After his time in Montgomery is up, retiring Alabama State Senator Tom Butler anticipates spending a lot of time mowing lawn.
However, the Madison Republican’s concentration on lawn maintenance alone will have to wait.
Butler, whose last term in office would conclude with the 2026 elections, stated, “I still have a year and a half in service to the state.” And I plan to take full advantage of that. I refuse to be a weakling.
Butler, who represents portions of Limestone and Madison counties, stated that he will concentrate on the state’s budgets for education and the general fund.
Therefore, he stated, “I will be concentrating on what’s in the budgets for the next year and a half, what I can jam into the budget in both the education and general fund.”
He won’t be the only one who concentrates on the budgets. Budgets are the main issue for the upcoming session, according to both State Senator Wes Kitchens and State Representative Andy Whitt.
Whitt stated that he is worried about the effects of federal budgets on state affairs, especially in light of President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill’s passage.
Whitt stated, “I believe that is still unknown.” It is necessary for us to examine the impact on the general fund and make the necessary adjustments.
According to Kitchens, policymakers will need to ensure that we have sustainable, healthy budgets and that we don’t go overboard.
“We’re going to be looking at numbers from a budget perspective,” the Marshall County senator stated. We are currently working on some of those.
Whitt stated that because the session is taking place in an election year, he doesn’t think there will be many contentious subjects. However, he thinks a common subject will be raised: gaming.
“We have been very clear that gaming will need to pass the Senate,” he said. Last year, it didn’t. What transpired up there is unknown to me.
According to state representative Parker Moore, there is growing support for tax cuts in specific jurisdictions.
He thinks that the Huntsville Representative Anthony Daniels’ overtime tax cut, which was allowed to expire during the previous legislative session, will be reviewed.
Moore stated, “We’re going to review that and see where that situation stands.”
According to Moore, lawmakers will probably keep addressing mental health concerns.
According to him, there are still a lot of teenage mental health problems, particularly in our educational systems. A few years ago, our state provided funding for mental health services to at least one mental health expert in every school district. And in order to raise that to perhaps two or three per school district, I believe we need to attempt to prioritize some more of that cash.
According to Moore, the extra mental health specialists would help teachers as well as pupils.
According to him, more and more of our teachers are informing us that some of these pupils are exhibiting increasingly severe behavioral problems. They require assistance in attempting to manage how to deal with those as well.
Lawmakers will also be concentrating on passing proposals that failed to reach the final stages of the last session, according to Whitt and Kitchens. Among these is a bill that Kitchens is sponsoring that would loosen some restrictions on veterans’ benefits.
Butler added that he would keep pushing for laws that would address the concerns of Morgan, Limestone, and Madison counties. Additionally, he urged his colleagues to assist in identifying possible legislative candidates among Huntsville high school students who are engaged in church activities, government classes, and service to others.
“When we retire, we need new blood to come in and replace us,” Butler stated.
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