HB213INTRODUCED
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5LJ8M3-1
By Representative Lovvorn
RFD: Ways and Means Education
First Read: 23-Mar-23
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5 5LJ8M3-1 03/23/2023 KMS (L) cr 2022-5308
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SYNOPSIS:
Under existing law, the Volunteer Rescue Squad
Tuition Reimbursement Act of 2018, provides tuition
reimbursement for students who successfully complete an
Emergency Medical Technician or Paramedic certification
program offered by a member institution of the Alabama
Community College System or the Alabama Fire College
and contract to provide three years of service to a
volunteer rescue squad or fire department.
This bill would decrease the required contracted
for service time after graduation and licensing from
three years to two years.
This bill would expand the program to include
students who contract and provide service to an
ambulance service.
This bill would provide for exclusions from
reimbursement.
This bill would increase the maximum amount of
operational expenses reimbursed by the program to the
Alabama Community College System for administering the
program from two percent to 10 percent of the funding
for the program per fiscal year.
This bill would also provide for the retroactive
reimbursement of certain related necessary fees and
required expenses.
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A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to the Volunteer Rescue Squad Tuition
Reimbursement Act of 2018; to amend Sections 22-18-60,
22-18-61, and 22-18-64, Code of Alabama 1975, to decrease the
required contracted for service time after graduation and
licensing from three years to two years; to expand the program
to include students who contract and provide service to
ambulance services; to provide exclusions from reimbursement;
and to increase the amount of operational expenses reimbursed
to the Alabama Community College System; and to add Section
22-18-61.1 to the Code of Alabama 1975, to provide for the
retroactive reimbursement of certain fees and expenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Sections 22-18-60, 22-18-61, and 22-18-64 of
the Code of Alabama 1975, are amended to read as follows:
"§22-18-60
For the purposes of this article, the following terms
shall have the following meanings:
(1) ACCS. The Alabama Community College System.
(2) AMBULANCE SERVICE. An ambulance service located in
this state which is a member of the Alabama Association of
Ambulance Services.
(2)(3) ASSOCIATIONS. The Alabama Association of Rescue
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Squads or, the Alabama Association of Volunteer Fire
Departments, or the Alabama Association of Ambulance Services .
(3)(4) EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES PERSONNEL (EMSP). All
recognized levels of personnel licensed by the Alabama
Department of Public Health, who have met all primary and/or
or renewal educational requirements , or both, set by the
Alabama Department of Public Health, and who are allowed to
provide medical care within the level of their scope of
practice granted by the Office of Emergency Medical Services
(OEMS) within the Alabama Department of Public Health.
(4)(5) FIRE COLLEGE. The Alabama Fire College.
(5)(6) STUDENT. A student enrolled in an emergency
medical services certification program at a member institution
of the Alabama Community College System ACCS, the Alabama Fire
College fire college, or the University of South Alabama.
(7) TUITION COSTS. Includes the actual cost of tuition
and fees required to complete an approved course of
instruction for EMSP certification, as determined by each
eligible educational institution.
(6)(8) VOLUNTEER RESCUE SQUAD. A volunteer rescue squad
located in the State of Alabama and this state which is a
member of the Alabama Association of Rescue Squads.
(7)(9) VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT. A volunteer fire
department located in the State of Alabama and this state
which is a member of the Alabama Association of Volunteer Fire
Departments."
"§22-18-61
(a) The Alabama Community College System ACCS, the
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Alabama Fire College fire college, and the University of South
Alabama, in consultation with the associations, shall jointly
develop and administer a student tuition reimbursement program
for students that agree in the form of an enforceable who
contract agreement, to provide two years of emergency medical
services for volunteer rescue squads or, volunteer fire
departments in Alabama, or ambulance services after becoming a
licensed EMSP subject to the student agreeing to provide three
years of service to a volunteer rescue squad or volunteer fire
department.
(b)(1) Tuition reimbursement under this article shall
be the actual cover tuition costs paid by the student
associated with obtaining to complete an approved course of
instruction for certification. Tuition reimbursement may also
cover the repayment of tuition costs provided to a student by
an association or members of an association to pay any of his
or her eligible tuition costs.
(2) Tuition reimbursement under this article shall not
reimburse a student for any tuition costs covered by grants or
other monetary awards provided to a student including, but not
limited to, federal education grants and scholarships, as
determined by the ACCS.
(3) Tuition costs shall not be reimbursed until the
student provides ACCS and the associations with documentation
that he or she has successfully completed the approved course
of instruction, proof of passing the certification exam,
production of a valid EMSP license from the Alabama Department
of Public Health and a contractual agreement to comply with
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the service requirements.
(c) In the event that a tuition reimbursement recipient
fails to meet the service requirements for any reason other
than extreme hardship as defined within the joint agreement
required in Section 22-18-64(b), the individual shall be
deemed to have breached the underlying contract and shall be
liable in the form of monetary damages to the state for the
immediate repayment of the total tuition amount costs
reimbursed, plus interest at the rate of eight percent. The
associations shall notify ACCS of recipients who fail to meet
the service requirements."
"§22-18-64
(a) The ACCS shall annually report on the condition and
accomplishments of the tuition reimbursement program to the
Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives, President
Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Chair of the House Ways and
Means Education Committee, the Chair of the Senate Finance and
Taxation Education Committee, and the Deputy Director of the
Legislative Services Agency, Fiscal Division. The report shall
include the number of students participating in the program
and the amount of tuition reimbursed for the reporting year.
The member institutions of the ACCS, the Fire College fire
college, and the University of South Alabama shall provide
this information to ACCS for inclusion in the annual report.
The report shall be submitted by the fifth legislative day of
each regular session of the Legislature.
(b) The ACCS, the Fire College fire college, and the
University of South Alabama shall enter into a joint agreement
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to implement and administer the tuition reimbursement program,
which shall include provisions for ensuring that operational
expenses for the program in a fiscal year do not exceed two 10
percent of the funding for the program in that fiscal year.
The joint agreement shall provide for limiting the acceptance
of applications for the program or limiting tuition
reimbursements when necessary, or both.
(c) Any monies received for the operations of the
tuition reimbursement program, including repayments, interest,
and penalties paid because of failure to honor service
requirements, shall be used to fund tuition reimbursements."
Section 2. Section 22-18-61.1 is added to the Code of
Alabama 1975, to read as follows:
§22-18-61.1
Upon written request by an association or a member of
an association, the ACCS may retroactively consider
reimbursement of actual tuition costs, excluding required
fees, provided by the association or its members to a student
to pay his or her eligible tuition costs.
Section 3. Section 1 of this act shall become effective
on the first day of the third month following its passage and
approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.
Section 2 of this act shall become effective immediately
following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its
otherwise becoming law.
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