HB561 Alabama 2025 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Marilyn LandsRepresentative

Democrat

Session

2025 Regular Session

Title

Referendum measures; authorize general laws and constitutional amendments to be initiated through public petition process

Summary

HB561 would let Alabama voters initiate general laws and constitutional amendments through a citizen initiative, with the Legislature able to offer an alternative proposal.

What This Bill Does

HB561 would create a citizen initiative pathway to enact general laws and constitutional amendments, bypassing the Governor (no signature required) and allowing the Legislature to offer an alternative proposal. Citizens would file a preliminary petition with signatures and a refundable filing fee; a full text and summary would be drafted and posted for public review. The Legislature could sponsor an alternative; if not enacted, the measure goes to a statewide ballot after adjournment, and the measure with the most votes would win if both pass. No more than two initiative measures can be enacted in a session, and an identical initiative cannot be resubmitted for two years if it fails.

Who It Affects

• Qualified Alabama voters who want to initiate general laws or constitutional amendments, who would gather signatures, pay filing fees, and follow the initiative process.
• The Legislature and state election agencies (Secretary of State, Legislative Services Agency, Alabama Law Institute) who would review proposals, prepare and publish texts, verify signatures, and manage ballot placement and voting outcomes.

Key Provisions

• Creates parallel initiative paths for general laws (Part I) and constitutional amendments (Part II) with a Legislature-approved alternative possible.
• General-law initiative requires a preliminary petition of 1,000 signatures and a $1,000 filing fee (refundable if adopted).
• Final petitions for general laws must have at least 7% of governor votes, with at least 1% of governor votes from each congressional district.
• Constitutional amendments require 10% of governor votes for final petitions, with at least 1.3% of governor votes from each district.
• The Legislature may sponsor an alternative proposal; if not enacted, the initiative goes to ballot; if both pass, the higher-vote measure prevails; no governor's signature is required.
• No more than two initiative measures may be enacted in any single legislative session; if more than two proposals relate to the same subject, the two with the most signatures would be considered.
• The full text and summary are prepared by the Alabama Law Institute and published by the Secretary of State for review; signatures are verified against the voter list; the process includes a two-year window to qualify and a required neutral ballot description.

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

Subjects

Constitutional Amendments Statewide