The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Alabama HB 251 appropriates $80.4 million from tobacco settlement funds for children, health, and education programs
Last action · January 21, 2026: Re-referred to Committee in House of OriginSponsor: Warren
Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.
What This Bill Would Do
This bill allocates $36,635,222 from the and $43,789,530 from other tobacco settlement funds for 2027 to various state agencies and trust funds. It mandates that be deposited into the Children First Trust Fund within 30 days of receipt, transfers education-allocated portions to the State General Fund, and establishes quarterly allocation schedules conditioned on revenue availability.
State agencies including Medicaid, Mental Health, Youth Services, and Public Health will receive specified funding allocations for 2027, subject to tobacco settlement revenue receipts and approved investment plans.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
State Agencies Receiving Appropriations
State entities such as the Department of Human Resources, Medicaid Agency, and Department of Youth Services receive specific funding allocations subject to quarterly schedules and approved investment plans.
Department of Early Childhood Education
The department is assigned administrative responsibilities including receiving written notifications of allocations, certifying investment plans, and reporting to legislative oversight committees.
State Board of Education
The portion of Children First Trust Fund receipts currently allocated for the board will be transferred to the State General Fund during fiscal year 2027.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much money does HB 251 appropriate from the Children First Trust Fund?
What happens to unspent money in the Children First Trust Fund at the end of the fiscal year?
Are agency allocations contingent on specific conditions?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
3 actions- Jan 21, 2026HouseCommitteeRe-referred to Committee in House of Origin
- Jan 15, 2026HouseCommitteePending Committee Action in House of Origin
- Jan 15, 2026HouseIntroducedRead for the first time and referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means Education
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Redirecting Education Trust Funds to State General Fund
Section 2 explicitly mandates that the portion of Children First Trust Fund receipts normally allocated for the State Board of Education be transferred to the State General Fund for fiscal year 2027.
Connected Entities
Sources
alison.legislature.state.al.us
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance75How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy15Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
Publisher tools