Alabama Lawmakers Tackle Hot Button Issues After Spring Break
The legislature returns from their spring break week tomorrow and will head into the final six days of the 2026 regular season with a number of key bills on their agenda, not the least being the state's two budgets.
Among the controversial bills still pending is one that would require party primaries to be closed and not available for voting by independents and members of other parties. Another would make the last weekend in August a sales tax holiday for guns, ammo, bows and arrows, and related accessories. Yet another bill raising eyebrows is one that would enlarge membership on the Alabama Public Service Commission (PSC), raising fear by some that utilities will stack the panels membership. Those are just a few of the issues still ahead, one that isn't is Senate Bill 347.
On March 20th Tuscaloosa Thread reported that the bill which was to serve as an initial step toward reaching some resolution on the way online sales taxes are distributed statewide was declared dead by the senator that introduced it, Greg Albritton.
There was supposed to be a public hearing on the legislation in the Senate General Fund budget committee but that was cancelled when the legislation itself was scrapped. The bill to reduce the census data timeframe used to calculate the Simplified Sellers Use Tax (SSUT) from 10 years to five years lost consensus support. But that doesn't mean an effort to find a solution to the problem Tuscaloosa and other large cities consider inequitable distribution.is dead.
Albritton told reporters, “…We’re just going to have to find another solution.” That will have to come from continued negotiations from all parties impacted. Tuscaloosa and other plaintiff's lawsuit against the state distribution framework was cancelled in favor of reaching an amicable agreement. However, because the lawsuit remains a possibility that makes it imperative for the talks to continue, even after the legislative session ends.
"Although SB-347 will not be moving the legislative session," Mayor Walt Maddox wrote in a test message to Tuscaloosa Thread, "...we appreciate Senator Albritton's willingness to continue the conversation, and we remain committed to working in good faith with all parties to find a common-sense solution."
Among those parties in the Alabama County Commissions Association (ACCA). The statewide organization was joined by every county and most smaller cities in opposing the initial lawsuit. ACCA Executive Director Sonny Brasfield, a Tuscaloosa native, said he is looking forward the next negotiating session to learn what proposals will be made by the plaintiffs in the now cancelled lawsuit. However, he made it plain that ACCA and its supporters will be hard to convince that any changes should be made.
“We cannot support structural changes to SSUT," Brasfield stated. "We cannot support changes that put SSUT at constitutional risk. And we cannot support changes that reduce revenue to local governments that rely on SSUT to provide essential services.”
"This is a complex issue," Maddox stated, "and will require continued collaboration as we move toward an outcome that is fair and more accurately reflects the growth of Alabama communities."
The SSUT is worth about $1 billion, and it continues to grow as more people by-pass local retailers and make purchases online.
Capital observers see a difficult road ahead for any consensus by the firmly entrenched sides.
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