SJR92 Alabama 2025 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Garlan GudgerSenator

Republican

Session

2025 Regular Session

Title

Development of recommendations for the enhancement of rural Alabama through the Alabama Growth Alliance and the Alabama Rural Roadmap initiative, encouraged

Summary

A Senate Joint Resolution encouraging the Alabama Growth Alliance to create and submit a statewide Alabama Rural Roadmap with recommendations to boost rural Alabama, addressing infrastructure, business, workforce, quality of life, and health care, by 2026 and then dissolving the initiative.

What This Bill Does

It sets up a leadership team chaired by the Senate President Pro Tempore and vice chaired by the Speaker of the House to oversee the Alabama Rural Roadmap and ensure data collection and transmission. It tasks the Alabama Growth Alliance to engage stakeholders, collaborate with universities, state agencies, and private sector, and identify opportunities for rural economic development. It requires identifying distressed rural areas with clear criteria and producing actionable policy recommendations across infrastructure, business development and entrepreneurship, workforce development and training, quality of life and placemaking, and rural health care. It requires the roadmap to be completed and submitted to the Governor, the chairs of two fiscal committees, and the Department of Commerce by the fifth legislative day of the 2026 Regular Session, after which the initiative will be dissolved, with the Legislature intending to consider implementing legislation based on the recommendations.

Who It Affects

• Rural communities in Alabama that stand to benefit from a coordinated statewide plan addressing infrastructure, health care, jobs, and livability.
• The Alabama Growth Alliance and state leadership (Senate and House leadership, Governor, and the Department of Commerce) responsible for guiding, coordinating, and evaluating the roadmap and submitting it to the Legislature.

Key Provisions

• Encourages the Alabama Growth Alliance to develop the Alabama Rural Roadmap as the cornerstone of a statewide rural development program.
• Creates a leadership team led by the Senate President Pro Tempore (chair) and the Speaker of the House (vice chair) to appoint a diverse group of stakeholders and oversee the program, including data collection and transmission to the Legislature.
• Requires the leadership team to ensure diverse representation reflecting the state's racial, gender, geographic, urban/rural, and economic diversity.
• Directs the Alabama Growth Alliance to engage stakeholders, collaborate with universities, state agencies, and private sector to solicit recommendations, conduct studies, and identify opportunities for rural economic development across specified focus areas (infrastructure, business development and entrepreneurship, workforce development and training, quality of life and placemaking, rural health care).
• Requires identifying distressed rural areas with measurable criteria and providing specific, actionable policy recommendations within the five focus areas.
• Stipulates that the Alabama Rural Roadmap be completed and submitted to the Governor, the chairs of the Senate and House fiscal committees, and the Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce no later than the fifth legislative day of the 2026 Regular Session, after which the initiative is dissolved.
• Expresses the Legislature's intent to consider the recommendations and any suggested legislation to implement the strategies.

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

Subjects

Economic Development