MONTGOMERY — The Statehouse was busy in Tuesday’s first day of the special session.
The Senate passed Senate Bill 1 (33-0), which transfers $59.9 million from the State’s General Fund budget to the Alabama Trust Fund.
This $59 million from the State’s General Fund is separate from the $1.05 billion in American Rescue Act Plan funds also being appropriated during this special session. Senate Bill 1 will advance to the House of Representatives for its first reading today.
The Alabama Trust Fund was created as a “rainy day” account to be used only in times of fiscal crisis and is funded by royalty payments that are received monthly from oil and gas companies. In 2012, the trust fund transferred $437 million to the state’s General Fund to help with proration and the legislative financial crisis.
Meanwhile, the House voted to appropriate the final $1 billion of federal funds distributed to Alabama from ARPA. The bill is slated to land in the Senate on Thursday.
The ARPA allocations are for:
Public Health ($339.1 million)
- $100 million to reimburse hospitals for eligible COVID-19 expenses
- $100 million to reimburse nursing homes for eligible COVID-19 expenses
- Up to $5 million to reimburse veterans’ hospitals for eligible COVID-19 expenses
- Up to $40 million to reimburse the State Employees’ Insurance Board
- Up to $40 million for the Public Education Employees’ Health Insurance Board
- Up to $25 million to support mental health programs and services
- Up to $9 million to facilitate the expansion and use of telemedicine
- Up to $20 million for healthcare research and access to personalized medicine
Infrastructure ($660 million)
- $400 million for water and sewer infrastructure projects
- $260 million for broadband expansion
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