Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) stopped by the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce to highlight the Legislature's priorities for the 2024 session.

It's no surprise that school choice is at the top of the list. That's because Gov. Kay Ivey has publicly called for legislation to create education savings accounts. Education savings accounts are basically a voucher system that allows taxpayers to track their students' tuition costs. Private school.

“I'm confident that once this is done, the University of Alabama will probably be in the top 10 when it comes to school selection,” Ledbetter said.

Bills to create education savings accounts have failed in the past two legislative sessions due to strong opposition from the Alabama Education Association. Major education lobbying groups targeted accountability as a key concern with these bills, arguing that the programs described could become a free-for-all for misuse of public funds.

Supporters say the system would give parents more choice about where to send their children to school and stimulate competition that would lead to improvements in public schools.

But few people know exactly what Ivey's proposal would look like, as the governor waits to announce details in his State of the Union address, which will take place just before the legislative session begins.

Whatever this program is, it's largely because even supporters of the previous bill said they expected less than 5 percent of public school students to choose to take advantage of ESAs. It is likely to benefit students already enrolled in private schools. This number means that approximately 80% of students on ESAs are students who already attend private schools at no cost to taxpayers.

Although no school choice bill has been introduced yet, state Rep. Ernie Yarbrough has announced his intention to introduce a bill similar to the school choice bill he introduced last year.

Ledbetter also said he expects lawmakers to tackle the thorny issue of gaming legislation, which has consistently been difficult to push over the line.

Other priorities highlighted by Ledbetter include election security, making Alabama military-friendly, lifting restrictions on small businesses and addressing the state's mental health crisis.

Sessions begin on February 6th.