republic-os/legislation/us/states/al/2023rs/sb-263.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to the Alabama Accountability Act of 2013; to amend Sections 16-6D-3, 16-6D-4, 16-6D-6, 16-6D-8, and 16-6D-9, Code of Alabama 1975; to change the terms failing school and nonfailing school to priority school and qualifying school, respectively; to revise and add definitions; to expand scholarships for eligible students attending nonfailing or qualifying schools; to revise the poverty threshold for determining the qualifications of an eligible student; to provide for the qualifying expenses of eligible students with unique needs; to revise the method of determining the amount of educational scholarship awards; to increase the maximum cumulative amount of tax credits that may be issued each year; to require a scholarship granting organization to maintain a reserve balance and to verify the qualifications of an eligible student with unique needs; and to authorize the Department of Revenue to bar qualifying schools or educational service providers from participating in the program under certain circumstances."
description: "Alabama Accountability Act of 2013, revised to change failing to priority school and nonfailing to qualifying school, to make other changes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/al"
legislature: "Alabama Legislature"
session: "2023rs"
identifier: "SB 263"
citation: "Alabama SB 263 (2023rs)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Alabama Accountability Act of 2013"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Donnie Chesteen"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 22
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2023-04-27T04:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2023-06-08T14:15:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e977bea1-06eb-4266-9009-b4f092558332"
source_url: "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/bill-search"
source_hash: "697e673e14a6f1d3120e7ca23f7900b95048dba8ae0a7252472b8ca610254706"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-al"]
---

# Alabama SB 263 (2023rs) — Relating to the Alabama Accountability Act of 2013; to amend Sections 16-6D-3, 16-6D-4, 16-6D-6, 16-6D-8, and 16-6D-9, Code of Alabama 1975; to change the terms failing school and nonfailing school to priority school and qualifying school, respectively; to revise and add definitions; to expand scholarships for eligible students attending nonfailing or qualifying schools; to revise the poverty threshold for determining the qualifications of an eligible student; to provide for the qualifying expenses of eligible students with unique needs; to revise the method of determining the amount of educational scholarship awards; to increase the maximum cumulative amount of tax credits that may be issued each year; to require a scholarship granting organization to maintain a reserve balance and to verify the qualifications of an eligible student with unique needs; and to authorize the Department of Revenue to bar qualifying schools or educational service providers from participating in the program under certain circumstances.

Alabama Accountability Act of 2013, revised to change failing to priority school and nonfailing to qualifying school, to make other changes.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://www.legislature.state.al.us/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/SB263-int.pdf)
2. **Act 2023-418** (committee substitute) — [source](http://arc-sos.state.al.us/ucp/L1280256.AI1.pdf)
3. **Amendment 50XY33-1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legislature.state.al.us/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/50XY33-1.pdf)
4. **Amendment WJI159-1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legislature.state.al.us/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/WJI159-1.pdf)
5. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legislature.state.al.us/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/SB263-eng.pdf)
6. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://www.legislature.state.al.us/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/SB263-enr.pdf)

## Votes

- Roll of the H for Vote 1085 on SB263 (2023 Regular Session) — **75–22** (pass) · lower
- Roll of the S for Vote 934 on SB263 (2023 Regular Session) — **27–6** (fail) · upper
- Roll of the S for Vote 933 on SB263 (2023 Regular Session) — **23–9** (fail) · upper
- Roll of the S for Vote 935 on SB263 (2023 Regular Session) — **26–7** (fail) · upper

## Sponsors

- Donnie Chesteen — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-06-01T04:00:00+00:00** Enrolled
- **2023-05-31T04:00:00+00:00** Ready to Enroll
- **2023-05-31T04:00:00+00:00** Read a Third Time and Pass `passage`
- **2023-05-31T04:00:00+00:00** Read a Third Time and Pass `passage`
- **2023-05-31T04:00:00+00:00** On Third Reading in Second House
- **2023-05-26T04:00:00+00:00** Read Second Time in Second House
- **2023-05-25T04:00:00+00:00** Reported Out of Committee in Second House
- **2023-05-25T04:00:00+00:00** Reported Favorably (Ways and Means Education) `committee-passage`
- **2023-05-24T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to Committee (Ways and Means Education) `referral-committee`
- **2023-05-24T04:00:00+00:00** Read First Time in Second House `reading-1`
- **2023-05-24T04:00:00+00:00** Read A Third Time And Passed As Amended
- **2023-05-24T04:00:00+00:00** Adopt
- **2023-05-24T04:00:00+00:00** Petition to Cease Debate
- **2023-05-23T04:00:00+00:00** Table
- **2023-05-23T04:00:00+00:00** On Third Reading in House of Origin
- **2023-05-11T04:00:00+00:00** Read Second Time in House of Origin
- **2023-05-10T04:00:00+00:00** Reported Out of Committee in House of Origin
- **2023-05-10T04:00:00+00:00** Reported Favorably (Finance and Taxation Education) `committee-passage`
- **2023-05-10T04:00:00+00:00** AMD/SUB (Finance and Taxation Education)
- **2023-04-27T04:00:00+00:00** Introduced and Referred (Finance and Taxation Education) `introduction, referral`
- **2023-04-27T04:00:00+00:00** Read First Time in House of Origin `reading-1`
- **2023-06-08T14:15:00+00:00** Enacted as 2023-418 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e977bea1-06eb-4266-9009-b4f092558332`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Alabama legislature records).