Feb. 23, 2016 – The Legislature held its first three-day week of the 2016 session last week, meeting in chambers on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
In the Senate, most of the work on the Senate floor focused on passing “Sunset” legislation. State law requires legislators to reauthorize the existence of certain public agencies, usually once every four years; the agencies cease to exist without reauthorization. State law also requires that these reauthorization bills receive priority during the early days of each legislative session. Last week, the Senate passed “Sunset” legislation reauthorizing, for example, the Department of Insurance, the Public Service Commission, and the Alabama Securities Commission.
After several hours of debate last Tuesday, the House passed House Bill 174, a bill that would prohibit cities and counties from setting their own minimum wage rates, on a 71-31 vote. Sponsored by Rep. David Faulkner (R-Mountain Brook), the legislation is seen by many as a response to a recently passed ordinance that increases the minimum wage rate in Birmingham from $7.25 an hour (the federal rate) to $8.50 an hour beginning March 1. The next day, the House passed House Bill 37, a constitutional amendment sponsored by Rep. Arnold Mooney (R-Helena) that, if ratified, would reaffirm Alabama’s status as a “Right to Work” state. Though an Alabama statute already makes this same declaration, proponents of the amendment believe that including this “core value” in the state’s constitution would send a strong message to businesses that are considering locating in Alabama. The bill passed the House the by a vote of 69-33.
At the end of the seventh legislative day, 270 bills have been introduced in, and 13 have been passed out of, the House of Representatives, while 273 bills have been introduced in, and 54 have passed out of, the Senate. Some of the measures that could impact Alabama banks include the following:
Senate Bill 67, sponsored by Sen. Cam Ward (R-Alabaster): This bill, the “Alabama Consumer Lawsuit Lending Act,” would regulate the process of consumer lawsuit lending in the state. The bill includes provisions related to consumer lawsuit lending agreements as well as interest rates applicable to such agreements (currently capped at 10 percent APR). By a 7-4 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee favorably reported this bill out of committee last week.
Senate Bill 90, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), and House Bill 217, sponsored by Rep. Alan Baker (R-Brewton): This bill would provide an income tax credit of $1,000 to an employer for each qualified apprentice of an employer, based on Department of Labor standards of “qualified apprentice.” On the Senate floor, an amendment was added that allowed banks to qualify for the tax credit. The Senate passed the amendment and the bill unanimously. The bill will likely be taken up in House committee next week.
Senate Bill 91, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur): This bill makes significant changes to laws related to payday loans, including a provision that caps the annual finance rate at 45 percent. The bill was favorably reported by the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee last week, but could still face significant opposition on the Senate floor.
Senate Bill 144, sponsored by Sen. Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) and House Bill 113, sponsored by Rep. Matt Fridy (R-Montevallo): This bill makes a declaratory finding that the term “transfer” in the Alabama Fraudulent Transfer Act includes transfers made pursuant to a divorce settlement or domestic settlement. While the bill merely seeks to clarify, rather than amend existing law, this bill is written as a response to a recent ruling of the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals that could potentially have a negative impact on banks. The Senate unanimously passed the bill last week, and the House is expected to take up the bill soon.
Senate Bill 164, sponsored by Sen. Rodger Smitherman (D-Birmingham) and House Bill 269, sponsored by Rep. Juandalynn Givan (D-Birmingham): This bill would adopt the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which would extend the traditional power of a fiduciary to manage tangible property to include the management of digital assets.
Senate Bill 202, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman (D-Birmingham): This bill would amend the corporate income tax law to require the operations of all related entities involved in a unitary business to file one corporate income tax return on a combined based, known as combined reporting. ABA, as well as other business advocacy groups, will undoubtedly oppose this measure if it ever makes it onto a committee agenda.
Senate Bill 209, sponsored by Sen. Bill Holtzclaw (R-Huntsville): This bill would make substantial, but mostly technical, revisions to Alabama’s Credit Union statute. The Alabama Credit Union Administration drafted the 51-page bill, which includes specific provisions about the appellate rights of persons affected by a suspension of operation of a credit union. These changes, and others, were likely prompted in the wake of the ACUA’s actions towards the Tuscaloosa-based Alabama One Credit Union. Working with the Credit Union industry, ABA was able to persuade the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee to adopt an amendment that alleviated our concerns about this mostly technical bill.
House Bill 36, sponsored by Rep. Kyle South (R-Fayette): This bill, the “Alabama Small Business Jobs Act,” would, as introduced, give businesses, including banks, an income/FIET tax credit under certain conditions. Specifically, a bank headquartered in Alabama with 75 or fewer employees would receive a one-time tax credit valued at $1,500 for each employee hiring that results in a “net employee growth” from one tax year to the next. ABA has already started encouraging Senators to support an amendment that would re-insert banks into this tax credit program. The amendment and bill are expected to be taken up in the Senate this week.
House Bill 62, sponsored by Rep. Victor Gaston (R-Mobile): This bill would authorize a seven-year extension of the tax credit against the tax liability of certain taxpayers, including banks with an FIET liability, for the substantial rehabilitation of qualified structures. Currently, up to $20,000,000 in tax credits are available each year for rehabilitation projects involving certified historic structures (credit equals 25 percent of the qualified rehabilitation expenditures, up to $5,000,000 per project) or qualified pre-1936 non-historic structures (credit equals 10 percent of qualified rehabilitation expenditures, up to $5,000,000 per project). The tax credit program, which expires in April, would under this legislation be renewed until 2022. The House Ways and Means Education Committee is expected to vote on the bill this Wednesday.
The Legislature has met for seven legislative days as of this writing. A Regular Legislative Session can contain no more than 30 legislative days, and all legislative days must take place on or before May 16, which is 105 days after the beginning of the session. The House of Representatives and Senate will convene today for the eighth legislative day. The House will begin at 1 p.m. and the Senate will begin at 2 p.m. The House and Senate are expected to meet for two legislative days this week.
