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Alabama

Alabama, like all states, has a unique early childhood policy landscape that is shaped by its economy, demographics, and political history. This profile offers an overview of that ecosystem, because no matter the landscape, meaningful progress for young children and their families is possible.

The Alliance for Early Success helps ensure that young children remain a clear and urgent priority for state policymakers. Our mission is to strengthen bold state advocacy voices that reflect local communities, navigate political realities, and build the power needed to turn opportunity into transformational change. (See the Alliance for Early Success Theory of Change.)

2026 Early Childhood Policy Advocacy Ecosystem and Progress
 
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Policy Advocacy Ecosystem:

These organizations educate, organize, and advocate to improve state early childhood policies.

Key Early Childhood Policy Advocacy Organizations:1

These include organizations focused on early childhood policy advocacy as well community, organizing, and other nonprofit groups that also engage in advocacy.

*Alliance Ally
*Alliance Ally

Coalitions Working on Early Childhood Policy:1

These coalitions build collective power to that governors, state legislators, and agency officials prioritize policies and funding that promote the health and early learning of young children and their families.

Early Childhood Policy Advocacy Multi-State Initiatives:2

The following investors have a multi-state investment with a presence in the state. See the Alliance’s map of multi-state initiatives for more information on who receives funding from these initiatives.   

Political Landscape:

State Revenue:3 Decreasing 

In 2026, Alabama’s governor signed the fiscal 2027 budgets for the General Fund and Education Trust Fund. The General Fund budget totals $3.7 billion, an increase of $21.2 million, or 0.6 percent, over budgeted fiscal 2026. The Education Trust Fund budget totals $10.5 billion, an increase of $569.3 million, or 5.8 percent, over budgeted fiscal 2026. The General Fund revenue estimate for fiscal 2027 is $3.4 billion, a decrease of 4.2 percent from estimated fiscal 2026 while the Education Trust Fund revenue estimate is $11.3 billion for fiscal 2027, an increase of 2.4 percent.3

Key Revenue Sources (after federal transfers):4

      • Charges: $2,748 per capita
      • General Sales Taxes: $1,465 per capita

Alabama uses all major state and local taxes. Charges are public payments connected with a specific government service, such as tuition paid to a state university, payments to a public hospital, or highway tolls. Alabama uses all major state and local taxes.

State Budget Rules:4

Alabama uses an annual budget. The legislature must pass a balanced budget and is prohibited from carrying a deficit into the following year. There are no further tax and expenditure limits. Alabama does limit its total authorized debt (but not debt service).

Permanent State Funding Stream Dedicated to Early Childhood:5 No

There is no permanent state funding stream—such as lottery revenue, nicotine tax, or trust fund distributions—dedicated by statute to early childhood supports. (Examples of other states with such funding in place can be found in the Alliance’s Revenue and Early Childhood Finance resource center.) 

Political Alignment:6 Aligned Republican

During the legislative session, the state’s Senate and House were both Republican controlled. The state’s Governor was also a Republican.

Types of Common Ballot Measures Available:7  One

    • Legislature-Initiated Constitutional Amendments – A constitutional amendment that appears on a state’s ballot as a ballot measure because the state legislature in that state voted to put it before the voters.

2026 Policy Progress:

Highlights from the state’s early childhood policy advocacy community include:1

HB 78 passed during the 2026 session and establishes statewide guidance related to screen time and high-quality programming for young children (birth to five years) in publicly funded early learning settings. It was signed into law as Act 2026-169. It promotes collaboration among early childhood agencies (Department of Early Childhood Education, Department of Human Resources, and Alabama State Department of Education) to train and implement these standards in licensed child-care facilities and certain prekindergarten and public kindergarten classrooms. Additionally, the law emphasizes providing parents and caregivers with accessible resources to help them effectively manage their children’s screen time and support their development. It will become effective on January 1, 2027. This legislation positions Alabama among the first states to establish research-informed standards in early learning environments.

The Alabama Legislature adopted House Joint Resolution (HJR) 51, creating the Study Commission on Artificial Intelligence and Children’s Internet Safety to examine the effects of artificial intelligence, social media, and internet use on children and develop recommendations for future legislation. The bipartisan commission brings together lawmakers, the Attorney General’s Office, the Department of Mental Health, child advocates—including VOICES for Alabama’s Children—and technology industry representatives to evaluate emerging risks, review policy approaches from other states, and recommend strategies to strengthen online protections for children.

Alabama advocates have also been working to ensure the effective implementation of past legislative wins. Alabama’s RAISE Act (Renewing Alabama’s Investment in Student Excellence) became law on May 6, 2025, and took effect on June 1, 2025. It introduced a needs-based funding system starting in the 2025-2026 school year, with an additional $399 million for the RAISE Act Fund, bringing the total to $533 million this fiscal year. Following the Act’s passage, the coalition shifted to implementation, educating school districts and local communities about the new funding model and the importance of demonstrating responsible stewardship of this historic investment. During the 2026 Regular Legislative Session, advocates built on these relationships and implementation efforts to successfully encourage lawmakers to increase funding for the RAISE Act, reinforcing the state’s commitment to a more equitable, student-centered education funding system.

RECENT ADVOCACY SNAPSHOT:

Work Continues to Include Family Child Care Providers in Public Pre-K Systems

February 7, 2025

In an effort to extend the reach of publicly funded pre-k programs, policymakers and advocates are turning toward a strategy of increasing pre-K enrollment spots beyond school and center-based classrooms, such as in family child care homes. A new national initiative aims to help family child care providers in Alabama, Michigan, Nevada, and North Carolina integrate into publicly funded pre-k programs.

Read More »

NOTES:

1 Alliance for Early Success, State-Wide Advocacy Highlights Survey, June-December, 2026. 

2 Alliance for Early Success, Multi-State Initiatives for Early Childhood Policy Advocacy, February, 2026.

3 National Association of State Budget Officers, Proposed and Enacted Budgets, FY 2027.

4 Urban Institute, State Fiscal Briefs, February 2026.

5 Alliance for Early Success, State Examples of Dedicated Funding Streams, 2026

6 National Conference of State Legislatures, 2026 State & Legislative Partisan Composition, January 31, 2025.

7 Ballotpedia, Ballot Measures by State, Kids Count Data Center, 2025.

More State Policy Data:

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More State Child Data:

Alabama
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