Bill creating tax credits for Alabama rural hospital donations could change committees
Apr 17, 2024 | 12:05 pm ET
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Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, speaks at a rally in support of legislation protecting access to in vitro fertilization at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama on Feb. 28, 2024. The rally took place ahead of scheduled committee hearings on the bills on Wednesday. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
A bill to extend tax credits to rural hospitals could be moved to a different House committee amid questions about which of the state’s two budgets it would impact the most.
HB 310, sponsored by Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, would create tax credits for donors to eligible rural hospitals. The bill aims to encourage donations to improve the viability of rural hospitals, many of which face financial struggles and the risk of closure.
“We had a lot of people from counties and municipalities in those rural areas say this is a workforce bill,” Collins told the House Ways and Means Education Committee.
The bill allows credits for donations to be applied to income tax, but Collins said she planned to allow donors to claim credits for taxes on utilities, banks and insurance, as well as excise taxes.
The Legislative Services Agency estimates the bill as originally filed could cut state tax revenues by up to $38 million in fiscal year 2026; $60 million in fiscal year 2027 and $80 million for fiscal year 2028.
Collins said that the changes meant that the bill could have a larger impact on the General Fund budget than the education budget. House Ways and Means Education Committee Chair Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, said that he would prefer the legislation go to the House Ways and Means General Fund committee after the changes, saying he had concerns about moving a bill forward without fully knowing the impact.
“I think out of respect for them, they need to understand that,” he said. “I would hate for them to do the same thing to me.”
Collins requested that the committee pass the bill and recommit it so that it could pass at least one committee. Ways and Means Education did not vote on the bill on Wednesday.
“We’ve done a lot of tax credits, none have been for our hospitals in our rural areas,” she said.
Collins said she would speak with Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, about moving the bill’s committee assignment.
The bill needs five days to pass; there are seven days left in the 2024 legislative session.
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