Some exemptions would still apply, such as local laws, certain criminal-definition acts, pre-1999 acts, federal-m mandate provisions, two-thirds legislative actions, acts with small fiscal impact, and specific personnel-related provisions for public officials and board of education employees. The change would be decided by voters in a constitutional amendment referendum.

Who It Affects

• Municipal governments (cities) and county governments and their instrumentalities, which would require local approval or funding before new state-mandated expenditures could take effect.
• City/county boards of education (including related state education institutions) that would no longer be automatically exempt from unfunded mandates and would be subject to local approval or funding requirements.

Key Provisions

• Adds a constitutional requirement that no general law or state executive order creating a new or increased expenditure shall become effective for a municipality, county, their instrumentalities, or a city or county board of education until the local governing body approves it by ordinance/resolution or the Legislature provides funds for the purpose (and only to the extent funded) or a local revenue source is authorized.
• Applies the rule to municipalities, counties, their instrumentalities, and city/county boards of education.
• Requires the local body to approve the expenditure or have a local revenue source/legislative appropriation before the mandate can take effect.
• Removes the local board of education exception described in the amendment’s purpose, making school boards subject to the same unfunded-mandate rules (with listed exemptions).
• Enumerates exemptions to the rule, including local laws, certain crime-related acts, pre-1999 acts, acts to comply with Federal mandates (to the extent required by federal law), acts passed with two-thirds of both houses, acts with aggregate insignificant fiscal impact (<$50,000 annually), and acts addressing compensation, benefits, or due process for public officials or board of education employees.
• Specifies that the proposed amendment would be decided by voters in an election and would take effect only if approved by a majority of qualified electors.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 25, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Unfunded Mandates