The History of the Passage of Legislation Authorizing the Alabama Board of Optometric Scholarship Awards
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Abstract
This article describes and discusses the passage of legislation that established and funded the Alabama Board of Optometric Scholarship Awards. This board awards two types of scholarships: merit scholarships that do not require repayment and loan scholarships that must be repaid if certain criteria are not met. This unique scholarship is funded by the State of Alabama and awarded on an annual basis to Alabama residents who have been admitted or are students at the UAB School of Optometry. The awardees are selected by the board during its annual July meeting. Several changes have been enacted over the years by the legislature that have, among other changes, resulted in the board’s ability to retain loan funds repaid and have increased the amount of funding contributed by the state.
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References
Peters HB. Proposal for the Development of an Alabama State Optometric Scholarship Loan Program. 1978.
Brief History of the Alabama Board of Optometric Scholarship Awards (ABOSA). An Introduction and three Sections describing a brief history from 1982 to 2009, with greater detail related to the 2009 legislation. Author unknown.
Personal communication, Dr. Catherine S. Amos, April 28,2017.
Journals of the House and Senate, State of Alabama, Regular Legislative Session, 1982.
Act No. 82-460passed as Senate Bill S. 52 as introduced by Senate Teague. This bill was approved May 4, 1982, establishing the Alabama Board of Optometric Scholarship Awards with funds from the Alabama Special Education Trust Funds. State of Alabama Legislative Reference Service.
Personal communication, Dr. James Marbourg, long-time member of the Board and Chair for 10 years, July 11, 2020. Dr. Marbourg came in possession of Dr. Pharr’s notes on assuming the chair of the ABOSA.
Journals of the House and Senate, State of Alabama Regular, Legislative Session, 1984.
Act No. 84-330 passed as H. 321 as introduced by Representative Coburn. This bill was approved May 17, 1984, to make annual appropriations for support, maintenance and development of public education in Alabama and for debt service and capital improvements for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1985.
Personal communication, Dr. Robert Crosby, June 25, 1918.
Journals of the House and Senate, State of Alabama, Regular Legislative Session, 2009.
Act No. 2009-648 passed as HB 153 as introduced by Representative Jim McClendon and Senator Linda Coleman. This bill was approved May 21, 2009, and was related to increasing the membership of the Board, to alter the amount of such scholarships; to permit the Board to retain loan repayments for purposes of funding future scholarships.
Journal of the House and Senate, State of Alabama, Regular Legislative Session, 2012.
Act No. 2012-476 passed as SB 494 as introduced by Senator Reed. This bill was approved May 15, 2012, and amended section 34-22-61 relating to the Board to specify that funds of the board would not revert at the end of the fiscal year.
Act No. 2016-199 passed as HB 117 as introduced by Representative Poole. This bill was to make appropriations for the support, maintenance, and development of public education in Alabama, for debt service, and for capital outlay for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2017.
Personal communication, Board member for 26 years, Dr. Jim Marbourg April 28, 2017.
Personal Communication, Board member for 12 years, Ms. Peggy Striplin April 6, 2017.
Personal communication from Ms. Amanda Buttenshaw and Dr. James Marbourg, June 6, 2019, and December 21.23, 2019. (Specific actions taken by the House and Senate related to the Special Education Trust Funds for 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 can be found at: https://legiscan.com/AL./billHB117/2016;AL./bill/SB129/2017;AL.bill/HB175/2018;AL./bill/SB199/2019).
Personal Communication, Dr. Mark Colip, President, Illinois College of Optometry, August 31, 2020.