The Alabama Legislature is in session

January 13, 2026 – MONTGOMERY – At noob today both houses of the Alabama Legislature gaveled in opening the 2026 Alabama regular legislative session. New members of the Alabama House – elected in special election in 2025 were introduced to the members and officially joined the

Former state Representative Matt Woods (R-Jasper( joined the Senate filling the vacancy created by the resignation of former Senate Pro Tem Greg Reed (R-Jasper) to accept a position from Governor Kay Ivey as Alabama Secretary of Workforce. Woods won a special election to fill the opening in the Senate, bringing ther Senate back to its full strength of 35.

There are 105 members of the House. 103 are filled. A special election today will fill one of the two openings. Another special election will fill the other next month.

The Senate passed a resolution to honor the passing of Senator Kirk Hatcher's mother (1942 to 2025), who was a successful seamstress in the Montgomery area for decades.

The Senate passed a resolution naming Piney Woods Cattle as the official cattle breed of the State of Alabama. Piney Woods cattle were the mixed breed scrub cattle commonly found in Alabama at the time of the Civil War. The rugged pioneer cattle adapted to the conditions grazing the meadows and primordial forests of the south. After the Civil War most of those herds were "improved" with the importation of Shorthorn, Angus, and Hereford cattle originally from England. Piney Woods Cattle are now considered a heritage breed.

The Senate passed resolutions announcing to the governor that the Senate is in session, and appointed a committee to escort the governor to join the Legislature tonight for the State of the State address.

Senator Gerald Allen's (R-Tuscaloosa) granddaughter, the current Miss UAB led the members in the Pledge of Allegiance. Rev. Greg Davis, the director of the conservative Alabama Citizens Actin Program (ALCAP) delivered the opening benediction of the session in the Senate

Former State Representative Connie Rowe (R-Jasper) was introduced as the new Chief of Staff for Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth.

The Senate President Pro Tempore is Senator Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman).

The Senate is now open for the introduction of bills. 206 bills were prefiled ahead of the session. Now that the legislature is in session, that number will grow substantially in the next 72 hours.

The Senate went into recess at 12:30 p.m. until the State of the State address tonight. The State of the State address will be in the old House Chambers of the historic 1859 Capitol Building at 6:00 p.m. tonight. That will be a joint session of the House and Senate.

This will be Governor Ivey's last legislative session. This will also be the last legislative session to be held in the current Statehouse building – built in 1962 as the home of the state Highway Department, it has been the home of the Alabama Legislature since 1986. A much larger Statehouse is being built across the street in what used to be the statehouse's parking lot. The new Alabama Statehouse will have more meeting space allowing many more Alabamians to attend public hearings and committee meetings. Some of the existing committee rooms seat as few as 25 citizens and journalists.

"It is the people's house we want everyone to have access to it," said Pro Tem. Gudger. "You couldn't get in the restrooms," Gudger said of the current statehouse.

Gudger said that the Legislature's goal is to, "Pass the bills to make Alabama as successful as possible."

There was a long jam at the end of the legislative session last year. Angered by some of the conservative bills on the agenda, Senate Democrats filibustered both statewide bills and uncontroversial local bills at the end of the session. Even though Gudger and Senate Republicans prioritized those local bills many failed to pass due to time constraints created by the filibuster and the Alabama Constitution hard maximum of thirty legislative days in a session.

Gudger told reporters that this week the Senate will, "Focus on sunset bills and those local bills that we did not get out last year."

Gudger was asked by reporters if he anticipated similar antics in this legislative session.

"There will be filibusters," said Gudger. "There are disagreements and this is part of the process."

Recently the Trump administration's Department of Health and Human Services Department decreased the number of recommended vaccines from 17 to 11.

The State of Alabama currently requires the 17 vaccines for children enrolled in a public school. The Alabama Gazette asked Senator Dan Roberts (R-Mountain Brook) is the state was going to automatically drop the number of vaccines from 17 to 11 or does that require legislation.

"This has come out and we are looking at it," said Senator Roberts.

Tuesday is day one of the 2026 Alabama regular legislative session.

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