Alabama House committee passes General Fund budget, 2% state employee pay raise

An Alabama House committee approved a $3.4 billion General Fund budget for the 2025 fiscal year and a supplemental funding bill for the current year of about $254 million.

The House Ways and Means committee approved some minor changes in the funding bill approved by the Senate, which Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville, the chair of the committee said would include about $36.9 million in additional revenue for the budget.

Reynolds said there was “one or two deductions” from the Senate version, which passed on April 12. Most of the changes are slight increases.

The chair said there was a $100,000 deduction from the Board of Pardons and Paroles intended for the re-entry services program. Reynolds said the program did not require the funds this year.

The House supplemental funding for the current year would also move $5 million budgeted for Port of Mobile pier repairs the Senate passed to Huntsville for flood mitigation.

The state’s Medicaid Agency will receive $955 million, about a $92 million increase (10.6%) over the current year’s allocation of $863 million, which remained unchanged.

The Alabama Department of Corrections will receive $737 million, a $40.4 million increase (5.8%) over the $696.2 million the department is budgeted to receive this year. Both allocations were in line with Ivey’s recommendations in February.

The Department of Human Resources, which administers food programs and child protective services, will get $144.2 million, a $19 million (15.5%) increase over its current year’s budget of $127.4 million, put it just over Gov. Kay Ivey’s recommendation of $143.8 million.

The Alabama Department of Mental Health will see its budget increase from $213.9 million to $238 million, an 11.3% increase.

The supplemental budget for the current year would allocate $150 million for prison construction and $9.35 million for various local governments. The supplemental also includes $9.8 million for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) for in-car and body cameras and handheld radios. It also included $20 million for a parking deck for the new statehouse and another $20 million for industrial site development.

SB 68, part of the budget package, would give state employees a 2% cost-of-living increase for the second straight year. 

The bills passed without debate and are headed to the House floor for consideration.