Bill Poole to step down as director of Alabama Department of Finance

Alabama Department of Finance Director Bill Poole is stepping down after spending five years in the position.

Poole, a former state representative, did not give a reason for his departure in a statement Monday morning. A message seeking comment was left with the Alabama Department of Finance Monday.  

In the statement, Poole said that “though some of my titles will soon change, those relationships and my interest in helping to continue to improve Alabama’s future will remain consistent.” 

“I am grateful for the trust placed in me and for the opportunity to work alongside Gov. (Kay) Ivey, legislative leadership, talented public servants, policymakers, educators, business leaders and community leaders on issues that I believe will benefit Alabama for years to come,” Poole said.

Poole, an attorney by trade, served in the Alabama House of Representatives from 2010 to 2021, representing a Tuscaloosa-area House seat. He chaired the House Ways and Means Education Committee, which oversees the Education Trust Fund budget, during that time.

Poole’s departure, effective at the end of the week, comes as Ivey’s time in office nears an end and ahead of what several officials, including Poole, have said could be a tight fiscal year for Alabama.

“I just want to point out to the board . . . to I think anticipate and prepare and think ahead for the reality that I think exists, which is tightening budgets on the ETF side and a very, very challenging budget next year on the General Fund side that I think could quite frankly lead to potential agency reductions in costs,” Poole said to members of the the Public Education Employee Health Insurance Plan board earlier this month.

Ivey said in the statement that Doryan Carlton will lead the department.

“For years, Doryan has done good work on our state’s budgets within the executive budget office. Thanks in part to her leadership, Alabama has not once declared proration during my administration,” Ivey said. “Many giants have come before us at the Department of Finance, and I know Doryan will be a giant in her own right. She is someone who works diligently behind the scenes with an acute attention to detail that will serve our state well.”