The ARPA Special Session begins

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Alabama capitol

The Alabama Legislature met on Wednesday for the first day of the First 2023 Special Session. The session was called by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to appropriate just over one billion dollars in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that the state received and has not yet appropriated.

The Alabama House of Representatives met at 1:00 p.m. to conduct business and allow for the introduction of bills in the special session. The pre-filed bills we have been discussing for weeks are for the 2023 Regular Legislative Session and cannot be addressed during the special session. The regular session will resume on Thursday, March 21.

House Speaker Pro Tem Chris Pringle introduced, and the House passed, a resolution to formally announce to the Senate that the House is in special session. The House passed a resolution to appoint a committee to announce to the governor that the House is in a special session.

The Alabama Senate gaveled in just after the House adjourned. The Senate appointed a committee to announce to the Governor that the Senate is in special session. They also passed a resolution to announce to the House of Representatives that the Senate is in session.

Many of these rules and procedures may sound redundant, but in 1901 when the Alabama Constitution was written, no one had cell phones, the internet had not been invented, and most people in the state still did not have telephones or electricity. These rules exist so that a legislative body is not meeting in secret without informing the other legislative body or the governor of its activity.

State Sen. Greg Albritton addressed the body about the proposed bill to pay off the money that the state owes the Alabama Trust Fund.

“A few years back, the Legislature ran into a problem, and there was a significant shortfall in funds,” for the state general fund (SGF) Albritton explained to the Senators. “We had to go to the people to seek authority to borrow money from the Alabama Trust Fund.”

“We borrowed over $400 million to keep the government operational,” Albritton said. “We stated that we had a moral obligation to pay that money back.”

“At the time, there was a lot of skepticism that we would never pay that money back,” Albritton said. “We have been paying $13 million a year out of the general fund. When times got better we began making double payments.”

“The bill that I am introducing this afternoon, SB1, will pay that completely and totally off,” Albritton continued. “This bill will take $59,987 thousand and some change to pay that ATF off. When this was done that balance was approximately $2 billion and change. Today that amount is over $4 billion.”

Senate Bill 1 has been referred to the Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee chaired by Albritton.

Senate Bill 2 by Sen. Garlan Gudger, dealing with Healthcare, has been referred to the Senate Committee on Healthcare. Both committees will meet on Thursday to consider these two pieces of legislation.

Senate Pro Tem Greg Reed announced that the Senate will reconvene for Day 2 of the 2024 First Special Session on Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

A joint session of the House and Senate will meet in the historic 1859 Alabama Capitol Building at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday to honor former U.S. Senator Richard Shelby for his decades of service to the state of Alabama.

The House will then return to the Statehouse for its own session at 11:30 a.m.

To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.