What passed in the Alabama Legislature: Feb. 4-6, 2025
by Anna Barrett and Alander Rocha, Alabama Reflector February 7, 2025
Here is a list of the bills that passed in the Alabama Legislature this week.
Feb. 6
House
HB 128, sponsored by Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham, extends the termination date for the Board of Nursing tol Oct. 1, 2029. The bill passed 102-0. It goes to the Senate.
HB 129, sponsored by Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham, extends the termination date for the Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators to Oct. 1, 2029. The bill passed 103-0. It goes to the Senate.
HB 130, sponsored by Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham, extends the termination date for the Alabama Board of Licensure for Professional Geologists to Oct. 1, 2027. The bill passed 103-0. It goes to the Senate.
HB 131, sponsored by Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham, extends the termination date for the Alabama Board of Licensure of Athletic Trainers until Oct. 1, 2027. The bill passed 103-0. It goes to the Senate.
HB 25, sponsored by Rep. Ed Oliver, R-Dadeville, allows local 911 districts to collaborate to carry out their powers and services. The bill passed 103-0. It goes to the Senate.
HB 108, sponsored by Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, extends the termination date for the Alabama Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology to Oct. 1, 2029. The bill passed 104-0. It goes to the Senate.
HB 109, sponsored by Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, extends the termination date for the State Board of Podiatry to Oct. 1, 2029. The bill passed 102-0. It goes to the Senate.
Rep. Joe Lovvorn, R-Auburn, gestures to a colleague during a meeting of the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 6, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
HB 111, sponsored by Rep. Randall Shedd, R-Fairview, extends the termination date for the Home Builders Licensure Board to Oct. 1, 2029. The bill passed 104-0. It goes to the Senate.
HB 112, sponsored by Rep. Randall Shedd, R-Fairview, extends the termination date for the Alabama Onsite Wastewater Board to Oct. 1, 2029. The bill passed 103-0. It goes to the Senate.
HB 113, sponsored by Rep. Randall Shedd, R-Fairview, extends the termination date for the Alabama Manufactured Housing Commission to Oct. 1, 2029. The bill passed 104-0. It goes to the Senate.
HB 117, sponsored by Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, extends the termination date for the Alabama Board of Examiners in Marriage and Family Therapy to Oct. 1, 2027. The bill passed 104-0. It goes to the Senate.
HB 118, sponsored by Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, extends the termination date for the State Board of Chiropractic Examiners to Oct. 1, 2029. The bill passed 104-0. It goes to the Senate.
HB 119, sponsored by Rep. Kerry Underwood, R-Tuscumbia, extends the termination date for the Alabama Licensure Board for Interpreters and Transliterators to Oct. 1, 2027. The bill passed 104-0. It goes to the Senate.
HB 120, sponsored by Rep. Kerry Underwood, R-Tuscumbia, extends the termination date for the State Board of Genetic Counseling to Oct. 1, 2027. The bill passed 102-0. It goes to the Senate.
HB 121, sponsored by Rep. Kerry Underwood, R-Tuscumbia, extends the termination date for the Alabama Board for Register Interior Designers until Oct. 1, 2029. The bill passed 103-0. It goes to the Senate.
HB 122, sponsored by Rep. Kerry Underwood, R-Tuscumbia, extends the termination date for the Board of Physical Therapy to Oct. 1, 2029. The bill passed 103-0. It goes to the Senate.
HB 124, sponsored by Rep. Margie Wilcox, R-Mobile, extends the termination date for the Alabama Board of Optometry to Oct. 1, 2029. The bill passed 102-0. It goes to the Senate.
HB 126, sponsored by Rep. Margie Wilcox, R-Mobile, extends the termination date for the State Board of Midwifery to Oct. 1, 2029. The bill passed 103-0. It goes to the Senate.
HB 127, sponsored by Rep. Margie Wilcox, R-Mobile, extends the termination date for the Board of Hearing Instrument Dealers to Oct. 1, 2029. The bill passed 103-0. It goes to the Senate.
Senate
Sen. Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville, listens to Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman speak in the chamber on Feb. 4, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The Alabama Legislature began its 2025 session on Tuesday. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
SB 70, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, establishes the Alabama Veterans Resource Center to support services to veterans and their families residing in Alabama, such as assistance with accessing federal and state benefits, job placement services, and mental health and wellness programs. The bill passed 31-0. It goes to the House.
SB 79, sponsored by Sen. April Weaver, R-Alabaster, creates definitions for “sex-based terms” — such as man, woman, boy, girl, father, mother, male, female and sex — strictly based on biological sex. The bill passed 26-5. It goes to the House.
SB 4, sponsored by Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, allows a sheriff or local chief of police to contract with and provide private K-12 schools school resource officers as long as a school resource officer is available to every public school in the county or municipality. The bill passed 30-0. It goes to the House.
SB 62, sponsored by Sen. Lance Bell, R-Pell City, would prohibit the use of certain hunting, fishing, and related licenses as a valid or supplemental form of identification. The bill passed 31-0. It goes to the House.
From left to right: Sens. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham; Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro and Rodger Smitherman, D-Smitherman, listen to Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger speak in the Alabama Senate on Feb. 4, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The Alabama Legislature began its 2025 regular session on Tuesday. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
SB 82, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, would require a magistrate and a clerk to complete an annual audit of outstanding warrants for certain Class B and C misdemeanors and provide notification that it has been recalled to appropriate law enforcement agencies. The bill passed 31-0. It goes to the House.
