Maybe next year: Bills that died in the Alabama Senate before a vote

The Alabama Legislature passed bills this year affecting laws ranging from education to healthcare. However, some of the most heavily discussed topics in the state didn't get a final vote.

Here are some of the bills that passed in the House but didn't make it to the Senate floor before the end of the legislative session.

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Gambling

Legalized gaming was an ongoing bipartisan topic in the Statehouse this session. While it initially passed in both legislative bodies, the House passed a motion of nonconcurrence to the Senate's substitutions. The main sources of disagreement came from how much money from the proposed state lottery would go to education, and sports gambling being struck from the bill.

Authored by Rep. Chris Blackshear, R-Smiths Station, House Bill 151 would have gone to voters, allowing Alabamians to decide if they wanted an education lottery, as well as additional casinos in the state.

More: Alabama's push to legalize gambling dies in the state Senate

Removal of library materials

Authored by Rep. Arnold Mooney, R-Pelham, and substituted by Rep. David Faulkner, R-Birmingham, House Bill 385 would have allowed for the prosecution of librarians who fail to remove the challenged materials in a timely manner. The vote came after the House added more context to the legal term "sexual conduct" and defined the distribution of materials considered harmful to minors on any public premise as a "public nuisance."

Under the bill, anyone who believed library materials were obscene would have been able to write to the school district's superintendent or head librarian to request the materials' removal.

The bill passed by in the House by a vote of 72 to 28.

More: Alabama House approves bill banning 'sexual content' in public libraries

"Don't say gay"

An expansion to legislation from 2022, House Bill 130, would have expanded existing prohibition of discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms. Authored by Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, the bill was initially written to expand the existing law to K-12 classrooms. The bill was amended to only go to grade 8 as recommended by the state Department of Education.

Butler said on the House floor that the bill would not have deterred educators from talking to an individual about matters of gender identity or sexual orientation if asked, it would have only prevented them from teaching the topics to a class or creating assignments about them.

Glock switch ban

Authored by Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery, House Bill 36 would have banned the possession of any parts that convert pistols into machine guns. Possession of a pistol with said parts attached would be a Class C felony if the bill had been signed into law. It passed by a vote of 60 to 38 in the House.

"While I am deeply disappointed, I realize the great strides that we made working in a bipartisan way," Ensler said on X, formerly Twitter. "I will return next session ready to keep collaborating and fighting to save lives from gun violence and improve community safety for all."

The Senate unanimously passed Ensler's swatting bill, contextualizing the act and setting various penalties for it.

More: Alabama lawmakers create new law, penalties against swatting

Abstinence-only education

Authored by Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, House Bill 195 would have prohibited curriculum from providing, demonstrating or referring any information on how to acquire an abortion.

Currently, public k-12 schools are required to emphasize abstinence as the only effective way to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and prohibits the promotion of abortion of sexual activity. Alabama schools are not required to teach sex-education in health classes.

On the House floor, DuBose said she considered the bill bipartisan, saying there are groups who want sex-education to be mandatory for grades K-12. The bill passed in the House 72 to 22.

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Victor Hagan is the Alabama Election Reporting Fellow for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at vhagan@gannett.com or on X @TheVictorHagan. To support his work, subscribe to the Advertiser.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Maybe next year: Bills that died in the Alabama Senate before a vote