On Thursday, the Senate unanimously passed a nearly $10 billion Education Trust Fund (ETF) budget for fiscal year 2026.
In addition to the ETF budget, the Senate passed a supplemental appropriation of $524 million and another $1.25 billion supplemental appropriation from the Education Trust Fund Advancement and Technology Fund.
The Senate also passed a bill to change how K-12 public schools are funded in Alabama and approved $375 million from the Education Opportunities Reserve Fund to pre-fund the funding model for K-12 schools.
In sum, more than $12 billion was allocated by the Senate.
The budget didn't include a pay raise for education employees due to the budget absorbing added costs from state health insurance and retirement plans.
"No teacher pay raise because that was absorbed (by) the (Public Education Employees' Health Insurance Plan) increase (which) was substantial, and that's something that we had to fund as well as the RSA retirement match (which) increased as well. I think the education community was pleased with that and saw that as a win because none of those costs were passed on to the teachers and cafeteria workers, bus drivers, etc," State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), Education Budget Chairman, said.
The ETF budget now heads to the House for their consideration.
"We're working well together. I would hope we won't even have to go to conference. I've also been around here too long to know that there's always something that pops up. That's the goal: if the House-passed version is acceptable up here, then we concur," Orr said. "I know members are eager because they're looking at their re-election campaigns, and the fundraising era starts in late May. That opens up so that gives, depending on how long we're here, they're focused on their legislative duties in the session, there's a little bit of eagerness to get on home and begin the campaign process and start dealing with all that that entails. The sooner, the better and not wait until mid-late May."
The 2026 fiscal year begins in Alabama on October 1, 2025, and ends on September 30, 2026.
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