The Alabama Legislature

2026 Regular Session

Sunset Members

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The members of the Sunset Committee are as follows:

 

Senate MembersHouse Members
Sen. Keith Kelley (Co-Chair)Rep. Margie Wilcox (Co-Chair)
Sen. Robert StewartRep. Matt Simpson
Sen. Sam GivhanRep. Bill Lamb
Sen. Chris ElliotRep. Neil Rafferty
Sen. Josh CarnleyRep. Kerry Underwood
Sen. Linda Coleman-MadisonRep. Chris Pringle (Speaker Pro Tempore)

 

Additional Information about the Sunset Committee and its operations is shown in the paragraphs below:

 
Composition of the Sunset Committee

Twelve members, equally divided between the Senate and the House of Representatives as shown below, serve on the Joint Legislative Sunset Committee (the "Committee").

  • Three members elected from each house serve during their terms as legislators, or until their successors are elected.
  • Two members from each house are appointed by the respective presiding officers.
  • Two ex officio members - the President Pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker Pro tempore of the House of Representatives.
  • A chair is elected by the committee members, alternating annually between a House member and a Senate member.
  • Any vacancy is filled by the presiding officer of the house in which the vacancy occurred.
Committee Operations

Each year the Committee conducts reviews of the operations of state agencies by authority of Alabama’s Sunset Law (Code of Alabama 1975, Sections 41-20-1 through 41-20-16). The Committee reviews agencies in the year prior to the scheduled regular legislative session preceding the date upon which the agencies enumerated in the Code of Alabama 1975, Section 41-20-3 are scheduled to terminate. The Committee can review agencies sooner than the schedule prescribed by law. Agencies not named in the law as subject to the sunset process can be reviewed at the discretion of the Committee at any time. Either house of the legislature may, by resolution, require the Committee to review any state agency.

 

Based upon this review, the Committee is required to make one of the three following recommendations for each agency: 

  • Continue without modification,
  • Continue with modification, or,
  • Be terminated.
Review and Analysis of Agencies

The Code of Alabama 1975, Section 41-20-9 directs the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts (the “Department”) to furnish information to the Committee on the agencies under review. The Department obtains, compiles, and evaluates information on the agencies being reviewed. The Department produces a report on each agency for use by the Committee containing information, as requested by the Committee. The requested information extends to all areas of an agency’s operations and is not limited to financial and legal compliance matters. Over time, the reports have evolved to routinely contain specific types of information but may also contain other non-routine information that is either requested by the Committee or that is considered significant by the Department.

 
Legislative Action

After or near the end of each annual legislative session, a schedule to hear information about the agencies under review for the year is created. Normally, the committee meets for two consecutive days during each month of its choosing from May through December. On the first day, reports prepared by the Department on the operations of the scheduled agencies are presented to the Committee. The second day is a public hearing at which agency representatives, including the governing boards and executive officers are questioned by the Committee. After all agencies scheduled for the year have been heard, the Sunset Committee convenes a business meeting to decide what course of action to take with regard to the agencies reviewed. The Committee votes on the recommended action(s) it will take with each agency reviewed.

The services of an attorney from the Legislative Services Agency are provided to the Committee. The Committee's recommendations take the form of bills submitted to the legislative house of which the chair is a member. These bills may be amended by the legislature. The Code of Alabama 1975, Section 41-20-10 describes the conditions of debate and voting on bills submitted as recommendations of the Sunset Committee.

For agencies enumerated in the Code of Alabama 1975, Section 41-20-3, a bill to continue the agency must pass both houses of the legislature and be signed into law by the governor or the agency will terminate at the end of the fiscal year. For other agencies brought before the Sunset Committee, the agency will continue operations, unless a bill to terminate the agency becomes law.