SB39 • 2026

Legislative Committee on Reapportionment; appointment of members to committee revised

Passed Legislature

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

Sponsor: Givhan
Last action: 2026-02-12
Official status: Read Second Time in Second House
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official bill text shows strikethroughs indicating 'Lieutenant Governor' is replaced by 'President Pro Tempore', confirming the change in appointment authority.

SB39: Changing Who Appoints Senate Members to the Reapportionment Committee

This bill changes Alabama law so that the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, instead of the Lieutenant Governor, appoints the state senators who serve on the Permanent Legislative Committee on Reapportionment.

What This Bill Does

Changes the person who picks the three Senate members for the committee from the Lieutenant Governor to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate during normal years.
Updates Section 29-2-51 of the Code of Alabama 1975 to reflect this new appointment rule.
Keeps the Speaker of the House as the person who appoints the three House members for the committee during normal years.
Maintains the larger 22-member committee size only in years when the U.S. census is released and reapportionment work begins, with Senate at-large members appointed by the President Pro Tempore instead of the Lieutenant Governor.

Who It Names or Affects

The President Pro Tempore of the Alabama Senate
Members of the Alabama Senate who serve on the Permanent Legislative Committee on Reapportionment

Terms To Know

Reapportionment: The process of dividing a state into districts based on population numbers from the U.S. census.
President Pro Tempore: A senior leader in the Senate who presides over meetings when the Lieutenant Governor is not present.
Quadrennium: A period of four years, which matches how often the U.S. census happens and legislative terms are organized for this committee.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not explain why the change in appointment power is being made.
The text only changes who appoints Senate members; it does not change how House members are chosen or how many total seats exist on the committee.

Bill History

2026-02-12 House
Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar
2026-02-11 House
Reported Out of Committee Second House
2026-02-05 Senate
Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass - Adopted Roll Call 280 (Yeas 34, Nays 0)
2026-02-05 Senate
Third Reading in House of Origin (Yeas 34, Nays 0)
2026-02-05 House
Pending Committee Action in Second House
2026-02-05 House
Read for the first time and referred to the House Committee on State Government
2026-01-21 Senate
Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar
2026-01-21 Senate
Reported Out of Committee House of Origin
2026-01-13 Senate
Pending Committee Action in House of Origin
2026-01-13 Senate
Read for the first time and referred to the Senate Committee on State Governmental Affairs

Official Summary Text

Legislative Committee on Reapportionment; appointment of members to committee revised

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SB39 INTRODUCED
Page 0
SB39
84Q4M22-1
By Senator Givhan
RFD: State Governmental Affairs
First Read: 13-Jan-26
PFD: 07-Jan-26
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84Q4M22-1 10/30/2025 PMG (L)PMG 2025-2884
Page 1
PFD: 07-Jan-26
SYNOPSIS:
Under existing law, the Permanent Legislative
Committee on Reapportionment consists of members of the
Senate and members of the House of Representatives of
the Alabama Legislature appointed by the Lieutenant
Governor and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, respectively.
This bill would provide for the President Pro
Tempore of the Senate to appoint the Senate members to
the committee.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to the Permanent Legislative Committee on
Reapportionment; to amend Section 29-2-51, Code of Alabama
1975, to revise the appointment of Senate members to the
committee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 29-2-51, Code of Alabama 1975, is
amended to read as follows:
"§29-2-51
(a) There is hereby created a permanent legislative
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SB39 INTRODUCED
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(a) There is hereby created a permanent legislative
committee to be known as the Permanent Legislative Committee
on Reapportionment, hereinafter referred to as the
"committee."
(b)(1) Except during the quadrennium in which the
United States census is released and the Legislature is
actually involved with the reapportionment process, the
committee shall be composed of six members appointed during
the organizational session of each quadrennium to serve each
quadrennium as follows: Three members of the Senate to be
appointed by the Lieutenant Governor President Pro Tempore of
the Senate and three members of the House to be appointed by
the Speaker of the House.
(2) The committee members shall select from among its
numbers a Senator and a member of the House of Representatives
to serve as co-chairpersons for the quadrennium to preside
over meetings of the committee. Whenever the Legislature is
not in regular or special session, each member of the
committee shall be entitled to his or her usual legislative
pay, travel expenses , and per diem for each day he the member
spends in attending any such meeting or conducting business of
the committee within or without the state.
(c) In those quadrenniums in which the United States
official decennial census is released and while the
Legislature is actually involved in the reapportionment
process, the committee shall be composed of 22 members as
follows: One member of the House of Representatives from each
congressional district, four members of the House of
Representatives at-large to be appointed by the Speaker of the
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SB39 INTRODUCED
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Representatives at-large to be appointed by the Speaker of the
House and one member of the Senate from each congressional
district, four members of the Senate at-large, to be appointed
by the Lieutenant Governor the President Pro Tempore of the
Senate . Upon the completion of the reapportionment process,
the committee composition shall revert to the six member
committee provided in subsection (b) hereof ."
Section 2. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2026.
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