Finance and Taxation Education

HB 517 (the TRAIN Act) creates a new "workforce teaching certificate" allowing qualified industry workers to teach career and technical education courses in public schools. Employers who loan these certified employees to schools can claim tax credits. The bill also shields certificate holders from personal liability for routine teaching duties (excluding willful misconduct), aligning with existing state law. This directly affects current industry workers seeking teaching roles, their employers, and public schools offering technical training programs.

HB 250 amends Alabama's tax code to exclude employer contributions to "Trump Accounts" from an individual's gross income and makes permanent the existing exclusion for employer-paid qualified education loan payments. The bill directly affects Alabama taxpayers who receive these employer benefits, as it prevents these amounts from being counted as taxable income. Key provisions include updating Section 40-18-14 to add Trump Account contributions to the list of excluded items and removing the temporary nature of the education loan exclusion. This creates a permanent tax advantage for workers receiving these specific employer benefits under Alabama law.

HB 235 provides $419.7 million in supplemental funding from Alabama's Education Trust Fund for the 2026 fiscal year, primarily supporting education and workforce programs. The bill allocates funds to school systems for fleet renewal ($66.5M), school safety initiatives ($50M), college and career readiness programs, specialized schools (like cyber and healthcare academies), public libraries, and universities for facility maintenance and research. Additional funding includes $3 million for Alzheimer's prevention research through Hudson Alpha and $100 million from the CHOOSE Act Fund to the Department of Revenue. These funds directly affect Alabama's public schools, colleges, libraries, and healthcare facilities by addressing infrastructure, safety, and educational program needs.

HB 178 modifies the process for consolidating city school systems and their governing boards. It requires a majority of qualified voters residing in the combined territory of all affected city schools to approve such consolidations, replacing the prior voting threshold. This change directly affects cities considering merging their school districts and boards. The State Board of Education must also adopt implementing rules for this new process.

HB 239 would increase salaries for Alabama public education employees by 2% starting in the 2026-2027 fiscal year. It applies to K-12 teachers, support staff (including bus drivers), and employees at the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB), as well as two-year postsecondary education staff. The bill requires all affected employees to receive this automatic increase regardless of experience level, with local salary schedules adjusted to reflect the change. The pay increase is mandated to be applied in addition to any existing step increases or local adjustments.