Volume 36, No. 15
May 12, 2010
2010 Regular Legislative Session
ENACTED LEGISLATION
The following bills were enacted in the 2010 Regular Legislative Session and have become law. For a copy of any act listed below, view government records at www.sos.state.al.us. For questions, call AASB at 334/277-9700.
General Bills
Act
2010-129
Prohibits sex offenders from obtaining a commercial driver’s license, driving/operating a passenger vehicle or driving/operating a school bus (P and S endorsement). Violations are considered a Class C felony. Effective July 10, 2010. [H.144]
2010-210
Specifies requirements for posting notice for the office vacancies of education officials, to include the positions of state superintendent of education and local county and city superintendents of education. Requires county and city superintendent vacancies to be filled within 120 days after such vacancy occurs. Violation of posting requirements shall void any related employment action taken by the board. Became effective immediately upon the governor’s signature on March 22, 2010, for any superintendent search that had not already begun. [H.79]
2010-221
Allows the accrued liability rates for the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) and the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) to be computed over a maximum period of 30 years rather than the former 20-year maximum period. The effort was to reduce the annual amount of employer contributions to fund the TRS by some $48 million. Became effective immediately upon the governor’s signature on March 22, 2010. [S.292]
2010-256
Authorizes the executive officers and employees of the School Superintendents of Alabama independently to continue to participate in the Teachers’ Retirement System. Became effective upon the governor’s signature March 30, 2010. [S.50]
2010-264
Ensures that teacher and other educator certification is revoked upon conviction of major felonies or sex crimes involving children. Provides that upon conviction of such charges, the employment contract of any employee with a board of education is cancelled. Became effective upon the governor’s signature March 31, 2010.[H.37]
2010-497
Makes it a crime for a school employee to engage in a sex act, deviant sexual intercourse, or have sexual contact with a student, male or female, under 19 years of age; provides that the school employee be placed on paid administrative leave while the charge is adjudicated. Effective July 1, 2010. [H.38]
2010-551
Provides a $175 million APSCA bond issue to be available, with certain requirements, to school systems in North Alabama impacted by Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). To qualify for the bonds, which are to be used to finance the renovation and construction of school facilities, systems have to meet specified local tax revenue requirements and meet direct impact job population thresholds. Earmarks from the Education Trust Fund will pay debt service over a 20-year period at an estimated $6.7 million annually and local school systems will pay $6.7 million annually in matching funds. Became effective upon the governor’s signature April 21, 2010. [S.442]
2010-556
Permits an alternative method to calculate state-funded teacher units using Average Daily Membership (ADM). In cases of extreme circumstances, and only with approval by the state superintendent of education granted on a case-by-case basis, the current requirement of using the first 20 scholastic days following Labor Day to determine ADM may be altered. Became effective upon the governor’s signature April 22, 2010.[H.43]
2010-558
Appropriates $855,861 from the Education Trust Fund to Talladega College ($69,394 decrease from last fiscal year.) [H.271]
2010-559
Appropriates $9,703,990 from the Education Trust Fund to Tuskegee University ($786,810 decrease from last fiscal year.) [H.272]
2010-560
Appropriates $254,375 from the Education Trust Fund to Lyman Ward Military Academy ($20,625 decrease from last fiscal year.) [H.273]
2010-561
Provides for transfer to the state General Fund during fiscal year 2011 that portion of Children First Trust Fund receipts currently allocated for the state Board of Education. Became effective upon the governor’s signature April 22, 2010. [H.277]
2010-576
Allows flexibility for local school boards by granting the authority to use unencumbered Public School Fund dollars for any operating expense in 2011 only. Became effective upon the governor’s signature April 22, 2010.[H.724]
2010-595
Amends the FY10 Education Appropriation Bill (Act No. 2009-339) by increasing the ETF appropriation for debt service. [H.276]
2010-610
Makes appropriations for the support, maintenance and development of public education in Alabama; for debt service; and for capital outlay for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2011, effective Oct. 1, 2010. [H.274]
2010-691
Expands eligibility for the issuance of high school diplomas for honorably discharged veterans to include Vietnam War veterans effective July 1, 2010. [H.74]
2010-692
Authorizes a county commission to establish reduced speed school zones outside of the corporate limits of a municipality under certain conditions effective July 1, 2010. [H.100]
2010-696
Makes a supplemental appropriation of $951,351 from the ETF for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2010, to the Walker County School System to provide for capital improvements at Oakman Elementary School, which suffered extensive tornado-related damage on Dec. 10, 2008. Also makes a supplemental appropriation of $71,351 from the ETF for capital improvements at Wacoochee Junior High School, a system-owned instructional center, and a system-owned central office building – both which suffered extensive tornado damage on Feb. 27, 2009. Effective immediately upon governor’s signature April 29, 2010. [H.281]
2010-720
Requires the Alabama Public School and College Authority to sell and issue $66.5 million in bonds for the support of public education/fleet renewal. The PSCA would not be authorized to issue these bonds if the state receives an amount greater than or equal to $66.5 million in federal funds from a federal jobs bill or similar act, enacted after March 1, 2010. Became effective immediately upon the governor’s signature April 29, 2010. [H.743]