SB 66, sponsored by Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, would establish presenting a forged document to a state employee or official as a crime punishable by a Class D felony or up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $7,500. The bill passed 31-0. It goes to the House.
SB 78, sponsored by Sen. April Weaver, R-Alabaster, would make possession of butyl nitrite, commonly known as “whippets;” nitrous oxide, commonly known as “laughing gas;” and amyl nitrite, commonly known as “poppers,” a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $6,000. The bill passed 28-1. It goes to the House.
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Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Lindsey Henderson | ExcelinEd – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-18 11:36:00
Harvard University recently announced a remedial algebra course to address some of the mathematical struggles its incoming students are facing.
This isn’t a reflection on the nation’s oldest and most renowned institution of higher learning. Remedial courses aren’t new. Plenty of colleges and universities offer courses geared toward helping students with precalculus and calculus.
The fact that students at a highly competitive school like Harvard may need help getting caught up in a core subject should be a bright red warning light that our K-12 system is falling behind when it comes to math education.
Looking at the most recent scores from the Nation’s Report Card, we know there has been minimal progress for students catching up from COVID learning loss, and most fourth and eighth graders on last year’s exam still performed below pre-pandemic levels, with a widening gap between disadvantaged students and their more resourced peers.
To ensure future generations are prepared for postsecondary success, we need to look for upstream solutions—state-level math policy that we know will help students build the foundation they need.
State leaders can act now on five essential math policies designed to transform math achievement.
First, we know that countries consistently performing above average on international math assessments spend an average of 60 minutes per day on instructional time. In America, Alabama is the only state actively requiring this instruction length, with Maryland recently passing a similar policy that will be implemented in 2026. If every state required 60 minutes of math instruction a day, students would see stronger outcomes.
Second, the adoption of High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) would ensure students have access to grade level content. Surprisingly, this remains a significant challenge across the country, with some research indicating students spend more than 500 hours per school year on assignments not appropriate for their grade level and expectations.
Next, we know that math coaches are an essential investment for all elementary and secondary schools and can be relied upon to lead professional development, facilitate lesson planning, teach model lessons and observe and provide immediate feedback. States like Alabama and Kentucky have implemented strong math coach programs.
Just as we look to NAEP as a national assessment tool, teachers should be implementing regular assessments in their classrooms that provide valuable student progress information and inform future instruction tactics. When assessments are followed by timely interventions to get students back on track, student learning outcomes can dramatically improve.
Finally, states should consider an automatic enrollment policy that ensures students who are mathematically proficient are promoted into higher-level courses in the next school year.
Automatic enrollment policies have proven to lead to a larger number of students successfully taking higher level math courses, including a higher number of low-income and minority students.
These policy essentials are not theoretical; we are seeing them in action in Alabama. Other states, including Indiana, Iowa and Maryland, are following suit.
And that’s a smart move. Alabama’s comprehensive approach to math policy has resulted in remarkable progress in just two years: it remains one of the only states where fourth grade students are back to pre-pandemic levels of math proficiency on the Nation’s Report Card.
By the time our students graduate from high school, they should be proficient in the math skills they need to succeed in higher education, the military or the workforce. We owe it to them to get them to that level in the K-12 system so they are not playing catch-up in subsequent years.
States can help educators and schools achieve that goal by implementing proactive, research-backed policy solutions that ensure all students build a strong foundation in mathematics.
Lindsey Henderson serves as the Math Policy Director at ExcelinEd.
Fifteen Auburn University community members had their visas revoked this week, according to university officials.
Jennifer Wood Adams, executive director of public affairs at Auburn, said in a statement that the visas were revoked by the Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Student and Exchange Visitor Program, not the university.
She said the university immediately reached out to those with cancelled visas. The university did not identify the students.
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“Auburn’s Office of International Programs immediately contacted each affected individual to provide assistance and support. Our international students and personnel are valued members of our campus community, and we recognize the significant impact that visa or status revocation will have on them,” the statement said.
The statement also said the university will comply with all laws and cooperate with authorities.
“This is a fluid situation, and the university will monitor it closely and assess its implications,” she said.
According to the Associated Press, at least 1,024 students at 160 colleges, universities and university systems have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated since late March.
Alireza Doroudi, a University of Alabama graduate student from Iran, was detained in March by ICE. According to the Crimson White, UA’s student news outlet, Doroudi was denied bond on Thursday and now faces deportation.
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SUPPORT
Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com.
SUMMARY: Panoply 2025, set for April 25-27, will feature a diverse lineup of live music, including rock, R&B, smooth jazz, and local acts such as Alana White and The Red Flags. Headliner Billy Allen and The Polly’s will perform on Friday night. New this year are DJ sets between performances, generating excitement among attendees. The event will offer a range of activities, including food and entertainment. Tickets are $15 for a weekend pass, with parking and logistics advised for ease. The festival’s website and Huntsville social media will provide updates on weather and other event details.
Panoply 2025 is a week from today! Patrice Johnson with Arts Huntsville swung by News 19 at 9am to tease this year’s musical guests!
News 19 is North Alabama’s News Leader! We are the CBS affiliate in North Alabama and the Tennessee Valley since November 28, 1963.
