HB124 Alabama 2021 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Chris PringleRepresentative

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2021

Title

Professional licensing Boards, self-sustaining, bds, agencies, and commissions exempted from publishing expenditures through Comptroller website, required to post expenditures on bd, agency, or commission website

Summary

HB124 would require self-sustaining professional licensing boards and certain interscholastic athletic organizations to publicly post their expenditures and contracts online and bring their procurement contracts under state oversight.

What This Bill Does

The bill requires each self-sustaining licensing board or commission (and certain interscholastic athletic organizations) to publish expenditures, including contracts and grants, on their own website or the Comptroller’s site in a searchable format. It must include details such as amount, date, payer, payee, the object of the expense, and classification to the extent available, with links to warrants or check registers. Public access to the data cannot be charged by the boards, but the Comptroller may charge the boards a reasonable publishing fee. It adds oversight by subjecting personal and professional service contracts of these boards to the Contract Review Permanent Legislative Oversight Committee, with a confidentiality process for vendor pricing that includes hearings and potential court review. The Department of Finance must provide prominent links to the information, and boards may adopt implementing rules; the act becomes effective after a specified waiting period following passage and governor approval.

Who It Affects

• Self-sustaining state professional licensing boards, agencies, and commissions (and certain interscholastic athletic organizations) that must publish expenditure data publicly and undergo new oversight.
• Public users, vendors, and state oversight bodies (including the Contract Review Permanent Legislative Oversight Committee) who will access expenditure information, review contracts, and navigate confidentiality procedures.

Key Provisions

• Exempt boards and certain interscholastic athletic organizations must publish expenditures on their own website or the Comptroller's site for a reasonable fee.
• Public expenditures must include amount, date, payor, payee, and object of expense, with links to warrant/check registers and, if available, account class/item levels; data should be searchable and may use graphs.
• Payee addresses cannot be disclosed; county location may be disclosed; confidential information must be excluded from public posting; boards are shielded from liability when posting information based on confidentiality determinations.
• Boards must include information they already collect; cannot charge the public to access the required information; the Comptroller may charge the board a reasonable publishing fee.
• The Department of Finance must prominently link to the expenditure information; boards may publish on the Comptroller site or on their own site, with a required prominent link on the board's home page.
• Boards may adopt rules to implement the section; vendors may request confidentiality for prices/costs and must go through a hearing process to justify keeping information confidential, with a standard of reasonableness and court review.
• Contracts for personal and professional services of these boards will be reviewed by the Contract Review Permanent Legislative Oversight Committee in the same manner as other state agencies.
• Effective date: the act becomes law on the first day of the third month after passage and governor approval.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Professional Licensing Boards