MONTGOMERY — After hours of delay tactics by State Sen. Rodger Smitherman (D-Birmingham), the Alabama Senate passed a series of bills allocating $3.7 billion from the state's General Fund (GF) for the 2026 fiscal year.
The House concurred with the Senate's changes to the General Fund budget on Tuesday night. The budget now heads to Gov. Kay Ivey for her consideration.
Smitherman was able to slow down the entire day by requesting roll call votes and filibustering local bills. On the first bill on the calendar, Smitherman requested that the entire 135-page General Fund budget bill be read aloud in its entirety. After four-and-a-half hours of the bill being read aloud, the Senate passed the budget at around 10:59 p.m.
Legislation changing the governance of Birmingham Water Works passed the Senate unanimously last week. Smitherman called the bill a "public lynching" in a public hearing in committee last week.
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