HB1 Alabama 2023 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Rex ReynoldsRepresentative

Republican

Session

First Special Session 2023

Title

To make supplemental appropriations from the American Rescue Plan Act - Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023.

Summary

HB1 provides supplemental ARPA funds to Alabama for 2023 to support health care, infrastructure, and economic relief programs.

What This Bill Does

This act allocates about $1.06 billion in ARPA funds to the Department of Finance for the fiscal year ending Sept 30, 2023, to fund health care, broadband, water and sewer projects, and economic relief programs. It authorizes reimbursements to hospitals, nursing homes, veterans hospitals, and health insurance boards for COVID-related expenses, and it funds telemedicine, mental health, vaccine vouchers, and health research. It also provides for broadband, water/sewer infrastructure grants (including matching funds) and various programs to address pandemic impacts, with oversight, reporting requirements, and the possibility to reallocate funds if federal rules change. Unspent funds can be carried forward through 2026 and there are provisions for administration and compliance reporting.

Who It Affects

• Healthcare providers and related entities (hospitals, nursing homes, veterans hospitals) and state/public education health insurance boards receive reimbursements or funding for COVID-related expenses and health programs.
• Alabama residents and communities benefit from broadband, water/sewer infrastructure upgrades, mental health and social services, economic relief programs, and vaccine voucher reimbursements for public university students.

Key Provisions

• Appropriates $1,060,181,797.72 in federal ARPA funds to the Department of Finance for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023.
• Up to $200,000,000 to reimburse hospitals; $100,000,000 to hospitals and $100,000,000 to nursing homes; funds may be delegated to the Alabama Health Research and Education Foundation and the Alabama Nursing Home Association Education Foundation.
• Up to $5,000,000 to reimburse veterans' hospitals; funds may be delegated to the State Department of Veterans' Affairs.
• Up to $40,000,000 to reimburse the State Employees' Insurance Board.
• Up to $40,000,000 to reimburse the Public Education Employees' Health Insurance Board.
• Up to $25,000,000 to support mental health programs and services; may be delegated to the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
• Up to $9,000,000 to facilitate the expansion and use of telemedicine, including rural hospital telemedicine affiliations and educational settings; funds may be delegated to the Alabama Department of Public Health or other providers.
• Up to $20,000,000 to support a voluntary clinical trial and health care research program for personalized medicine.
• Up to $175,000 to reimburse coronavirus vaccine voucher program expenses for public university students.
• Up to $660,000,000 for water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure investments; includes up to $260,000,000 for broadband expansion and modernization with reporting requirements, and funds may be delegated to relevant state agencies.
• Up to $195,000,000 in grants to high-need water/sewer projects under EPA Clean Water and Drinking Water SRFs, prioritizing counties without 2022 funding; other projects ranked with emphasis on growth needs.
• Up to $100,000,000 in state and local matching grants for water/sewer projects; 35% matching required; matching funds may come from Local Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Funds or other sources.
• Up to $100,000,000 in state-wide matching grants for water/sewer projects; 35% matching required; matching funds may come from various sources; requires ranking including needs of growing communities.
• Department of Environmental Management to establish ranking systems and require 35%+ matching for recipients; reporting on projects to be submitted.
• Up to $5,000,000 for wastewater improvements in the Alabama Black Belt areas via the Department of Public Health.
• Up to $55,000,000 for programs or services addressing negative economic impacts of the public health emergency (food banks, child-welfare services, domestic violence services, senior services, mental health, housing security, summer learning programs).
• Up to $5,000,000 for pandemic response and mitigation expenses, including reimbursement to the Department of Labor for unemployment benefit hearing costs.
• Up to $1,006,797.72 to reimburse costs for administration, auditing, and reporting of the state fiscal recovery funds.
• Unexpended funds as of Sept 30, 2023 reappropriated for the same purposes for fiscal years through Dec 31, 2026.
• Oversight by the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on ARPA State Funds with authority to request reports, conduct hearings, and collect supplemental data.
• Department of Finance must provide expenditure reports to the Legislature within five days of filing with the federal Treasury; electronic delivery allowed.
• Effective immediately upon passage and governor's signature.

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

Subjects

Appropriations, supplemental appropriations from American Rescue Plan Act - State Fiscal Recovery Fund