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HB455 • 2026

Contract review committee; recommendation that the Governor not sign contracts under review provided

Contract review committee; recommendation that the Governor not sign contracts under review provided

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Carns
Last action
2026-02-25
Official status
Read Second Time in House of Origin
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on the impact of recommendations made by the committee, nor does it explicitly require a 45-day review period for all contracts and letters of intent.

Contract Review Committee; Governor's Contract Signing Recommendations

This bill allows the Contract Review Permanent Legislative Oversight Committee to recommend that the Governor does not sign contracts under review.

What This Bill Does

  • Allows the committee to suggest that the Governor should not sign a contract if it is being reviewed by the committee.
  • Makes technical changes to make the language of current laws clearer and more up-to-date.

Who It Names or Affects

  • The Contract Review Permanent Legislative Oversight Committee
  • State departments that enter into contracts with private entities or individuals

Terms To Know

Contract Review Permanent Legislative Oversight Committee
A group of lawmakers who review state contracts and give advice on them.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if the committee recommends against signing a contract.
  • It is unclear how often this recommendation will be made or its impact on state contracts.

Bill History

  1. 2026-02-25 House

    Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar

  2. 2026-02-25 House

    Reported Out of Committee House of Origin

  3. 2026-02-17 House

    Pending Committee Action in House of Origin

  4. 2026-02-17 House

    Read for the first time and referred to the House Committee on State Government

Official Summary Text

Contract review committee; recommendation that the Governor not sign contracts under review provided

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
HB455 INTRODUCED
Page 0
HB455
FKNZZ55-1
By Representative Carns
RFD: State Government
First Read: 17-Feb-26
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FKNZZ55-1 02/13/2026 ZAK (L)ma 2026-898
Page 1
First Read: 17-Feb-26
SYNOPSIS:
Under existing law, the Contract Review
Permanent Legislative Oversight Committee reviews and
comments on contracts entered into by state departments
for personal or professional services with private
entities or individuals to be paid out of appropriated
funds.
This bill would provide that the committee, when
reviewing a contract, may recommend that the Governor
not sign the contract.
This bill would also make nonsubstantive,
technical revisions to update the existing code
language to current style.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to the Contract Review Permanent Legislative
Oversight Committee ; to amend Section 29-2-41, Code of Alabama
1975, to provide that the committee may recommend that the
Governor not sign a contract under review by the committee;
and to make nonsubstantive, technical revisions to update the
existing code language to current style.
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HB455 INTRODUCED
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existing code language to current style.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 29-2-41, Code of Alabama 1975, is
amended to read as follows:
"§29-2-41
(a) Each member of the committee shall be entitled to
regular legislative compensation, per diem, and travel
expenses for each day he or she attends a meeting of the
committee, which shall be paid out of the funds appropriated
to the use of the Legislature, on warrants drawn on the state
Comptroller upon requisition signed by the committee's chair.
Members shall not receive additional compensation or per diem
when the Legislature is in session. The Department of
Examiners of Public Accounts shall furnish assistance and any
relevant information to the committee.
(b)(1) The committee shall have the responsibility of
reviewing contracts for personal or professional services with
private entities or individuals to be paid out of appropriated
funds, federal or state, on a state warrant issued as
recompense for those services.
(2) Each state department entering into a contract to
be paid out of appropriated funds, federal or state, on a
state warrant which is notified by the committee , shall submit
to the committee any proposed contract for personal or
professional services. Each contract shall be accompanied by
an itemization of the total cost estimate of the contract.
(c) A department, in lieu of the proposed contract, may
submit to the committee a letter of intent to contract. A
letter of intent to contract shall indicate the contracting
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HB455 INTRODUCED
Page 3
letter of intent to contract shall indicate the contracting
parties, the services to be performed, an itemization of the
total cost estimate of the contract, and such other
information as the department may deem pertinent to the
committee review of the contract. If a department elects to
submit a letter of intent to contract in lieu of a proposed
contract, the department shall be required to submit to the
committee for its information the contract described in the
letter of intent upon the execution of the contract.
(d) The committee shall hold a hearing to review and
comment where necessary on any contract or letter of intent to
contrac t, including a recommendation that the Governor not
sign a contract, within a reasonable time not to exceed 45
days after a department has submitted the contract or letter
of intent to contract to the committee. If the committee fails
to hold a hearing to review a contract or letter of intent to
contract within the 45-day time period, the contract shall be
deemed to have been reviewed in compliance with this section.
The committee may hold a contract considered at a meeting for
up to 45 days following the meeting to review and comment on
the contract .
(e) Any contract made by the state or any of its
agencies or departments in violation of this section and
without prior review by the committee of either the contract
or the letter of intent to contract shall be void ab initio.
(f) The committee may issue subpoenas for any witnesses
and require the production of any documents or contracts the
committee deems necessary to examine in order to conduct its
duties.
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HB455 INTRODUCED
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duties.
(g) The committee shall organize itself at the first
meeting following a new quadrennium and elect from among its
membership a chair and a vice-chair vice chair . Any committee
member reelected to a new quadrennium shall continue to serve
on the committee until such time the committee reorganizes
itself.
(h) The committee shall hold regular meetings at least
once each month, the regular meetings to be held during the
first week of each month."
Section 2. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2026.
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