HB135 Alabama 2015 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Steve ClouseRepresentative

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2015

Title

General fund budget, appropriations for ordinary expenses of executive, legislative, and judicial departments

Summary

HB135 would set the FY2016 budget for Alabama's executive, legislative, and judicial branches with General Fund and earmarked funds for ordinary expenses, but the bill was vetoed in 2015.

What This Bill Does

It establishes the FY2016 budget for ordinary expenses of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, plus debt service and capital outlay, funded from the General Fund and earmarked accounts. It provides program-by-program appropriation definitions and limits, and designates how total appropriations are calculated by fund source. It creates a system of priority conditional appropriations (first, second, and third) that must be released in a specific order, and it allows reappropriation of unspent FY2015 funds into FY2016. It also includes provisions for interagency transfers, gifts and grants, reporting requirements to the Legislature, and a mandate to reduce direct services if funds are insufficient, with quarterly financial reporting and oversight.

Who It Affects

• State government agencies and their employees (executive, legislative, judicial, and related departments) who receive funding for operations, salaries, programs, and capital projects and who must manage funds, transfers, and reporting under the act.
• Alabama residents who rely on state-funded services (such as health, safety, transportation, welfare, and public programs) because the bill’s appropriations determine the level and availability of those services.

Key Provisions

• Section 2 establishing FY2016 appropriations from the General Fund and earmarked funds to the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, with programmatic and fund-source breakdowns and definitions (Program, Capital Outlay, Debt Service, Federal/Local Funds, etc.).
• Section 3 creating priority conditional appropriations (First Priority, Second Priority, and Second/Third Priority) to be released in a specified order, including agencies like Unified Judicial System, Corrections, Pardons and Paroles for Prison Reform, Governor’s Prison Reform, and Medicaid/Mental Health, followed by a Second Priority group (Examiners of Public Accounts, Law Institute, Legislative offices, etc.) and a Third Priority group (various courts and other agencies).
• Section 4 authorizing reappropriation of unexpended funds from the 2015 fiscal year to the 2016 fiscal year, ensuring carryover for certain programs and agencies.
• Section 8 allowing transfers and reallocations of funds between appropriations if needed, to address funding shortfalls or to maximize efficiency, subject to approval processes.
• Section 16 requiring agencies to reduce direct services if general-fund appropriations are insufficient, with quarterly reports to legislative committees detailing reductions and impact on services.
• Section 19 setting a fixed monthly rate of $850 for the State Employees' Insurance Board (SEIB) for the 2016 fiscal year and related budgetary adjustments.
• Section 20 directing the Director of Finance to notify legislative leaders about interagency transfers and other fund movements, increasing transparency.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 24, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Appropriations