Alabama Commission on the Evaluation of Services recreated as a legislative department, duties revised and clarified, Legislative Committee on the Evaluation of Services created

SB 317 recreates Alabama's Commission on the Evaluation of Services as a formal legislative department and establishes a new Legislative Committee to oversee it. The bill requires state agencies receiving direct state funding to provide data and develop evaluation plans for new programs or major program expansions (defined as a 25%+ budget increase or significant changes to service delivery). It mandates agencies to create logic models and track specific outcome metrics, with the commission publishing evaluation standards and reviewing agency reports. This directly affects all state departments, agencies, and institutions that receive state appropriations, requiring them to submit program evaluations annually.