The recently completed 2025 Regular Session has concluded successfully. Anytime you record solid balanced budgets, you have succeeded.

Both the Education Budget and General Fund Budget are sound, thanks to the good work of the Budget Chairmen. Senator Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), Representative Danny Garrett (R-Trussville), Senator Greg Albritton (R-Escambia), and Representative Rex Reynolds (R-Huntsville) have done yeoman work. Legislative leaders, like Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) and Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman), have provided outstanding leadership.

The Education Budget reflects the respect and knowledge of the importance of our Alabama Community College System. This system is the mainstay of job creation, economic development, and future economic growth for Alabama. The Community College System is the leader when it comes to creating jobs and employment in our state.

Our Community College System is made up of 24 colleges with more than 130 locations and has 155,000 students. This far surpasses and dwarfs our other colleges. The most telling narrative for Alabamians is that 96% of the system’s students live here in Alabama. More than 75% of these students stay here after graduation.

More than 23,000 students have enrolled in dual enrollment, no matter their family’s ability to afford it, thanks to the legislature.Thirty-six percent of ACCS students include transient students,who are able to come to college closer to their home, and they pay less than half the cost of a four-year college.

While most colleges nationwide have lost student numbers, our Alabama Community College System has had over a 5%increase in enrollment in each year since 2020. The ACCS has 10,600 employees all in Alabama.

These figures resonate loudly and clearly illuminate the fact that ACCS is the driving force behind the state’s economic growth.By preparing Alabama students with the skills and training needed for high-demand careers, they are strengthening Alabama workforce and building our economic opportunity for now, and the future. For fiscal year 2023-2024, ACCS added $8.1 billion to Alabama’s economy. This equates to 3% of the state’s gross product.

The ACCS, under the leadership of Chancellor Jimmy Baker, was the cornerstone and lynchpin of the Workforce Development Plan, which is the most important economic development initiative for this gubernatorial and legislative quadrennium. The future of our state is in career and technical education.

In an era where middle-skill jobs are in the highest demand, career and technical education is the key to future employment.The most popular career programs in the ACCS curriculum are computer science, culinary arts, cybersecurity, dental assisting, HVAC, welding, diesel technology, and salon and spa management. The most demand is in nursing and physical therapy.

The nursing and medical fields are the real growth area for the ACCS, with the aging Baby Boomer population. This field is limitless. ACCS will be the leader in this growing need for healthcare professionals and ACCS is poised to prepare Alabama to meet these needs. Their healthcare programs are based on regional demands, ensuring that they meet the unique needs of communities across the state. They are in close collaboration with the Alabama Hospital Association and the Alabama Nursing Home Association to assure Alabama’s healthcare future.

With $18 million in new funding to expand health sciences program into rural areas, and more than 13,000 students currently enrolled, the ACCS will continue to equip the next generations of healthcare workers with cutting edge training.ACCS is just what the doctor ordered for Alabama jobs.

Chancellor Jimmy Baker, a successful financier, educator, and former Finance Director, has been at the helm of achieving this pinnacle of success for the ACCS for the last decade. Baker has his team of college presidents on board. This sterling team of 34 presidents are his people. This group does an excellent job of making local legislators in their respective communities aware of what is going on at their college and how it affects their constituency.

ACCS affects most legislators in Alabama. In many of their districts their community college is the largest employer and economic engine in their area. For that reason, the ACCS is poised to hold its own when it comes to state funding.

Legislators are acutely aware that their community college is where most of their constituents receive their higher education and career training. They also know that 96% of their students are Alabamians and will remain in the state and probably that locale for life.

See you next week.