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FISCAL NOTE
House Bill 334
Committee: Ways and Means Education Sponsor: Representative Danny Garrett
Analyst: John Friedenreich Date: 05/03/2023
House Bill 334 as reported by the Committee on Ways and Means Education would create the
Students with Unique Needs (SUN) Education Scholarship Account (ESA) Program which
could increase the obligations of the Education Trust Fund (ETF) by an estimated maximum of
$3 million in fiscal year 2025, and up to an additional similar amount each fiscal year thereafter,
by depositing funds into ESAs of participating eligible students, which may be used for certain
educational services, pursuant to the provisions of this bill. This bill would provide that 95% of
the gross state Foundation Program cost-per-student would be deposited into each ESA during
the applicable tax year, subject to appropriations from the ETF. This amount is approximately
$5,600 for Fiscal Year 2023. This bill would cap enrollment in the program at 500 students for
the initial 2024-2025 school year and would provide that this cap would increase by 500 each
year thereafter.
Additionally, this bill would increase the obligations of the Alabama State Department of
Education (SDE) by an undetermined amount to administer the ESAs, adopt rules and policies
for the program, conduct regular audits to prevent fraud, determine eligibility for ESAs,
maintain the list of approved education service providers, and collect and disseminate test
results and graduation rates of participants. These obligations would be offset by the retention of
5% of the gross state Foundation Program cost-per-student by SDE for the administration of this
program, as provided by this bill. This amount for Fiscal Year 2023 is approximately $300.