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Read. Follow. Verify.Alabama HB 39 reduces seafood dealer license fees for existing license holders and remits funds to Sweet Grown Alabama
Last action · February 5, 2026: Read for the Second Time and placed on the CalendarSponsor: Chip Brown
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What This Bill Would Do
Alabama HB 39 establishes a reduced seafood dealer license fee of $265 for state residents who already hold certain other commercial fishing or seafood licenses, and applies this change retroactively to October 1, 2025. The measure also mandates that the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources remit $200 from each seafood dealer license fee to Sweet Grown Alabama.
Commercial seafood dealers who already hold state fishing permits see their licensing costs lowered, while a portion of all dealer license fees is permanently redirected to promote local seafood products.
- Sweet Grown Alabama is a nonprofit foundation that promotes agricultural and seafood products grown or produced within the state. context
- Section 9-12-125 of the Code of Alabama governs commercial seafood dealer licensing requirements and fee schedules. context
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.
Alabama seafood dealers
State residents holding specific existing commercial fishing permits pay a lower fee of $265 for a seafood dealer license.
Sweet Grown Alabama
The nonprofit corporation receives an annual remittance of $200 from each collected seafood dealer license fee.
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
The agency is required to collect license fees and annually remit $200 from each fee to Sweet Grown Alabama.
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
Who qualifies for the reduced $265 seafood dealer license fee?
Where does a portion of the seafood dealer license fee money go?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently passed chamber. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.
Procedural history
10 actions- Feb 5, 2026SenateRead for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar
- Feb 4, 2026SenateCommitteeReported Out of Committee Second House
- Jan 27, 2026SenateCommitteePending Committee Action in Second House
- Jan 27, 2026SenateIntroducedRead for the first time and referred to the Senate Committee on Finance and Taxation General Fund
- Jan 22, 2026HouseFloorMotion to Read a Third Time and Pass - Adopted Roll Call 150
- Jan 22, 2026HouseThird Reading in House of Origin
Show 4 earlier actions
- Jan 14, 2026HouseRead for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar
- Jan 14, 2026HouseCommitteeReported Out of Committee House of Origin
- Jan 13, 2026HouseCommitteePending Committee Action in House of Origin
- Jan 13, 2026HouseIntroducedRead for the first time and referred to the House Committee on Ports, Waterways and Intermodal Transit
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.
Earmarking for Nonprofit Promotion
The bill directs a portion of regulatory license fees directly to a specific private nonprofit corporation, Sweet Grown Alabama, for marketing purposes.
Connected Entities
Sources
alison.legislature.state.al.us
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance35How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy10Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz15Current news / social attention level
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