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FISCAL NOTE
House Bill 213
Committee: Ways and Means Education Sponsor: Representative Joe Lovvorn
Analyst: John Friedenreich Date: 04/26/2023
House Bill 213 as reported by the committee on Ways and Means Education could increase the
obligations of the Volunteer Rescue Squad Tuition Reimbursement Act of 2018 by an
undetermined amount to: (1) allow for the reimbursement of fees, in addition to tuition that is an
allowed reimbursement under current law; (2) reduce the service requirement of students from 3
year, under current law, to 2 years; (3) add the providing of ambulance services as qualification
for a student to meet their service requirement; (4) allow tuition and fee reimbursement to be
paid to an association that funded a student; and (5) allow the Alabama Community College
System (ACCS) to consider retroactive reimbursement of an association for actual tuition costs,
excluding fees, paid for a student. A total of $625,000 has been appropriated from the Education
Trust Fund to ACCS for this program since Fiscal Year 2019. According to ACCS, the current
balance of the program fund is $521,761.
Additionally, beginning in Fiscal Year 2024, this bill would require that tuition reimbursement
would be divided equally among students for volunteer fire departments, rescue squads, and
ambulance services based on available appropriations. Further, beginning Fiscal Year 2025, any
unexpended funds in excess of $500,000 would be transferred to the Alabama Fire College to
provide emergency medical service equipment and operation a grant to volunteer fire
departments and rescue squads.
This bill could also decrease potential obligations of the program by an undetermined amount
dependent on any reimbursement that would no longer be paid for costs covered by grants or
other monetary awards, as provided by this bill. FN-2THMSK-2
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This bill could also increase receipts to the Alabama Community College System, the University
of South Alabama, and the Alabama Fire College, by an estimated $10,000 annually,
cumulatively, by increasing the allowable operational expenses of the program from 2% of the
annual funding for the program, under current law, to 10%.