HB 77 Alabama House · 2026 Regular Session

Taxation and Revenue; disabled veterans' homestead taxes inclusion in debt-to-income ratio under certain circumstances prohibited

HB 77 helps disabled veterans with a 100% VA disability rating by streamlining their access to property tax exemptions when applying for home mortgages. The bill requires tax officials to issue a "tentative certificate" of disability exemption upon receiving basic documentation (like VA disability proof and purchase agreements) within 20 days. It also prohibits lenders from including homestead property taxes in a veteran’s debt-to-income ratio calculation when processing their mortgage application. This directly affects veterans seeking home loans who qualify for Alabama’s homestead tax exemption. The law takes effect October 1, 2026.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Dec 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2026

House Passage

Jan 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

Signed into Law

Mar 2026

Introduced Dec 2, 2025 Signed Mar 17, 2026

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What changed between versions

Introduced → Enrolled · 4 edits · Mar 17, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was finalized and enrolled for signing, removing the 'Introduced' status and adding official signatures from the House and Senate leadership. The substantive policy text regarding disabled veterans remains unchanged, establishing a process for tax officials to issue temporary certificates of exemption to veterans with 100% disability ratings before they buy a home, and prohibiting lenders from counting property taxes when calculating loan eligibility for these veterans.

Scope change

The scope of the bill's applicability remains unchanged; the enrolled version contains the identical legislative text as the introduced version, with only the status and signature pages modified.

TECHNICAL

The document header was updated from 'HB77 INTRODUCED' to 'HB77 ENROLLED' to reflect the bill's final passage.

Signature blocks for the Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, and Clerk were added to certify the bill was passed by both chambers.

Drafting notes, internal document identifiers (e.g., ARHR4Q7-1), and the 'Introduced' status were removed.

Page numbering and formatting were adjusted to match the final enrolled format, though the legislative content on the pages remained identical.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass - Adopted Roll Call 765

upper

Feb 4, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported Out of Committee Second House

upper

Jan 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

Pending Committee Action in Second House (Finance and Taxation General Fund)

upper

Jan 20, 2026

Lower · Passed

Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass - Adopted Roll Call 68

lower

Jan 14, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported Out of Committee House of Origin

lower

Jan 13, 2026

Lower · Passed

Pending Committee Action in House of Origin (Military and Veterans' Affairs)

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors