HB322 Alabama 2015 Session

Updated Feb 26, 2026

Notable

Summary

Primary Sponsor: Bill Poole
Republican
Session: Regular Session 2015
Title: Education Trust Fund, Rolling Reserve, to provide further for appropriation cap; ETF Budget Stabilization Fund authorizes further uses of revenues, including payments to the PACT Fund; to prohibit appropriations from holding or clearing accounts; Secs. 29-9-3, 29-9-4 am'd.
Summary: HB322 changes how Alabama's Education Trust Fund is capped and spent, adds funding for the PACT college tuition program, and restricts use of temporary tax-revenue holding accounts.
What This Bill Does
It revises the annual Education Trust Fund appropriation cap to include PACT payments and to use new/revenue changes in the calculation, with rules for when revenue increases or decreases should adjust the cap. It creates and funds the Education Trust Fund Budget Stabilization Fund and the Capital Fund, with a structured transfer plan from prior-year appropriations to stabilize the fund and support capital and educational projects. It sets specific annual PACT Fund appropriations through 2027 and allocates 45% of that funding to colleges and universities, with the remainder used for debt service. It also prohibits appropriations from the Department of Revenue’s holding or clearing accounts and repeals obsolete PSCA debt service provisions.

Who It Affects
Public schools, colleges and universities, and the state agencies that fund them, because funding levels, capital projects, and debt services will be affected by the new cap rules and stabilization/capital funding provisions.
PACT program participants and the colleges/universities receiving PACT funds, since PACT allocations are set by year and a portion (45%) goes to colleges/universities while the rest funds debt service.

Key Provisions
Recalculates the Education Trust Fund annual appropriation cap to include payments to the PACT Fund and to use specified revenue measures (recurring and nonrecurring) with detailed rules for new or removed revenues.
Creates and funds the Education Trust Fund Budget Stabilization Fund and the Education Trust Fund Capital Fund, with annual transfers tied to prior-year appropriations (stabilization up to 5% of prior-year appropriations; remaining funds to the Capital Fund for public education facilities and related purposes), and restrictions on using Capital Fund funds (no new debt pledges; capital funds managed with specific balance thresholds).
Authorizes annual appropriations to the PACT Fund by year through 2027, and requires that 45% of PACT funding be treated as support for colleges and universities with the remainder for debt service.
Prohibits appropriation from certain holding or clearing accounts used for depositing tax revenues, clarifying these accounts are temporary, not end destinations for to-be-spent funds, and repeals obsolete PSCA debt-service provisions.

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