Alabama House Education Trust Fund budget chairman Danny Garrett says he is already holding budget discussions with members of the incoming Tuberville administration as Alabama prepares for its first gubernatorial transition in eight years.
Garrett (R-Trussville) said Tuesday on “The Jeff Poor Show” that preparation for the 2027 legislative session is already underway, including conversations with the team preparing for a potential Tuberville administration. Tuberville, the Republican nominee for governor, faces Democratic nominee Doug Jones in November.
“I’m already having meetings about the upcoming budget, so a lot of discussions in preparation for that,” Garrett said. “Discussions with our new administration coming in and trying to, you know, get the lay of the land.”
Garrett said it will be the first time he has handled the budget through a “wholesale administration change” and expects the Tuberville administration to bring new priorities and ideas about making state government more efficient.
“I don’t think it will be just business as usual,” Garrett said. “I expect there’ll be some new ideas and a lot of discussion, so I look forward to having those.”
The transition comes as Alabama’s Education Trust Fund is moving back toward a more normal financial environment after several years of unusually large surpluses fueled by federal COVID funding.
Garrett said the supplemental appropriation, essentially the money remaining after required distributions, reserves and other statutory obligations have been accounted for, reached approximately $2.8 billion at the height of the influx of COVID-era funding.
That figure later fell to approximately $600 million, then $500 million and $419 million last year.
Garrett expects the upcoming supplemental appropriation to be closer to $200 million.
“What that tells you is that the revenues have stabilized off like we expected,” Garrett said. “We’ll still have some funds left over, but we’re back to kind of a more normal situation.”
Garrett said the state remains in good financial shape and noted that lawmakers previously adopted measures intended to constrain budget growth.
The timing of the transition will also require coordination between lawmakers and the incoming administration. Under Alabama law, the governor is required to submit proposed budgets to the Legislature shortly after the session begins.
“We’ll have to step through how this is going to navigate, how this change will happen,” Garrett said. “But I don’t expect it to be business as usual.”
Sawyer Knowles is a state and political reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
