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HB237 • 2026

Education Opportunities Reserve Fund transfers for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026

Education Opportunities Reserve Fund transfers for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026

Budget Education
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Garrett
Last action
2026-04-09
Official status
Enacted
Effective date
2026-04-09

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not specify the exact nature of the RAISE Act and CHEER Act beyond their funding purposes.

Education Opportunities Reserve Fund Transfers for Fiscal Year 2026

This law transfers $500 million from the Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund to two other funds during fiscal year 2026.

What This Bill Does

  • Transfers $399,150,000 from the Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund to the RAISE Fund for continuing and expanding student programs.
  • Transfers $100,850,000 from the same fund to the CHEER Fund to start funding higher education initiatives.

Who It Names or Affects

  • The Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund
  • The RAISE and CHEER Funds

Terms To Know

RAISE Act
A program that invests in Alabama's students to improve their education.
CHEER Act
Legislation aimed at improving college and higher education outcomes in Alabama.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The transfer of $100,850,000 to the CHEER Fund is only effective if House Bill 565 or Senate Bill 344 of the 2026 Regular Session is enacted.
  • This law applies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, only.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

XDUYCEZ-1

R 873

Adopted

Plain English: XDUYCEZ-1 03/10/2026 KHF KHF 2026-1166 WAYS AND MEANS EDUCATION WAYS AND MEANS EDUCATION SUBSTITUTE TO HB237 OFFERED BY REPRESENTATIVE COLLINS Page 1 SYNOPSIS: This bill would transfer $500,000,000 from the Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, as follows: $399,150,000 to the Renewing Alabama's Investment in Student Excellence (RAISE) Fund; and $100,850,000 to the College and Higher Education Excellence and Results (CHEER) Fund.

  • XDUYCEZ-1 03/10/2026 KHF KHF 2026-1166 WAYS AND MEANS EDUCATION WAYS AND MEANS EDUCATION SUBSTITUTE TO HB237 OFFERED BY REPRESENTATIVE COLLINS Page 1 SYNOPSIS: This bill would transfer $500,000,000 from the Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, as follows: $399,150,000 to the Renewing Alabama's Investment in Student Excellence (RAISE) Fund; and $100,850,000 to the College and Higher Education Excellence and Results (CHEER) Fund.
  • A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To transfer $500,000,000 from the Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, as follows: $399,150,000 to the Renewing Alabama's Investment in Student Excellence (RAISE) Fund; and $100,850,000 to the College and Higher Education Excellence and Results (CHEER) Fund.
  • BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA: Section 1.
  • Notwithstanding Section 29-9-4, Code of Alabama 1975, during the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, $399,150,000 is transferred from the Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund to the Renewing Alabama's Investment in Student 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Page 2 Reserve Fund to the Renewing Alabama's Investment in Student Excellence (RAISE) Fund established in Section 16-13-362, Code of Alabama 1975, to be available for appropriation and used to provide for the continuation and expansion of the Renewing Alabama's Investment in Student Excellence (RAISE) Act pursuant to Article 16, Chapter 13, of Title 16, Code of Alabama 1975.
  • This amendment summary is using official source text because generated interpretation was skipped for this run.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-09 House

    Enacted

  2. 2026-04-02 Senate

    Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass - Adopted Roll Call 1104 (Yeas 33, Nays 0)

  3. 2026-04-02 Senate

    Third Reading in Second House (Yeas 33, Nays 0)

  4. 2026-04-02 House

    Delivered to Governor

  5. 2026-04-02 Senate

    Signature Requested

  6. 2026-04-02 House

    Enrolled

  7. 2026-04-02 House

    Ready to Enroll

  8. 2026-04-02 House

    Ready to Enroll

  9. 2026-04-01 Senate

    Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar

  10. 2026-04-01 Senate

    Reported Out of Committee Second House

  11. 2026-03-12 House

    Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass as Amended - Adopted Roll Call 874 (Yeas 104, Nays 0)

  12. 2026-03-12 House

    Motion to Adopt - Adopted Roll Call 873 (Yeas 105, Nays 0)

  13. 2026-03-12 House

    Third Reading in House of Origin (Yeas 104, Nays 0)

  14. 2026-03-12 Senate

    Pending Committee Action in Second House

  15. 2026-03-12 Senate

    Read for the first time and referred to the Senate Committee on Finance and Taxation Education

  16. 2026-03-12 House

    Engrossed

  17. 2026-03-12 House

    Ways and Means Education 1st Substitute Offered

  18. 2026-03-11 House

    Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar

  19. 2026-03-11 House

    Reported Out of Committee House of Origin

  20. 2026-03-11 House

    Ways and Means Education 1st Substitute

  21. 2026-01-14 House

    Pending Committee Action in House of Origin

  22. 2026-01-14 House

    Read for the first time and referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means Education

Official Summary Text

This act transfers from the Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026: (1) $399,150,000 to the Renewing Alabama's Investment in Student Excellence (RAISE) Fund for the continuation and expansion of RAISE Act; and (2) $100,850,000 to the College and Higher Education Excellence and Results (CHEER) Fund to provide initial funding to implement the CHEER Act.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
HB237 ENROLLED
Page 0
HB237
XDUYCEZ-3
By Representative Garrett
RFD: Ways and Means Education
First Read: 14-Jan-26
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HB237 Enrolled
Page 1
First Read: 14-Jan-26
Enrolled, An Act,
To transfer $500,000,000 from the Educational
Opportunities Reserve Fund for the fiscal year ending September
30, 2026, as follows: $399,150,000 to the Renewing Alabama's
Investment in Student Excellence (RAISE) Fund; and $100,850,000
to the College and Higher Education Excellence and Results
(CHEER) Fund.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Notwithstanding Section 29-9-4, Code of
Alabama 1975, during the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026,
$399,150,000 is transferred from the Educational Opportunities
Reserve Fund to the Renewing Alabama's Investment in Student
Excellence (RAISE) Fund established in Section 16-13-362, Code
of Alabama 1975, to be available for appropriation and used to
provide for the continuation and expansion of the Renewing
Alabama's Investment in Student Excellence (RAISE) Act pursuant
to Article 16, Chapter 13, of Title 16, Code of Alabama 1975.
Section 2. Notwithstanding Section 29-9-4, Code of
Alabama 1975, during the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026,
$100,850,000 is transferred from the Educational Opportunities
Reserve Fund to the College and Higher Education Excellence and
Results (CHEER) Fund established by House Bill or Senate Bill
of the 2026 Regular Session, or other act of the Legislature,
to provide initial funding to implement the CHEER Act. The
provisions of this section are only effective if House Bill 565
or Senate Bill 344 of the 2026 Regular Session is enacted.
Section 3. This act shall become effective immediately
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HB237 Enrolled
Page 2
Section 3. This act shall become effective immediately
following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its
otherwise becoming law.
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HB237 Enrolled
Page 3
otherwise becoming law.
________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Representatives
________________________________________________
President and Presiding Officer of the Senate
House of Representatives
I hereby certify that the within Act originated in and
was passed by the House 12-Mar-26, as amended.
John Treadwell
Clerk
Senate 02-Apr-26 Passed
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