Alabama House Democrats, Republicans unveil legislative priorities for 2025 session

Members of the two parties in the Alabama House this week released their legislative agendas for the 2025 session, which starts on Tuesday.

Alabama Democrats presented Forward for Freedom, the theme for their platform during a news conference Tuesday that touched on an array of issues, from expanding affordable health care and promoting gun safety to making investments in education and voting rights.

“We understand how the law can sometimes be a double-edged sword,” said House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville during the news conference. “It can either be a seemingly immovable obstacle to your inalienable right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, or it can be the key to unlocking the door to the American Dream.”

Daniels then said that the goal is to expand freedom and “to stand staunchly opposed to any efforts to diminish it, particularly when those efforts are purposely discriminatory.”

Members of the House Republican Conference, who hold a supermajority in the chamber, released their agenda, titled “Alabama Values,” on Monday.

“The ‘Alabama Values’ name represents the conservative beliefs and values that most Alabamians embrace, but, at the same time, it also represents the morals and principles that we ‘value’ as a people,” House Majority Leader Scott Stadthagen, R-Hartselle said in a statement. “Our caucus members stand unanimous in support of this agenda, and we look forward to promoting these conservative ideas and beliefs throughout the upcoming session and beyond.”

The priorities mimic that of the national Republican Party, which includes border protection.

“With (President) Donald Trump in the White House, Alabama House Republicans will once again promote policies that discourage illegal immigrants from locating here, and we will work to repair the economic and societal damage resulting from the irresponsible open border policies pushed by those on the left,” the agenda stated.

Both caucuses said they would prioritize public safety in the coming session.

Violence, particularly firearms, has been one of the key problems that the state faces, especially in the state’s urban centers like Birmingham and Mobile. According to data obtained from the Alabama Commission on Re-Entry, most crimes in Alabama have decreased, but homicides have increased by 43%.

In September, four people were killed and another 17 people were injured during a mass shooting incident in Birmingham. In November, a shooting incident near Tuskegee University left one person dead and another 16 injured.

“Alabama House Republicans will work with law enforcement officials on the state and local levels to provide needed resources and supplement efforts to combat crime while preserving the fundamental gun rights that allow our citizens to protect themselves from harm,” the GOP agenda stated.

The Democratic platform calls for measures to address access to weapons, and includes a call for the repeal of permitless concealed carry laws, signed by Gov. Kay Ivey in 2022.

Democrats will also offer HB 26, sponsored by Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery, that would make it a state crime to use a “Glock switch” to convert a semi automatic firearm to a fully automatic weapon.

Another bill, HB 23, sponsored by Rep. Kenyatté Hassell, D-Montgomery, would require that a person have a permit to lawfully have an assault weapon. Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, also plans to refile a bill require parents to safely secure their firearms so that children do not gain access.

Democrats also plan to push on voting rights.

“Every other right and freedom we enjoy today is predicated on that fundamental right to vote,” Rep. Adline Clarke, D-Mobile said on Tuesday. “Yet, so many of our citizens do not participate, and think that their vote just doesn’t matter.”

Clarke is sponsoring HB 31, which would allow  a voter with a disability to designate someone to deliver an absentee ballot and the absentee ballot application to the election manager.  Clarke has also filed HB 60, which among other provisions would establish no-excuse absentee voting and an Alabama Voting Rights Commission to review actions by the state that could discriminate against protected classes of voters.

House Democrats also want to increase investments in education, hoping to have some input when the state considers a new school funding model.

“We are really excited about that because we have money,” Drummond said. “When federal dollars came to Alabama, we put away some of that money, so we are going to be able to do a hybrid model that we can start funding some of those needed areas and then work our way out of the foundation program.”

The hybrid model would allocate a base amount for each school, but also additional resources for groups of students, such as those with a disability and English Language Learners.

The Alabama Values platform said Republicans would be committed “to funding and expanding public education programs that produce desired results, addressing programs that fall short, and continuing to provide teachers and administrators with the classroom resources they need to do their jobs effectively.”