The Alabama Legislature

Act 2016-429, HB31, proposes an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to repeal any provision of the constitution or other law that imposes a maximum age restriction for the appointment, election, or service of an appointed or elected official, except for certain persons elected or appointed to a judicial office. The proposed constitutional amendment would also prohibit the Legislature from enacting any law imposing a maximum age restriction for the appointment, election, or service of any appointed or elected official.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Contingent upon ratification.

Act 2016-430, SB7, proposes an amendment to Amendment 448 to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 71.01 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, to ratify, approve, validate, and confirm the application of any budge isolation resolution authorizing the consideration of a bill proposing a local law adopted by the Legislature before November 8, 2016, that conformed to the rules of either body of the Legislature at the time it was adopted.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Contingent upon ratification.

Act 2016-447, HB4, amends Section 9-11-235, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to the nighttime hunting of certain birds or animals, to make technical corrections to the time period defined for nighttime hunting and to provide a definition of “nighttime hours” or other similar words to be applicable to the entire article governing the hunting and trapping of birds and game.
EFFECTIVE DATE: August 30, 2016.

Act 2016-450, HB19, amends Sections 17-6-28 and 17-12-1, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to write-in votes, to require the counting of write-in votes if: (1) the number of write-ins for a specific office is greater than or equal to the difference in votes between the two candidates with the greatest number of votes; or (2) a qualified elector requests in writing to the judge of probate for a county office or the Secretary of State for a state or federal office and posts a bond or issues a certified check in an amount sufficient to pay the cost of the counting. The act also prescribes certain procedures for the counting of write-in votes and allows a qualified elector to file a written objection disputing a determination by either the canvassing board or the Secretary of State regarding the counting of write-in votes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: November 1, 2016.

Act 2016-451, HB22, makes an appropriation from the Banking Assessment Fees Fund to the State Banking Department in the amount of $1,100,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2017.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2016.

Act 2016-452, HB27, provides for refunds of the supplemental privilege tax on pharmaceutical services created by Act 2015-537, 2015 Second Special Session, in the form of future tax credits against the prior existing privilege tax on pharmaceutical services beginning October 1, 2016, and continuing until paid in full. The act also repeals Act 2015-537, 2015 Second Special Session, which created the supplemental privilege tax on pharmaceutical services.
EFFECTIVE DATE: August 30, 2016.

Act 2016-453, HB42, amends Section 13A-11-75.1, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to pistol permits for retired military veterans, to expand the definition of retired military veteran to include all retirees, not only “nondisability” retirees, for purposes of obtaining a pistol permit at no charge.
EFFECTIVE DATE: November 1, 2016.

Act 2016-468, HB23, amends Section 40-17-167, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to the liquefied petroleum gas and natural gas fuel tax, to extend the moratorium on the requirement to obtain a decal and the collection of the taxes from October 1, 2016, to May 1, 2017.
EFFECTIVE DATE: September 6, 2016.

Act 2016-469, HB36, creates the Alabama Economic Settlement Authority and authorizes the authority to issue an unspecified amount of bonds payable from revenues received from certain settlement claims of the state against BP Petroleum and Exploration, Inc. to be deposited and paid from the BP Settlement Fund established in the act. The act provides that bond proceeds would be used as follows: (1) to repay in full the General Fund Rainy Day Account for the $161,565,874 transferred to the General Fund pursuant to Amendment 803 to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901; (2) to repay a total of $238,434,126 of the unpaid amount owed to the Alabama Trust Fund from transfers to the State General Fund in fiscal years 2013, 2014, and 2015 pursuant to Amendment 856 to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901; (3) to provide $120,000,000 to the Alabama Medicaid Agency ($15,000,000 distributed in fiscal year 2017 and $105,000,000 in fiscal year 2018) to be used to restore physician reimbursements that were reduced on August 1, 2016, and of which $4,000,000 must be allocated for federal matching funds to provide outpatient dialysis; (4) to pay $120,000,000 to supplement allocated or planned revenues for certain transportation projects in Mobile and Baldwin Counties; and (4) any remaining proceeds to make an additional payment to the Alabama Trust Fund for amounts transferred over fiscal years 2013, 2014, and 2015 pursuant to Amendment 856 to the Constitution of Alabama 1901. The act amends Section 18 of Act 2015-540, 2015 Second Special Session (the General Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2016) to specify that the first $70,000,000 in funds received from the state from negotiated settlements is appropriated for Medicaid. The act also amends Section 29-10-1, Code of Alabama 1975, to extend the repayment schedule of the People's Trust Act by an additional seven years to 2033.
EFFECTIVE DATE: September 8, 2016.