2010-725
Provides for additional funds to be appropriated from the ETF to the PACT program in the fiscal year beginning Sept. 30, 2013 and continuing, if necessary, into the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2027, effective immediately upon the governor’s signature April 30, 2010. [S.162]
2010-731
Authorizes the Alabama Public School and College Authority to issue and sell its bonds under the provisions of the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or any other governmental program providing reductions in interest payments or conditions acceptable to the authority. Prohibits the use of “swaptions.” Became effective upon the governor’s signature April 30, 2010. [S.152]
2010-735
Amends various conditions related to driver’s licenses and learner permits. Institutes graduated driver’s licenses to include: Stage I – learner’s permit; Stage II – regular driver’s license with restrictions based on age and date of issuance; and Stage III – an unrestricted driver’s license. Becomes effective July 1, 2010. [H.65]
2010-746
Requires any new contract for the construction of a new public school to include an Alabama Building Commission-approved safe space or hallway. The state Department of Education shall coordinate with the Alabama Building Commission to develop such standards and rules. Becomes effective July 1, 2010. [H.459]
General Bills Pocket-Vetoed
POCKET-VETOED
Would have required all students in grades K-8 to take physical education, without substitution, effective for the 2010-2011 school year. Exemptions were made for marching band, JROTC, dance class if taught at a magnet school, or other activity as approved in a student’s IEP. [H.105]
POCKET-VETOED
Would have provided procedures for issuing arrest warrants for public education employees for certain misdemeanor offenses. [H.236]
Local Bills
Act
2010-113
Provides authorization for a referendum for the city of Hartselle to provide, upon a majority vote of qualified electors, to change the Hartselle City Board of Education from an appointed to an elected board. [S.131]
2010-131/2010-612
Allows, only in times of proration, that the portions of local sales and use tax proceeds in Etowah County that flow to school systems and Gadsden State Community College for construction, maintenance, equipment, or supplies, may be used to pay the salary of certified personnel of school systems and Gadsden State Community College. [S.230/H.341]
2010-225
Proposes a constitutional amendment that, if approved by qualified voters, would authorize a committee of Etowah County officials to establish and reapportion districts, excluding Attalla and Gadsden, for the election of the members of the Etowah County Board of Education. [S.225]
2010-601
Provides allocation and expenditure of payments in-lieu-of-taxes received from the Tennessee Valley Authority distributed to Morgan County be directed to Hartselle, Decatur and Morgan County Boards of Education for the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years. Specific allocations and use of proceeds outlined depending on whether a school system has a one-month reserve balance. [S.551]
POCKET-VETOED
Would have authorized the Conecuh County Board of Education to insure its school buildings in either the State Insurance Fund or in an insurance company, whichever in the opinion of such board provides the best coverage for such school buildings and property. [H.792]
Resolutions of Interest
2010-22
Establishes that the life of the Alabama Select Commission on High School Graduation and Student Dropouts created by Act No. 2009-229, SJR23, 2009 Regular Sessions (Acts 12 2009, p. 407), is extended to Dec. 31, 2010, whereupon the commission shall stand dissolved and discharged of any further duties. [SJR.21]
2010-33
Sustains the decision of the Joint Legislative Committee to disapprove the proposed amendment to Rule 290-4-1, titled “Education Accountability” (Educator Code of Ethics) and recommends the Department of Education and the state Board of Education reconsider the proposed amendment and revised rule previously suggested by the Committee, to be titled the Alabama Educator Code of Ethics. [SJR.9]
2010-155
Offers the Alabama Legislature’s full support of the Federal Jobs for Main Street Act of 2010 and calls for each member of Alabama’s congressional delegation to fully support that act. [HJR.53]
2010-207
Urges the state Department of Education and the Alabama State Board of Education to require local school districts to provide courses of instruction for 11th-grade and 12th-grade students that shall provide them with a basic understanding of money and money management, personal finance, business, the economy, and investing. [SJR.95]
2010-457
Urges the Congress of the United States, in the course of reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, to draw from the experiences of local educators who know students best and focus the limited federal dollars that will be directed to the state of Alabama on areas that will be best served through current funding formula, rather than competitive grants, which lead to inequality and are not financially stable under the present economic climate. [SJR.159]
2010-636
Requests that the Alabama High School Athletic Association consider recognizing high school sport fishing as a sport in Alabama schools. [HJR 30]
Make A Difference!
The upcoming June Primary elections and November General elections
will shape Alabama’s next four years.
Be a key resource for K-12 public education to your elected officials.
Local lawmakers and state board members are your voice in Montgomery.
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The 2011 Organizational Legislative Session
January 11-21, 2011
Inauguration
January 17, 2011
The 2011 Regular Legislative Session
March 1 – June 13, 2011
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